Monocle's issue 15 (July/August 2008) is all about urban living. It ranks the 25 most liveable cities, by the way, London is nowhere to be found!. The Monocle staff propose a 10 step recipe for aspiring cities around the world. A short version of the recipe sounds something like this:
- Get together those who can affect change and get them to experience the city.
- Get them to sample great cities around the world
- Come up with a top priority list
- Get working
All seems good and definitely inspiring, but somehow I feel that something is missing. How about:
- Spend some time observing the city’s residents, its different tribes. Discover, how they experience their city. How far do they have to walk / ride / run to get some milk? Do they venture out after dark? If so, at what cost? Can they take their pram out for a spin without risking lumbago? What do they think about they new neighbours? What are they proud of? What is it that they rather keep quite about? Observer and discover insight that will enrich the experts’ opinion and plans.
- Do the same with the city’s visitors, what is it that surprises them, will they come back? To see what? Will they just wipe the entire trip off their memory? What would they improve, why?
Ask questions, but above all, observe and learn, after all cities are for living in, so get those who live there to contribute to the process.
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