2. Topic of Mobility
by John D. Ashworth
Current workplace: 4th floor Architecture Studio Room 433, Judson University, Elgin, Illinois Bio: My name is John, I'm an American missionary kid, born and raised (mostly) in the amazing city of Amsterdam. Besides architecture school and traveling in the Chicagoland area, I put work into various websites/startup projects, of which the biggest ('An Idea A Day' at http:/daily ideals.co/) will present 365 daringly different ideas on a rip-off calendar for 2017. I also like writing spoken word pieces and poetry. I'm always full of ideas... Whether they're good or not, is up to you.
Pictured are: John's city design with streets based off of 360 degrees (above) & Nahalal, Israel (below).
Questions and context posed for the topic of 'mobility': Many Social Citizens want to live a mobile life. Currently, they would opt for a mobile home, but some do not prefer a house at all and prefer a nomadic life. In our interview with architect Alfredo Brillembourg, we found he chooses such a life, because he doesn’t want to be tied down or restrained. 1. How can we weave the nomadic life in an otherwise firm and stable city? 2. How would you like to move around in Social City and use space if there were no cars at all? 3. By using alternative, more healthy and less polluting means of transportation, can we rethink the use and makeup of the urban landscape? As you may notice, in order for any participant to take a shot at any of the above posed questions, we must understand what the requirements are that make up a good city (pt. 1), and only can we use those boundaries to meet our desires, the 'want' of a Social city. "All meaning is context dependent." and with that, before digging far deeper into details and cool gadgets, what categories can be defined that make a city (relatively) good?
1) Attractiveness These are 7 key concepts that - together - tackle how to make an attractive city: 1. 2. 3. 4.
Order & Variety: there should be organized complexity. Visible life: apparent that life is valued and all around the inhabitants. Compact: a good square is no bigger than 30-35 meters. Orientation & Mystery: it can be lovely to be lost (break away from geometric grid). 5. Scale: an ideal height for majority of city structures, with iconic or important exceptions. 6. Stories: there is a cultivated or inherited rich history that people relate to. 7. Make it local: cultural preservation & variety of occupations/people together. with the aesthetics behind us, how about a stable city?
2) Stability Politics: Municipal meetings made-up from both city citizens and national politicians making decisions for the government with public access. Most existing political systems have been tested (those that haven't been should be), and a democratic parliament seems to be most effective regarding a social city, in which citizens are engaged with each other and their government. Potential hybrid of the Netherlands & Switzerland? Economy: considering all systems, a free market city (still engaged with global trade) would most likely need a capitalistic means of competing. Transparent (commercial) revenue, (governmental) expenditure. Justice: While crime rates tend to go up the more diverse communities are, cultural submission to instead hear each other out and care should be taught and trained. This should decrease municipal violence & crime. Law: upon publication of municipal constitution, public amendments taken into consideration in weekly 'town hall-like meetings' Education: A 'university district' as integrated part of the city, where learning is the most important aim. Also, education mandatory 'til at least 18 years of age (having started if possible before turning 5 years of age). Sharing economy: C2C business usage and optimization = home, meal, event, ride and work space sharing (e.g. weekly check-out a friends' jobsite rotation, public wardrobe sharing, monthly city-wide garage sales) -> much availability for newcomers or tourists to be able to have meals with locals at their own homes. Healthy environment: reduced omission policies for any companies trading / investing / settling in city, regulated tests and bacterial treatment by governmental disease control agency. Also, publicly available emergency buttons (besides phone speed-dial), to reach closest accredited nurse, doctor or defibrillator drone, etc. Physical health: Try-out-based sports facility usage, with monthly (paid) membership access as well as public sport facilities. Sustainability: to come back to originally posed question 3, it would be absurd to only use alternative energy solutions. Sustainable solutions, like
solar, wind power, weight force translated to energy, (I'd rather prefer options that don't encourage ugly views. Perhaps subtle solar panel placement and wind turbines to be disguised in the city through windmills or buildings?) -> transparent wind energy.  Safety: High citizen safety training, banned weapon purchase/licensing for targeted/suspected citizens. Homes designed rather transparent, cultural understanding of leaving the curtains open during the day and glass intentionally placed towards sun to include as much daily sunlight as possible.
which leads us to something necessary for all spheres of society:
pictured: all-night social city brainstorm session on the white board.
3) Relational Caring: city should promote relational understanding, and doing so by interaction. Municipal care: city government provide aid & assistance to those qualifying to need it. Probably done by taxation (see stability). Connection: Segregation is antisocial and should be avoided at all costs - it goes directly against the idea of a 'social' city. Avoid individualistic 'each person his own' mentalities - encourage communal sharing of same services (like street/block tools, lawn mowers, painting supplies and sustainable energy). Collective input: communal entries analysis & ideas. I've noticed, by studying Social City, personal experience and asking friends about urban planning, that people could for example suggest: o Weekly public seminars and teachings from different backgrounds, teachers and beliefs. o Public transportation being a major investment. o Cemeteries on the outskirts (out of sight) of the city. o A lot of forestry, parks, bodies of water and moderate amount of wildlife/zoo life (e.g. green Singapore aka the 'Garden City'). o Weekly meeting to discuss population's desires and democratically decide upon alternatives and implementing new ideas. o More thoughtful ideas listed below: etc. Public Awareness: City-wide updating to notify residents of events, encouraging success stories and special updates they can decide whether or not to be interested in Community blending: Diversity and unity. Housing groups should be in relative close proximity (either as pedestrian or public transport user) to other communities, shopping, recreation, business or even touristic epicenters. Even Aristotle can confirm this: "When several villages are united in a single community, perfect and large enough to be nearly or quite self-sufficing, the state comes into existence." The point is: independency & close proximity.
And finally...
to answer our initial 3 questions. My final proposal for:
4) Mobility First of all, I'd like to propose a city in which mobility is key. People may value many things about a city, but I've come to realize that affordable, accessible transportation is a main component for whether a community thrives or becomes stagnant. That being said, I don't believe cars should be banned completely from future cities, as the driverless car and other (electric) vehicles' popularity increases, we can't possibly fail to take vehicles into consideration. Here's what I'd do, and it's divided into 3 general concepts at descending levels of size, respectively: 'City Street Grid by Degrees', 'Radial Road Division', the 'Local Transportation System' o 'City Street Grid by Degrees' Both the US and Canada, when being formed, decided to use Gridiron planning for their cities. Although it may make things easier when lost in town, the streets become monotone for their endless, boring arrangement that doesn't allow for efficient transportation. Circular city, with tourism/shopping/most important (historic) buildings in the middle on elevated space (preferably a hill with equal incline on all sides). Take Madison, Wisconsin for example. In my idea, we'd name streets simply by the direction and degree (angle) compared to the center. Another great example would be Paris. Being an organic city, it had parts of it wholly demolished in the 19th century to be redeveloped in grand radial style for the benefits it had. The center could be a blossoming set parks for tourism, (minor) business spaces, entertainment & shopping center with cultural landmarks, but provide social meeting spaces so that citizens always run into each other/meet in between occupations in the beautiful center (kind of like Amsterdam if it was full-circle). This provides an organic, radial growth around the city, allows rings of main roads to be interconnected, all leading back to the center, where all people can gather to relax from life in the non-residential space. Although inner-city housing is more expensive
per sq meter, the housing towards the outskirts has a relatively similar price for how much space people own. The space for housing gradually turns into lone-standing homes, villas and eventually the supportive periphery can be green farming land, which is where local produce can stimulate each corresponding district of the city, or even share earnings. o 'Radial Road Division' Putting roads closer to street allows for direct attention for what's happening in the street. Going out is the main roads in intervals of 30 degrees. And upon those roads, there's a main road (incl. cars + trees + some housing), the alleyway perpendicular to that, with boutiques/shops on the bottom floor, (more introverted) businesses on the 2nd, and then residential space on the 3rd & 4th floors. One street should be set aside for just pedestrians, bikes and boards. A communal garden/park/playground space so that people can get together right outside their apartment (not in their own space), more as the social city members should. Instead of lots, one could put parking spaces (on the two sides), recreational facilities other requested services In the end, this lots division is supposed to make sure people are indeed more mobile.
o 'Local Transportation System' Transparent/translucent monorail stops/stations on top of those buildings, so that the monorail doesn't get in the way of viewing nature. Pedestrian/bicyclists etc. are given full dominion over the ground floor, where they can freely walk about without getting hit by anything. They're optionally even more guarded with automatic 'traffic poles' aka sleeping policemen, that could be taken down for weekend festivities on the central hill. It blocks off anything larger than that size. Multiple layers of monorail ,while the cars are in tunnels underground cause they're discouraged, isolative and ugly all together. Awesome if rails could be attached to buildings and made from transparent material. o Cars are not a necessity for residential areas. What really causes a city and its people to thrive is having well-oiled public transportation for people to commute, travel and gain understanding with. With this in mind, privately owned garages should be a thing of the past. Share expensive car ownership space! o A bike-friendly city infrastructure, with bike paths everywhere, ensuring safe travel between vehicle transportation. o Helicopter landing pads being located at enough places (on tall buildings & open spaces) in close proximity to hospitals, emergency stations, airports, train stations and other travel ports (boat terminal). o If possible, either one really good airport or two good ones on opposite side of the city. Just like the spread of high-rise 'skyline communities being in two distinct polar locations, so labor commuting doesn't occur all towards the same direction.
OTHER USEFUL IDEAS o There should be a public, cultural archive of what Social City has accomplished in the past and what its citizens are currently doing. Basically a curated exhibition celebrating the city's citizens. o Nightlife and celebratory venues found in as many of the commonly used spaces as possible, as to reduce empty buildings during the day.. - MultiPurpose buildings that are ran for different purposes at different times o Entertainment found wherever city members enjoy it most (like cinemas) o Outdoor public movie nights or performances like at the local parks. o Visible camera surveillance that exists between competing surveillance firms (no need for the government being Big Brother) but at least there's transparency. (no facial recognition) o Homeless and poor initiatives providing shelter or food, upon proof of their effort to achieve a job. o Many cultural highlights like museums, monuments, displays of beauty, art and architecture both scattered across the city and focused around a couple districts o Favoritism of a garden, with many grown veggies, fruits, flora and fauna (but rather not the carnivorous predators). o Bodies of water (with sustainable energy systems) widely implemented all over the city, being a fundamental part of each district, alongside of a park. o Weekly city trash clean-up and rotational pick-up schedule (so that earlymorning cleaning begins in a different district every week). Monthly garage sale scheduled to be before trash pick-up day. o Those who want the skyline-major city feel (see image below) to be a major part of daily life could be closer together, clustered in at least two strategic sides of the city. (makes jobs more easily accessible!)