About the future of our cities: a sort of summary of an Italian article
By Lorenzo Bona
During one of my recent work-related travels, I had the pleasure of once again being in the amazing city of New York.
This bustling metropolis has a unique ability to ignite inspiration and stimulate contemplation in various directions.
Perhaps because of this, while I was taking a walk around its vibrant streets, it resurfaced to my mind an article that I was fortunate enough to co-author together with Luca Sanna – a talented engineer based in the beautiful Italian region of Sardinia.
The article – published in Italian under a title that in English can sound as “How cities should be redesigned after the pandemic”*** – was in large part an attempt to explore the future of urban landscapes by combining two main ways of thinking.
A first one concerns the realm of contemporary architecture and is linked to ideas that suggest an evolution of our cities in more sustainable forms and via a greater or renewed presence of quiet public spaces, where people can rest and regenerate their energies when urban life appears stressful and confusing.
The other perspective gravitates around innovative interpretations of the concept of “self-control” that have emerged in modern studies attempting to bring closer behavioral psychology and economics.
The article that I am referring to appeared a few years ago during the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic crisis, when this was still a pressing public health emergency.
But feeling that perhaps the article could still be able to offer valuable insights and that a sort of summary in English of its main ideas could result beneficial, I thought to embark on the task of condensing these ideas around the following ten groups of comments.
1. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought about significant changes in our lifestyles and perceptions of reality, highlighting the need for new strategies in the design of cities and urban spaces. The goal of these strategies should be to help cities and urban spaces better withstand potential unpredictable natural shocks (like an earthquake or a public health emergency) that, if they occur, may deprive many people of the possibility of achieving primary goals related to the preservation of health, well-being, and safety.
2. The pandemic made perhaps even more visible than before other problematic situations related to urbanization that are calling for solutions: for example, rising levels of pollution in several areas, the degradation of many urban centers, and the creation of marginalized suburbs.
3. The things said so far may suggest the relevance of new efforts in favor of better relationships between human-created living spaces and nature, as well as in support of better interdependencies between city centers and peripheries: in other words, a transition toward more sustainable urban development models seems crucial for safer, healthier, and more prosperous cities.
4. This transition requires overcoming coordination problems, prioritizing long-term interests, and preventing short-term interests from prevailing.
5. The same transition requires also improved plans of actions to constantly promote harmonious relationships between vertical and horizontal urban growth, in ways that should be able to increasingly contribute to:
- expand the area of compatibility between humanly designed spaces and natural environments;
- reinforce the possibility of socio-economic interactions that are truly inclusive and genuinely in harmony with the natural environment.
6. Valuable support for the advent of urban development models that are fully sustainable in the sense described above, could perhaps be obtained by recalling two different ways of thinking: the first one revolves around behavioral studies that focus on the value of self-control based choices; the second way of thinking gravitates around ideas connected to projects like “Radura” that have been developed in the field of contemporary architecture.
7. “Self-control”, if interpreted as suggested in pioneering behavioral studies like those of Howard Rachlin, could be considered as a concept highlighting the possibility of organizing behavior patterns that can minimize the inherent costs that usually tend to emerge when short-term and long-term interests need to be coordinated. In this behavioral perspective, behaviors or strategies based on self-control would have the potential to increase the likelihood of attaining significant long-term goals and elevated degrees of well-being and productivity at both individual and interpersonal levels.
8. “Radura”, as an urban design idea proposed by the architect Stefano Boeri, seems to emphasize the possibility of revitalizing many modern cities through new or reorganized public spaces, where people can experience a cozy atmosphere and a sense of protection with effects that expand their opportunities to relax and regain energy when living in a city may sometimes appear to be connected to situations of stress and confusion. Aspects related to the idea of “Radura” seem also to encourage a reimagining and repurposing of residual spaces, streets, and pedestrian areas to create more inclusive and sustainable urban models that provide better living conditions for all individuals.
9. Concepts like “self-control” and “Radura” may appear to have the potential to be fruitfully combined to conceive new and better ways to organize relevant aspects that shape the evolution of our cities. For example, in the area of urban mobility and public transportation, a well-balanced combination of these concepts could potentially inspire the development of solutions that can more effectively act against the emergence of not entirely pleasant or ideal situations, like those that sometime seem to arise when congestion in public spaces tends to appear excessive or unfavorable for the well-being and productivity of people.
10. A well-thought-out integration of concepts like “self-control” and “Radura” could perhaps help architects, economists and other experts discover how to optimally create more inclusive, resilient, and sustainable cities that prioritize the well-being of people and pro-productivity behaviors.
***Bona, L., Sanna, L. “Come dovranno essere disegnate le città dopo la pandemia”, Formiche.net, 20.05.2021 ( Come dovranno essere ridisegnate le città dopo la pandemia - Formiche.net )