On Street Level: Random Thoughts on our Urban World

I often frequent the Cyburbia urban planning message board (http://www.cyburbia.org) and recently found a rather well-written argument on what urban planners should be used for versus what they are currently being used for.  The notion of a functional city and a foolproof city.  The main difference between the two types is their purpose.  Functional cities focus on making a city be able to meet the needs of the people that live in it.  Sometimes in order to achieve these needs, sacrifices may need to be met in terms of such things as a cities attractiveness.  Foolproof cities on the other hand, focus more on trying to create an ideal city that may be free of such things as heavy car traffic or urban sprawl.  According to the article, however, the planners that help plan the foolproof cities don’t always focus on the biggest part of a major city: it’s people.  The planners try to create a city that may stimulate growth in a certain way, yet this growth may not be what’s best for the people of the city.

Further on down the page is a response to this forum post that continues the argument with some further strong points.  Functional cities are created without time in mind.   On the other hand, foolproof cities are created based off current needs of the citizens of the city which may not remain true in the future.

These are definitely some valid arguments and while I don’t necessarily like the idea that we should continue to plan for such things as sprawl, I will say that it helps put the urban planning profession in a new light for me.  You can find the forum posts here