CITIES Why in Crisis? -What Future for Cities?

Death of the City?

Cities may have just begun to feel the forces of change spawned by new technologies.  As the Internet grows in popularity as a way to shop and carry on business, this could have dramatic results.  The new technologies have already made it easier for some businesses to relocate outside cities-drawing many workers with them.  

As shopping and working online become mainstream, people may feel less inclined to travel to crowded business districts  The book Cities in Civilization suggests:  "We might foresee some routine workers, especially part-time workers, working entirely from home or neighborhood workstations, . . . thus reducing the overall volume of traffic."  Architect Moshe Safdie likewise speculates;  "In this new  environment, we might have a universal scattering of millions of villages, giving individuals locally the comforts of village-scale life and electronically the cultural richness of great historic cities." 

Next time: CITIES Why in Crisis? -What Future for Cities?/What Future for Cities? 

From the Awake! magazine