How can architects and planners help to create cities fit for the future? This presentation, created for the international conference on Cities, People and Places organised by the University of Moratuwa in Sri Lanka in October 2013, argues that people-centred policies that encourage sociability and civic participation are needed in response to global issues such as climate change and urbanisation.

1. The people-centred city
How can architects and planners create
cities fit for the future?
Julian Dobson, director, Urban Pollinators

2. One version of the story...
‘Man, by reason of his very nature, practices
order; his actions and his thoughts are dictated
by the straight line and the right angle...’
Le Corbusier, The City of Tomorrow and its
Planning, 1929

3. Introduction: the world beyond the silo
1 The precarious city
2 The puzzled city
3 The people-centred city

4. THE PRECARIOUS CITY
IN A RAPIDLY URBANISING PLANET, NORMS OF CITY LIFE ARE BEING TESTED TO DESTRUCTION

5. THE CONSTRAINED CITY
CLIMATE CHANGE AND RESOURCE SHORTAGES ARE CHALLENGING OUR RESILIENCE

6. THE CORPORATE CITY
WHAT IS ‘SUCCESS’ AND WHO BENEFITS FROM IT?

7. THE CIVILIZED CITY?
WIDENING INEQUALITIES PUT PRESSURE ON THE ETHICS AND VALUES OF SOCIAL LIFE

8. Twenty-four percent of the world’s ‘extreme
poor’ now live in urban areas, up from 18
percent in 1990.
World Bank, Global Monitoring Report, 2013

9. THE PUZZLED CITY
THE 21ST CENTURY CITY IS A PLACE OF UNRESOLVED DILEMMAS

10. GROWTH OR WELLBEING?
HOW FAR CAN WE STRETCH THE RESOURCES OF A FINITE PLANET, AND AT WHAT COST?

11. COMPETITION OR INCLUSION?
IS POVERTY AND DESTITUTION A NECESSARY EVIL OR A CIVIC SHAME?

12. CONTROL OR FREEDOM?
CAN A SUCCESSFUL CITY ONLY BE ACHIEVED AT THE EXPENSE OF PERSONAL LIBERTY?

13. ‘There is little evidence that competitive urban
policy necessarily leads to long-term economic
growth or to just and sustainable development
equally beneficial to different groups in the city.’
Blaz Kriznik, Selling Global Seoul, 2011

14. THE PEOPLE-CENTRED CITY
THREE WAYS FORWARD: PURPOSE, PLACE AND PARTICIPATION

15. THE CHALLENGE OF PURPOSE
CAN THERE BE SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT WITHOUT COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT?

16. THE CHALLENGE OF PLACE
A NEW TOPOS: SHARED STORIES, INDIVIDUALLY TOLD - PLANNING AS CONVERSATION

17. THE CHALLENGE OF PARTICIPATION
FROM HELPFUL TECHNOLOGY TO THE REMOVAL OF WALLS

18. A different version of the story...
‘It is through the performance of creative acts, in
art, in thought, in personal relationships, that the
city can be identified as something more than a
purely functional organisation of factories and
warehouses, barracks, courts, prisons and
control centres.’
Lewis Mumford, The City in History, 1961

19. THE RIGHT ANGLE OR THE WEB?
A CHOICE OF ORDERS: FRAGILE NETWORKS OR UNIFORM BOXES

20. ‘The habits of urban dwellers will largely
determine the health of our ecosystems and the
survival of biodiversity.’
Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias, executive
secretary, UN Convention on Biological Diversity,
2013

21. thank you
www.urbanpollinators.co.uk
Twitter: @juliandobson