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[entremet]

https://medium.com/@oscarboyson/the-future-of-cities-ba4e26c807fe#.nu396jeza

It's only 18 minutes.

What does “the future of cities” mean? To much of the developing world, it might be as simple as aspiring to having your own toilet, rather than sharing one with over 100 people. To a family in Detroit, it could mean having non-toxic drinking water. For planners and mayors, it’s about a lot of things — sustainability, economy, inclusivity, and resilience. Most of us can hope we can spend a little less time on our commutes to work and a little more time with our families. For a rich white dude up in a 50th floor penthouse, “the future of cities” might mean zipping around in a flying car while a robot jerks you off and a drone delivers your pizza. For many companies, the future of cities is simply about business and money, presented to us as buzzwords like “smart city” and “the city of tomorrow.”
I started shooting the “The Future of a Cities” as a collaboration with the The Nantucket Project, but it really took shape when hundreds of people around the world responded to a scrappy video I made asking for help.

Only 18 minutes, but urban life is going to be a huge part of the future. Love or hate it.

Some stats, (cribbed from Kottke.org)

• An estimated 70% of the world’s population will live in urban areas by 2050. (It’s currently 54%.)
  
• Buying a Toyota Corolla in Singapore costs $140,000.
  
• In 2012, 52% of the cost of US highways and roads was paid by general tax revenue rather than by drivers (through gax tax and tolls). In 1972, it was only 30%, which means car usage is much more heavily subsidized than it used to be.
  
• When you buy a car in Denmark, you pay a 150% tax, even if it’s electric.
  
• And a relevant quote from Jane Jacobs’ The Death and Life of Great American Cities: “Lowly, unpurposeful, and random as they may appear, sidewalk contacts are the small change from which a city’s wealth of public life may grow.”

I'm surprised we rarely talk about the cost of roads and such in terms of national deficit. I know they're essential, but it seems we're subsidizing the wrong things, both from an economical and environmental perspective.

I long for Japanese style bullet trains across the US and more public transportation in bigger cities a la New York.

 

[gaugebozo]

I have recently started to travel for work from Detroit to the NYC area. Being able to take a train basically anywhere, even up and down the coast, is a revelation and I hope that public transportation like this will be incorporated in more cities in the future.

Unique to Detroit, we have one of the lowest population densities of any major city. There are some truly amazing things that could be done when there's a growing downtown and suburbs with millions of people with places that have one house per block in between.

 

[Escape Goat]

I'm in my 30s and I'm growing tired of city life finally.

 

[entremet]

I'm in my 30s and I'm growing tired of city life finally.

You don't have to live in the city per se.

But if you look at the major growth hubs in the world--all around huge cities with surrounding suburbs.

I don't hate suburbs. Some people need that space. It's more that we should spend out our money wisely.

For example, how many people complain about their car commutes stuck in traffic? What if those commuters had access to high speed commuter rail instead, where you can nap, read, relax and play games.

Everytime I visit my family in the suburbs I get annoyed at needing to use a car for the simplest of errands. So it's not a call for everyone to move into a tiny apartment. That's not realistic.

 

[efyu_lemonardo]

Good film, thanks for sharing.

 

[Bubba T]

Interesting video. I wasn't aware of the stats but it does make sense. A lot of what is described in the video clashes with American culture and I'm wondering how we could change.

 

[broncobuster]

No sarcasm, I really do love the optimism on display.

 

[ferrasvansen]

Yeah I'm getting tired of city life, been forty plus years and the 4 years I stayed in small towns in the 90s still ranks high in my memories, would love to retreat to the Highlands and Islands in Scotland just for some restbite.

 

[Messofanego]

Public transport is the best. Especially here in Europe.

 

[Desi]

I very much enjoyed that video. Loved how it mentioned what worked well in each city without combining it to a whole. I feel that was the problem with Monocle's book "How to Make a Nation" where is focuses on throwing everything in a blender.

Really enjoyed the vibes, shared on my timeline and all.