![“In 1900, just 10% of the world’s population lived in cities. Today more than half of humanity are city dwellers, and with each day that passes this proportion rises inexorably. We are living in a truly urban age. Global cities have become the engines of the modern economy and decisions made in cities touch the lives of every person on the planet. The challenges faced by the world today, from climate change to poverty and inequality, are concentrated in cities and often played out on their streets, in demonstrations and riots. The city has become the theatre of our anxieties as well as our hopes. In a world that is becoming increasingly crowded, successful cities are vital to generate the wealth, jobs and indeed the ideas that will make life on our planet sustainable and fulfilling in the future.”
From “Fast-growing fossil fuel construct”, my piece for this week’s Times Literary Supplement on Living in the Endless City, ed by Ricky Burdett and Deyan Sudjic, and The New Blackwell Companion to the City, ed by Gary Bridge and Sophie Watson.
Extended version here.
[photo © PD Smith]](http://www.peterdsmith.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/P1000721-Nathan-Road-Mong-Kok-Kowloon.jpg)
“In 1900, just 10% of the world’s population lived in cities. Today more than half of humanity are city dwellers, and with each day that passes this proportion rises inexorably. We are living in a truly urban age. Global cities have become the engines of the modern economy and decisions made in cities touch the lives of every person on the planet. The challenges faced by the world today, from climate change to poverty and inequality, are concentrated in cities and often played out on their streets, in demonstrations and riots. The city has become the theatre of our anxieties as well as our hopes. In a world that is becoming increasingly crowded, successful cities are vital to generate the wealth, jobs and indeed the ideas that will make life on our planet sustainable and fulfilling in the future.”
From “Fast-growing fossil fuel construct”, my piece for this week’s Times Literary Supplement on Living in the Endless City, ed by Ricky Burdett and Deyan Sudjic, and The New Blackwell Companion to the City, ed by Gary Bridge and Sophie Watson.
Extended version here.
[photo © PD Smith]
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