Cities are hardest to live in for those deprived of a say in their design.
We were perusing a review from the Urban Times of day one of the inaugural New Cities Summit taking place in Paris this week. It’s a pretty quick little synopsis of what we’re sure was a day full of more big ideas that could fit in one little blog post. One line caught our attention in the summary of an afternoon panel session. The line summarizes an argument made by Ricky Burdett, Director for the London School of Economics Cities program.
… Most notable in the discussion was insistence on the part of Burdett that cities were the hardest to live in for those deprived of a say in their design…
We feel like we’re perpetually writing about public comment, open houses, and stakeholder meetings in general, and we’ve been seeing a lot lately about the subarea and EIS planning processes in the MLK and South Downtown neighborhoods in particular.
The line from the Urban Times gave us pause for one, because it reminded us of the importance of doing everything possible to welcome under-represented, marginalized, and potentially alienated groups to the discussion. The line can read a second way too; it reminds us of the importance of inviting all voices to be a part of the decision-making, and compromise-making. Not all stakeholders are going to have the same vision, goals, needs, and priorities for a neighborhood or a city, but if we’re all going to live here, it’s important that we all take ownership of the compromises that are absolutely necessary for the city to continue to function. Every voice needs to be at the table. Compromise is a part of life, but getting involved in the decisions leading to the compromise can make your life better in the long-run.
That said, we encourage each and every one of you who doesn’t feel your views or priorities are being addressed by the City to take full advantage of your opportunities to speak up – at the MLK Sub-area Plan Open House this week, at public comment every week at City Council, and wherever else the opportunity presents itself. Maybe tonight’s Citizens’ Forum at City Council is the perfect opportunity to voice your concerns or support for an issue… Go ahead, take the chance to make your own life easier. And then the real challenge: don’t just say your piece and then stonewall or run out the door; stick around and engage in the conversation. Get involved.
Read the full summary of the New Cities Summit 2012 from the Urban Times.
Filed under: Get-Involved, General
3 comments
S sooperhooman May 15, 2012
This is not meant as a slight or an insult by any means, but I doubt your article (or other Exit 133 articles, in general) reaches many who you describe as “under-represented, marginalized, and potentially alienated groups” of Tacoma – sadly.
J JJ May 15, 2012
One difference between some city governments.
I know of a local city government whose main concern is for the well being and welfare (safety too) of its residents.However the city of Tacoma’s government has it’s main concern aimed for the well being and welfare of its employees and project expansion plans rather than for the well being and welfare of it’s residents (except for the rich of course or developers or other greedy business concerns).The concern of the government of Tacoma is mostly all about money and development rather than people.
F fredo May 16, 2012
People are happier if they have a say in the design of their city… according to the story.
This is why we have council meetings with public discussion, neighborhood council meetings with public discussion, pta meetings, stakeholders meetings, business district meetings and all the attendant committee meetings with public testimony. The sad truth is that a lot of the decision making regarding development in a city occurs behind closed doors and pursuant to market forces that the typical person has no way of influencing. Of course any final decision will always be presented in such a way that the public thinks they played an instrumental role. This is the magician’s oldest trick…slight of hand.