Evaluating World Culture Through City Planning and Design
SUBMITTED BY MCP DATE 04 - 04 - 2010

All of the students involved with WorldTour have been asked to decide if there is indeed a world culture and to what extent it does or does not exist. I have swayed back and forth in the debate, but in this brief essay I will described the shared interest in building rehabilitation, post-war reconstruction, and transit-oriented development that cities throughout the world hold in common. From a design/city planning perspective most cities were laid out along a navigable river, port, or important transportation route. These ancient cities have sectors that have survived from many periods in history: some with medieval neighborhoods composed of narrow, twisting roads of cobblestone with a variety of building facades, others with late-Georgian townhomes fronting on lush green landscaped parks. These spaces are unique and effective as modern spaces, while they may need modification for requirements of today. Europe does an excellent job of preserving and rehabilitating historic buildings, structures, and streetscapes to meet their needs. This preservation of historic fabric not only maintains their cultural heritage, but connects them to other cities throughout the world through a shared past. Other cities were modified or were forced to redevelop only in recent history, either because of post-war or post-occupation reconstruction. Cities found throughout the Baltic States and Europe have struggled to maintain historic character in some cases or in others, have completely rebuilt anew. These cities share a common culture of destruction, followed by a period of growth, rebuilding, and reassertion of their own design influences. For example Riga, Latvia, suffered major losses during WWII and was occupied by the Soviets for decades, giving rise to Soviet-style architecture. After independence the city rebuilt its city centre and is trying to revitalize the city through reconstruction. The cities in Europe are willing to restore and preserve their past and utilize it for future growth. Too many cities are being tied together by the (antiquated) need for the automobile. Dubai is plagued by design-via-highway mindset and is completely dependent on the automobile, while cities in China are willingly destroying neighborhoods to create vast highway systems. China sees the automobile as a status symbol of the west and is abandoning traditional means of transportation. This trend, while reversing in the US, has not yet reached the developing world and will impact city development for years to come. Other older cities like Paris and Berlin have been able to utilize vast avenues and boulevards put in place earlier in the 20th century to meet their car demands, while Dublin has put long tunnel systems in place to divert traffic from the airport under the suburbs. Other cities are more proactive in the infrastructure battle. London, the first city to have an underground metro system in place, is like most other cities throughout the world in using public transportation with great success. These cities are looking to the future and the need to have alternative forms of transportation in place. WorldTour students have learned firsthand how important these metro lines, bus routes, and street trolleys are to the life-stream of city-life. Urban dwellers from Madrid to Paris and even in Beijing rely on public transit to go about daily life. No matter what country you may find yourself, you can easily (but sometimes tightly) get where you need to go with ease and in most cases on time. The world is truly a melting pot and despite our differences, culturally, ethnically, or regionally, we have many shared design values. City design was influenced by the past and in most cases cities throughout Europe are willing to protect and rehabilitate themselves. Others are tied together by a past of repression or destruction by war and their ability to move past it. And finally, infrastructure needs of today and in the future are a common concern of all large cities. Is there a world culture? There most definitely is, and I believe that today's city planning and design needs, challenges, and success stories are just one example of how that world culture is expressed. The top image shows a bird's eye view of Paris and how the broad avenues dissect the historic city, with the Arc de Triumph as a focal point. This is a more attractive way in which to handle auto traffic. The bottom image is of Riga, a city attempting to restore its historic core while looking to the future with new growth and construction in the distance.