"Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody."
We all have heard this famous quote by Jane Jacob from her most popular book "The Death and Life of Great American Cities". And almost all urban/town planners talk about this in their work as well. Here's my take on it....
However, I used to wonder how is it possible to create something that's created by everybody. I mean yes, nothing is impossible. But how can everyone conclude on making something that is for everybody. Until recently, when I realized that maybe I am not understanding it in right manner.Â
May it is not about creating "something" for everybody by everyone but "something" for few and few and few and they are counted as everybody and everyone collectively. Just like whole is greater than sum of its parts. As Architects we design a whole building with different rooms for different people which can reflect their personality and preferances and uses individually (if we choose to design that way) and then wolaa it is created by everybody and there's something for everybody. Similarly, a city can be taken as a building with different users and different areas that are designed by them.Â
When I tried to see it this way, it made sense to me. Yes, my first instinctual understanding was this as well. But you know, critical thinking habit make us think everything over and over again so we are sure that we are not missing out anything.Â
Anyways, the point is. Isn't it easy to create something for everybody with their participation? It is. Truly, it is. But the thing that makes this difficult is, lack of acceptance and tolerance towards other's choices. That's what I see as problem. We see that people lack the basic manners of letting others be themselves, letting others have their personal choices as per their interests, accepting their choices and their activities, letting them have the freedom to enjoy it. And that's the reason why people hold themselves back from participating into anything or sharing their opinions because they fear judgement, rejection and bashing. And it's a human instinct to either hold themselves back or fight for what one wants and acquiring it in violent/abnormal manner. This whole scenario makes it difficult for creating "something" for everybody with involvement of everybody.Â
So, if we really want cities that are inclusive and belong to everyone and owned by everyone, we must learn to focus on & cherrish what is there for us & also celebrate what is there for others even if it is not for us. We must learn to be tolerant towards other's choices & personal interests. We must learn to be respectful & acceptable & allow our cities to belong to all of us and not just a small fraction or group (whoever that might be).Â
Placemaking helps with that. How? Placemaking is a process of collaborating with people, to make a place live up to its full potential. The process of collaboration and co-creation requires inter-personal skills and yes intra-personal skills as well so that our inner world doesn't affect the outer world negatively. Relatable to what I said above, right? So if you are a placemaker, read the paragraphs above again.Â
Conclusion here would be, to create something for some people and then the collection of such things will be counted as something for everyone for sure. And just to be clear here, I am not advocating for privatized setups, but for places for common man and general public.
So, is your city and its people capable of providing "something" for everybody? Are your people willing to contribute into making "something"? Do share with us. I am willing to listen all sort of stories.Â