How we can design timeless cities for our collective future | Vishaan Chakrabarti

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4.1 • 11.9K Ratings

🗓️ 25 June 2018

⏱️ 13 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

There's a creeping sameness in many of our newest urban buildings and streetscapes, says architect Vishaan Chakrabarti. And this physical homogeneity -- the result of regulations, mass production, safety issues and cost considerations, among other factors -- has blanketed our planet in a social and psychological homogeneity, too. In this visionary talk, Chakrabarti calls for a return to designing magnetic, lyrical cities that embody their local cultures and adapt to the needs of our changing world and climate.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This TED Talk features architect and author of the Sean Chakrabody, recorded live at TED 2018.
0:08.9	Travel with me to some of the most beautiful spots in cities around the world.
0:15.5	Rome's Spanish Steps, the historic neighborhoods of Paris and Shanghai,
0:21.6	the rolling landscape of Central Park,
0:26.6	the tight-knit blocks of Tokyo or Fez,
0:32.6	the wildly sloping streets of the favelas of Rio de Janeiro,
0:41.2	the dizzying stepwells of Joypour,
0:46.5	the arch-pedestrian bridges of Venice.
0:51.0	Now let's go to some newer cities,
0:56.6	six downtowns built across six continents in the 20th century.
1:03.8	Why do none of these places have any of the charming characteristics of our older cities?
1:10.7	Or let's go to six suburbs built on six continents in the 20th century.
1:16.5	Why do none of them have any of the lyrical qualities that we associate with the places that we cherish the most?
1:22.8	Now, maybe you think I'm just being nostalgic.
1:26.6	Why does it matter?
1:32.3	Who cares if there is this creeping sameness besetting our planet? Well, it matters because most people around the world
1:38.3	are gravitating to urban areas globally.
1:42.3	And how we design those urban areas could well determine
1:45.0	whether we thrive or not as a species.
1:50.0	So we already know that people who live in transit-rich areas,
1:56.0	live in apartment buildings,
1:58.0	have a far lower carbon footprint than their suburban counterparts.
	...

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