The Trayvon Martin case is an example of how an encounter at the street level in a nominally public space can scale up from the street and become a national public debate about race and racism. In this relatively impromptu speech, Obama puts himself in the position of Trayvon Martin and discusses some of the other ways that racism gives rise to a fear that forecloses the possibilities of open "contact" (Jacobs) kinds of encounters in the public spaces of the city. Note though how gender plays into this dynamic of fear, for when he discusses the now heavily mythologized elevator scene he refrains from putting himself in the position of someone who might be feared. Keep in mind also that this speech is aimed at giving expression to widespread political outrage in the hopes of heading off what could be a violent response to such a verdict (memories of Rodney King and the LA riots). In this regard, watch his hand gestures, which might be expected to emphasize his points with fist thrusts but which come across as being fatigued and lacklustre. Thus, even in his body language he channels the frustration while refusing to channel a forceful reaction, replacing the potential force with a frustrated fatigue.

TED talk on "Walkable Cities"

Urban Planner Jeff Speck does a great TED talk on the value of "walkable cities". A must see! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wai4ub90stQ 

NY Times Article - The Experiences of living in London

I found this article from the New York Times titles 'Lessons From Living in London'. The writer is a New Yorker describing her experiences moving to London, UK. I thought it was a really interesting article to read as the author discusses how one makes a city their own, by becoming a local, and how living in a city is very different to visiting it. The author talks a lot about the neighbourhood feel of London, and I think this is something we all do in each city we live. We always frequent the same areas, we have our favourite places to eat, our favourite stores, and usually our friends live nearby. It was also interesting to note the cultural aspect - the difference of being an American in London.

Whilst this is essentially a travel article, I think it is useful and interesting to read when considering the metropolis.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/20/travel/lessons-from-living-in-london.html?smid=fb-nytimes&WT.z_sma=TR_LFL_20131021&_r=1&

Jane Jacobs meets John Travolta

One could probably have an entire film festival just on films with good sidewalk scenes but the opening scene of Saturday Night Fever is undoubtedly among the best. The soundtrack from the brothers Gibb certainly doesn't hurt either. Here we have all of Jane Jacobs' themes about sidewalk sociality: the different forms of contact (here: the gaze, the glance, the stare, the stop and chat, the shared liminal space) and the public characters (the pizza parlour woman who knows Travolta's usual order, the shopkeeper and Travolta himself). Here too the theme of trust comes up when Travolta tells the shopkeeper he doesn't need a receipt, saying 'I trust you'. That the shopkeeper rejects this trust only serves to emphasize the social fact of its existence, regardless of actual individual reliability (as it turns out Travolta can't really be trusted either as he proceeds to fleece a customer while acting neighbourly). Enjoy!

Today in lecture, Professor Barker talked about separated the reality of the U of T campus and the notion of the film studio, which reminded me of a song by Lorde called "Team", in which some of the chorus lyrics talk about what directors or media captures as representing cities. The lyrics read "we live in cities you'll never see on screen, not very pretty but we sure know how to run free". It could mean that depictions of cities that may seem beautiful and romantic may not be what it is really like to live there, especially if only attractions are captured in the film, show or commercial. It may also mean that (or at least I like to think it means) locals within cities understand and appreciate the hidden treasures that their city has to offer, such as family run bakeries, quiet grassy areas amongst the skyscrapers and back alleyways that provide some peace and quiet within the city.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtdK_Y5iZnU

This is from the website http://urbane.us/welcome.html dedicated to vibe maps of cities, this is their home page blurb:

"NAVIGATE BY VIBE."

"Urbane is a new way of using maps to better navigate the world. Get a sense of place by capturing and discovering the character of your own neighbourhood or new places you're visiting. "

On the website you can scroll around on an interactive map and see how people described the area, the team who created the website talked to people in different neighbourhoods to "translate" the vibe. Thought it was pretty interesting, as well as the New York and Los Angeles maps. This particular map I think is lacking certain vibes. Any thoughts?

Is this what future cities will be like?

After last class' lecture on Modernity, and the different interpretations of what it means, I've come across this website: What does a Smart City Look like?

The "Smart City" reminded me of some features of Modernity discussed in class.  First, the striking amount of new technology used to advance the city to strive towards modernity is mind-boggling. And this makes me realize that moving towards modernity meant that things had to be efficient, productive and progressive. Everyone had to be connected somehow and in some someway (through the internet for example) and the environment had to be as pristine as possible. The technology involved in the whole experience is characteristic of a modern city by nature, suggested by Simmel's article "The Metropolis and Mental Life" (1995).

Second, I think the idea of city management relates very well to city planning / urban planning. In one way, to manage a city is to organize it so that it is 'planned', by this I mean major players in the planning (or people who have a say in the plan) are those of significant power or wealth in a city, who set up the city to their desires. This brings into questions such as the reality of the rich/poor dichotomy and how that comes into play, as this "Smart City" seem to be geared more towards the rich. I could only imagine what the costs of it all would be like... to be able to have 'pristine environments', and internet wherever one goes, and all these high-tech gadgets that tell you how to live your life basically. Put in this way, I feel like cities will be controlling us rather than us 'managing' the city.

Lastly, the idea of a utopia comes to mind as this very much contrasts with the rural, and strengthens the difference between rural and urban life, not only in terms of structure but of lifestyle and standards as well. All the forms of transportation are symbolic, (as seen in the video), they all are very high-tech and symbolize a linear progressive direction to the bright future. The things seen only in movies and video games are becoming a reality as innovative technologies are so easily attainable.

The whole idea of it all seems very ambitious, but possible, perhaps in the future world of innovation and technologies, the future of cities will look something similar to a "Smart City". I'd have to admit though, it all seems very cool! But I can't help but also wonder about our safety, and risk of impersonators or fraud, or people 'hacking' into your life with all these high-tech stuff....

Construction

I was walking through my former neighbourhood today and I realized that so much construction is now taking place there. A former Polish Community Centre has been levelled and a condo building is being built in it's place. The sign of a former mechanical shop has been taken off, the land has been fenced off and building notices put up. Numerous houses are being renovated as well.
I remember reading that Toronto is the city with the greatest number of condominiums in North America. Why do you think this is? Most of these condo's might be in the central Toronto area.
I remember the Polish Community Centre hosting community sidewalk fairs where you could try Polish food and see Polish folk dancing. I remember my father visiting the mechanical shop numerous times.
There used to be an association between people in this neighbourhood across horizontal space  - now community space seems to have become remodelled vertically.
What is foregrounded and what is obscured when our vision becomes orientated upwards?