of Lewis Mumford
What is the city? How did it begin? What have been the phases of its development? Is it destined to disappear, or will our planet turn into a huge urban hive, which would be, for individualized cities, another way of disappearing? Will the needs that led people to this way of life one day receive the satisfaction that Jerusalem, Athens or Florence once promised? Is it still possible to build a city that allows people to pursue harmonious development?
Before thinking about a new mode of urban existence, it is necessary to understand the historical nature of the city and the evolution of its primitive role. We will then be better able to consider the decisions that are incumbent upon us. It is up to us to direct our efforts towards the fulfillment of the most profound human value; or else to suffer the automatism of the forces that we have unleashed.
Through this masterful work on the role of the city in history and on the history of cities, Lewis Mumford brings to light certain crucial points which, due to their universality, are more relevant than ever.
“The first cities were to raise their stone edifices, to oppress or to gather, to attack or to protect, for peace and for war, to impose themselves by force and by friendship.”
“In the city, the overall increase in wealth and population was to be followed by a differentiation of another kind: the separation between rich and poor, a consequence of an important new concept, the right to property. Property, in the sense currently attributed to the term, did not exist in primitive societies: the people were attached to the land more than they were its owners; and in times of plenty and scarcity, they shared its produce. The state of artificial scarcity that binds the worker to his task, while the bosses get richer, is a pure product of civilization.”
“The right to property was considered sacred in the city, and it was protected all the better as the separation of classes became more pronounced. Human life was not subject to as many guarantees as a title deed (…). But here again the distinction between rich and poor was bound to have repercussions: the scale of penalties varied according to the class to which the offenders belonged. (…) This was, in the excellent expression of Giambattista Vico, the “barbarism of civilization.”
“The tragic struggle against the elements and the forces of a hostile nature gave way to the prospects of an inner drama that does not find its solution in a material victory, but in a keener awareness, a richer development of the mind.”
“And if one of the essential goals of the city is to offer new possibilities for dialogue and conflict resolution, progress in this direction would consist of widening the circle of those who are capable of participating, so that in the end each man can have his say in this vast conversation.”
From the ancient city to the modern megalopolis, the primary requirement for a city is to be a place of encounter and dialogue. The exclusion, the marginalization of an ever-increasing part of the population, is the very expression of the failure of a society that thus loses its raison d’être.
Also, faced with this disintegration and drawing on the lessons of history, Mumford does not hesitate to envisage a dark outcome: “Is not the great silence that descends on dead cities more meritorious than the verbose slogans of communities that know neither impartiality, dialectical oppositions, the irony of criticism, stimulating dissimilarities, rival theories, nor indomitable moral resolution?”
The book, divided into coherent chapters, is easy to read and presents no difficulty for anyone who has acquired a minimum of culture.
But it is true that the present totalitarian organization of the city no longer really allows for this kind of acquisition.
Translated by TerKo with the help of a free translation tool.
The City through History
Lewis Mumford
The Test of Facts
Rebound:
- “URBAN PLANNING” – A Primer on Social Ecology (Coming soon)