The Fifth Megacities lecture:

The fragmented city and the role of the architect
Lord Richard Rogers

15 November 2001 Lord Richard Rogers gave the fifth Megacities Lecture. In the Rolzaal in The Hague he spoke about the poor state of the British cities and about the recommendations for improvement by the Urban Task Force he chaired. In a co-review Aaron Betsky commented on Lord Rogers' confirmed love for cities. The evening was rounded off with a discussion moderated by the Dutch State Secretary for Culture, Rick van der Ploeg.

Lord Richard Rogers - The serious consequences of Thatcher's laissez-fair policy

Lord Rogers announced that his speech would differ substantially from the printed version in the Megacities publication. He began by praising the Netherlands for showing the most sophisticated way to deal with the urban environment. No other country has done so much to tackle the critical problems of the cities. In the United Kingdom the situation is roughly the reverse. Conditions in the cities have gone down sharply since the Thatcher administration. A look at the average 'high street', for example, shows the poor quality of the public space in British towns.

There have been more serious consequences of the laissez-faire policy of the eighties. Shops have abandoned the city centres and moved to malls in the periphery. Mixed use, a traditional quality of inner cities, is disappearing and the transport system has deteriorated dramatically. Cities in other countries can teach Britain how to do better. The public transport in Strasbourg or Curitiba may be used as a model, just like the public spaces in Copenhagen.

As it is our duty to improve our planet, in stead of eroding it, we need sustainable cities. Such cities are compact, polycentric, diverse, ecologically aware, based on walking, well connected, well governed and socially fair. High densities and high standards of housing can go together well, as is demonstrated by the early Victorian terraced housing in Notting Hill, London. With hundred dwellings per hectare the area is extremely popular - and expensive. It proves that a compact city, if well designed, can be an attractive place to live.

In 1998 Lord Rogers was appointed chairman of the so called Urban Task Force. This government task force was asked to make recommendations to improve cities, so people are attracted back to the inner city areas. It concluded that the cities in the United Kingdom need design excellence, social well being and environmental responsibility. No less than sixty percent of urban development areas can be found in former industrial estates ('brownfields'). Thus there is no need to extend urban areas much more - a lesson that even the Dutch may take to heart.

We must recognise that a city is like an organism. It needs a centre and neighbourhoods as its main components. Only well balanced cities can fulfil the conception which has its origin in the Renaissance: a place to meet people and to exchange ideas. Unfortunately the United Kingdom has lost the skill to design cities that are set up on the basis of communities.

Aaron Betsky - We should allow cities to fall apart

In his co-review Aaron Betsky fully agreed with the measures to cure the cities that Lord Rogers proposed. "These are the things one should do, you cannot be against it." Yet he criticised Lord Rogers' premise that in the end cities are - almost by definition - socially and ecologically beneficial. Essentially a city is a mass produced imprisonment, full of injustice. Furthermore they devastate the environment. Sprawl brings us much nearer to nature, Betsky stated somewhat provoking.

Still we find the city exciting, because it gives us the stage where we can develop a personality by inventing our role. The city is the ultimate embodiment of capitalism that offers us the illusion that 'we can make it'. Inner cities are in fact themed environments; the alleged historic Amsterdam 'grachtengordel' (canal belt) was eventually re-invented at the beginning of the 20th century.

To find beauty and meaning in cities we look for points of stimulation that are often hidden and unstable. They tend to move - if necessary out of the city. Thus we should allow cities to fall apart, to become collages of 'urban moments'. What the Dutch call the Randstad or Deltametropool, is in fact one of the best examples of such a collage. Dutch architectural firms like OMA, Kees Christiaanse and NL Architects are promoting the hybdridity that is a condition for such collages. They build attractors that are iconic and strong. According to Betsky that is what architecture is needed for.

Debate

Rick van der Ploeg opened the discussion by asking Betsky if he is against the pursuit of cities that are ecologically and socially sound. No, said Betsky, we need planning that is conducive to social and environmental justice. Only, this ambition should not be restricted to the city. The instruments of architecture and urbanism must also be used to tackle non-urban conditions, like distance and exclusion. Betsky: "We should make the post-cities work. We need better sprawl."

Lord Rogers insisted that, given their high densities, cities are more sustainable and more efficient than suburbia, with its low densities. For Lord Rogers Los Angeles and Phoenix are frightening - in Betsky's view these cities teach us more than a historic city like Amsterdam.

Van der Ploeg confronted Lord Rogers with the phenomenon that in the Netherlands the vast majority of families prefers to live in suburbs. Only the lower classes with little money and the happy few who can afford an expensive dwelling remain in the city. Lord Rogers responded that in Paris, London and New York, the most wanted (and most expensive) areas are the quarters with the highest density. "If the city works, there appears to be a tendency to move in. If it does not work, people move out."

Then Van der Ploeg postulated a dilemma: the time for blueprints is over, but a laissez-faire policy is even more disastrous. According to Betsky cities need tactical interventions these days, in stead of strategic planning.

After the moderator had given the floor to the audience, Ole Bouman (chief editor of Archis) pointed at the distinction between the ways Lord Rogers and Aaron Betsky appreciate the city. Betsky first responded that he was not sure if he likes cities; later he was prepared to state - for the sake of rhetoric - that he does not like them. On the other hand, Lord Rogers confirmed that he loves cities, because they give people a chance to encounter.

Architect Kas Oosterhuis called into question if physical distance still matters in an era of electronic communication: "These days networks are stronger than the monuments we call cities." Lord Rogers did not agree. He is convinced that information technology has, on the contrary, the opposite effect: it strengthens the need for encounter in the real world.

Rick van der Ploeg closed the talks by saying that he agrees with both speakers. He agrees with Lord Rogers' passion to put the people first and with his plea for a city where all functions come together. He agrees with Betsky's 'reality' that most people prefer not to live in cities, but in row houses which the Dutch call 'doorzonwoningen'.

Olof Koekebakker

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