When we think of cities in antiquity, we
don’t hesitate to think of them in association with their respective
civilizations. After all, the words civic and civilization share
the same root word in Latin, civitas. Similarly, we can now say that we
live in a globalized civilization largely structured on what author Jeb
Brugmann refers to in his new book Welcome to the Urban Revolution as the global City.
However, in our focus as planners on addressing concerns with current development projects and other local issues we might be forgiven for sometimes losing touch with this larger picture: that the city is still the focal point and driver for those processes we refer to as civilization.
