Alain de Botton has an idea that beauty is not in the eye of the beholder, when it comes to cities anyways. He also proposes a system for evaluating the beauty of the world's cities (spoiler: most cities don't qualify).
Laura Bliss shares a newly released video by renowned writer and philosopher Alain de Botton that makes strong claims about the beauty of cities—such as the idea that beauty, when evaluated as a characteristic of cities, is not a subjective matter.
"But in the case of cities, beauty is objective, argues Alain de Botton in a provocative new video—and saying that it's not is a danger to the quality of urban life," writes Bliss.
De Botton lists six characteristics as more "scientific" criteria for the beauty of cities, including examples like "order," "compactness," and "a sense of the local."
Remarks Bliss: "De Botton has no problem pointing out which cities meet these standards (Paris, New York, Barcelona) and which ones don't (Phoenix, Munich, but also, 'most cities,' all over the world)."
On that last point, it seems de Botton agrees with Frank Gehry's infamous sentiments about the quality of architecture these days. And in laying out a list of prescriptions, as he does, de Botton's method strikes as similar to that of Prince Charles.
The video can be found below.
FULL STORY: What Makes a City Beautiful?
Op-Ed: What Can Be Done About Toronto's Drabness?
After decades of "just-good-enough when it comes to design," now may be the time for Toronto to take steps to upgrade its aesthetics.
Study: How Beauty Is a Boon for Cities
Richard Florida discusses a study finding a range of connections between a city or neighborhood's aesthetic appeal and its economic health.
What's Missed When Taking the Scenic Route?
An app that plots the most beautiful route across cities made news earlier this month, but one commenter worries about how taking the more scenic route could make it harder to improve quality of life in the "less-than-scenic" sections of cities.
Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly
Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
San Francisco Suspends Traffic Calming Amidst Record Deaths
Citing “a challenging fiscal landscape,” the city will cease the program on the heels of 42 traffic deaths, including 24 pedestrians.
Half of Post-Fire Altadena Home Sales Were to Corporations
Large investors are quietly buying up dozens of properties in Altadena, California, where a devastating wildfire destroyed more than 6,000 homes in January.
Opinion: What San Francisco’s Proposed ‘Family Zoning’ Could Really Mean
Mayor Lurie is using ‘family zoning’ to encourage denser development and upzoning — but could the concept actually foster community and more human-scale public spaces?
Jacksonville Launches First Autonomous Transit Shuttle in US
A fleet of 14 fully autonomous vehicles will serve a 3.5-mile downtown Jacksonville route with 12 stops.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Gallatin County Department of Planning & Community Development
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
JM Goldson LLC
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Jefferson Parish Government
Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Claremont