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There is an example of a player of SimCity creating the optimal city which consisted of a reusable grid of components ensuring everyone had access to work and s
by rm_-rf_slash 10y ago
There is an example of a player of SimCity creating the optimal city which consisted of a reusable grid of components ensuring everyone had access to work and services within a reasonable distance from their homes [1]. There were a lot of assumptions that went into it - including perpetual access to water and a completely flat layout - but it at least seemed to validate the belief I have had that a city at heart simply needs to fulfil a certain set of needs within a reasonable radius and the people can take it from there.
When I lived in Rome briefly I was astounded at how livable it was. Throw a dart at a map of Rome and as long as you don't hit a major park, ruin, government building or the Vatican, you can reasonably assume that within a walkable radius, you will find grocers, restaurants, convenience stores, bars, hairdressers, gelato shops (there is a LOT of gelato in Rome), and everything else you need in your daily life. The tiny twisted streets barely offer enough room for a single car at a time - and my hat is off to the brave individuals who choose to drive through them - but because everything is so dense, you really don't need a car. You barely need public transit either, unless your place of work is too far to walk most days. It is also worth noting the majority of buildings in Rome are within 3-6 stories high, much unlike the American expectation that city centers feature enormous skyscrapers that pack people like sardines. Ultra-dense Manhattanized city centers may be efficient, but they lack the ancient and livable simplicity of old European cities.
Exception: Australia manages brilliantly to merge dense city centers with far-flung suburbs with an excellent mix of trains, light rail, and busses, which allow residents of large cities to get around easily without needing a car at all.
[1] http://www.vice.com/read/the-totalitarian-buddhist-who-beat-sim-city http://www.vice.com/read/the-totalitarian-buddhist-who-beat-...
- elsurudo 10y agoWhat you describe about Rome seems to apply for many many European cities. Many of them seem to have "mini-downtowns" scattered about, as opposed to the downtown-in-center-and-suburbs-everywhere-else that is common in North America.
- simonswords82 10y agoYep, what you describe is very similar to my experience of many European cities including Barcelona.
- elsurudo 10y agoYes, the Eixample district of Barcelona is a good example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eixample https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eixample Actually it was planned to have a lot more green space (the blocks were only supposed to have housing on two sides so as to leave the other sides unimpeded), but market forces prevailed, and all the green space is now walled off. Shame. The district is still a lot more liveable than basically any place I've seen in North America, however.
- collyw 10y agoAnd that's one of the noisier traffic dense parts of the city.
- malyk 10y agoI stayed off the Urquinaona a couple weeks ago and really enjoyed that area of the city. Yes, there was a pretty high amount of vehicular traffic around that area, but it was full of street life and an easy base to get around the city from.
- Nav_Panel 10y agoI agree with your point but I have one nitpick. > unlike the American expectation that city centers feature enormous skyscrapers that pack people like sardines Most skyscrapers in Manhattan at least are either for commercial use or feature large apartments/luxury condos (designed to solicit foreign investment). Average urban joe working a nebulous media job does not live in a skyscraper, although they may work in one. People in NYC are "packed like sardines" into similar 3-6 story low-rise row houses just like in many European cities. This is because NYC was built up prior to many now-standard zoning regulations, so it follows a more similar pattern to older European cities. The issue is affordability -- apartments near my office would cost 3x or more per month than where I currently live. How does Rome handle this?
- rtpg 10y agoMass transit making distances more manageable without a car, mixed zoning means that there aren't as many areas that are just offices, and areas that are just apartments If all offices are spread around the city , then there's nothing special about the apartment next to the office. Of course the area could just generally be nicer...