Cities

There are any number of thoughts, perspectives and views on cities these days, especially with the current situation.  But even before the pandemic, it was clear that there is a severe lack of consistency in the way we think of cities; the places many (most) of us live our lives. I think there is a place we can look, however, to find clarity about the way cities came to be, what they mean, and how we might think of them today, and into the future.

I was fortunate to have had a professor, then colleague, and ultimately great friend and mentor who, I believe better than anyone, understood these complex issues and was able to communicate them with the clarity and simplicity we can benefit from today.  

The legacy of his life, unexpectedly and tragically cut short before he was able to get all this on paper, is the recordings of his core class, the History of Urban Form. This is a class he created and then refined over almost four decades.  But don’t be fooled, this isn’t a typical history class, taking us through a parade of images and dates, rather it is a sort of unifying theory of cities.  At its core, his understanding of cities proposes that they are comprised of two orders, the constitutional and representational.  This is explained, briefly, in the accompanying link. 

https://vimeo.com/432320572

If you are interested in hearing much more about this, please listen to the first lecture in the series:

https://youtu.be/4QigggmU1ME

Or see all the lectures on our YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgx_nxAT2qVcBsrP0G7d3ng

Every couple of days, I am going to send each of these short, incredibly insightful, excerpts from the more than 30 lectures we have. I hope they resonate with those of you that are concerned with the planning, design and future of cities.  

When Einstein said, ‘If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough,’ he was talking about Doug Allen, who explains the most seemingly complex issues surrounding cities with elegant simplicity.

Our website:  https://www.dougalleninstitute.org

Thanks!