For too long, we’ve approached #cities, #places and #communities like engineers working in a factory. Influenced by the scientific and industrial revolutions, this mindset deeply influences the way governments, institutions and many businesses are structured and operate.
The engineering-based terms used to describe how things are done reveals how powerfully this thinking dominates: inputs, outputs, processes, efficiency, effectiveness and scaling.
A factory production line is a good representation of this worldview. A key aim of a factory is to maximise efficiency through process optimisation. The role of governments in this approach is similar to a factory manager. Given the machine (place) is very complicated, places should be controlled and managed by knowledgeable experts employed in service-delivery silos in centralised bureaucracies.
The implicit role for communities and businesses is to passively fund the machine, outsource responsibilities to governments and demand customer service.
This approach works well with logical, engineering-based services such as sewerage systems, roads and rubbish collection. Given the lack of these basic services 100 or even 50 years ago, the past dominance of this approach to deliver necessary services to people is understandable.
But, the machine or service delivery model doesn’t work very well with more complex issues, such as:
😶 Loneliness and social isolation
🙁 Loss of community and social cohesion
🤧 Mental and physical health
🌳 Environmental degradation
🤨 Falling levels of trust in governments, institutions and each other
🎉 Creating thriving, healthy, social habitats for people
"From traffic engineers to economic development specialists, the professions have often retreated into ‘silos’ that separate them from each other and can make it difficult for them to see and understand the overall needs of urban areas, their citizens and the natural world", says Ethan Kent from PlacemakingX.
"It turns out that viewing government as a machine to be optimized misses something very fundamental about public service. Rectifying this requires more than simply focusing on what government is doing. We must reflect on the being of government — the underlying values, beliefs and assumptions", says Adrian Brown at Centre for Public Impact.
Next week, we'll profile an alternative approach that views cities, places and communities as living systems.
If you would like to learn more about the placemaking mindset, check out our Creating Great Places online course. Learn at your own pace with inspiring and practical self-paced online learning that you can fit around your busy schedule.
https://lnkd.in/g9zed_KJ
Town Team Movement Seth Kaplan Cormac Russell Social Life Project Fred Kent Placemaking Europe Hans Karssenberg Mathilde Riou Helene Gallis Ramon Marrades Adam Chyliński Germain Briand Colin Bass Jane Ellery Jane Rogan Planetizen Edward Erfurt Jon Alexander Yanling Lin
