Slow Cities

At the heart of deliberations about our cities and towns is an assumption about speed. Whether it’s economists debating the velocity of circulation of money or educationalists the rate of change of technology, the implication is that quicker is better. Ergo we need to plan for places that can move fast.

But speed is not the same as agility. Whether it’s a school corridor or a high street, being aware of one’s surroundings in a thoughful way is a key feature of belonging to a place. Details matter. Moments count. Individuals, rather than systems, loom large.

Successful places are not assembly lines fuelled by high speed empathy. Perhaps we need slower places that build on considered thought rather than blurred impulses.