23/06/2020
The city is not merely a repository of pleasures. It is the stage on which we fight our battles, where we act out the drama of our own lives. It can embrace or corrode our ability to cope with everyday challenges. It can steal our autonomy or give us the freedom to thrive. It can offer a navigable environment, or it can create a series of impossible gauntlets that wear us down daily. The messages encoded in architecture and systems can foster a sense of mastery or helplessness. The good city should be measured not only by its distractions and amenities but also by how it affects this everyday drama of survival, work, and meaning.
- Charles Montgomery, Happy City