أرشيف الوسم: urbanism

Bureaucracy in the one-dimensional city proves catastrophic for a variety of reasons. Linguistically, bureaucracy refers to the unelected administrative governmental body that manages and makes policies in states and cities; while metaphorically, it denotes inflation, complexity, ambiguity, stagnation, obstinacy and sluggishness. Moreover, any city with a development project and future vision cannot succeed while ignoring this disease that kills ambition, impedes development and obstruct the success of businesses.

Bureaucracy wastes resources, time and effort. It is essential to note that every organization has main tasks and secondary supplementary activities. In ideal conditions, the effort spent on secondary tasks should not exceed 20%. For instance, a design firm must spend more than 80% of its time and resources on design, improvement of operations and production. The more this percentage decreases towards the secondary activities — such as governmental transactions, following up permits, etc. — the more the quality of the main product decreases, and the business suffers from financial losses.

Bureaucracy leads to ambiguity. Bureaucratic cities have unpublished plans, and those that are published are not accomplished on time. Further, many tenders are not awarded on time, and those that are awarded face prolonged delays. How can the private sector thrive in an ambiguous environment? Ambiguity deters future forecasting and the proper allocation of human and financial resources.

Bureaucracy leads to closed cities. It forces restricting laws for work and residency. Governments in One-dimensional cities intervene in unnecessary details. Governmental agencies estimate employees number, professions, review contracts and intercede in the type of contract between the employee and the employer. In addition to a long list of conditions and regulations that require a dedicated expert, a genius liaison officer and a rich and forked public relations to allow a business to conduct run smoothly.

In the one-dimensional city, Bureaucracy is rigid and slow. While life’s rhythm is speeding by, the smart business environment shrinks time and space. Indeed, bureaucracy is an obstacle in front of speed and a barrier to change. As such cities that suffer from bureaucracy cannot be pioneer any sector, waste chances and expel creative people and organizations.

The one-dimensional city is ruled by the incompetent and the unqualified. The bureaucratic system expels the competent and cannot absorb the smart, the creatives, and even more importantly, the sincere.

Finally, the ambitious city prioritizes the elimination of the thorny bureaucracy. To seek full transparency, openness, tolerance and the fight of stagnation. It must adapt to good dynamism and consider the need to progress at a speed that is adequate with contemporary life.

As discussed in the previous post, the process of modernization leads to the transformation of our cities into what we refer as “One Dimensional Cities” and is based on the characteristics of standardization.

While markets today provide unlimited selections of products and services, cities and buildings are moving toward standardization. However, it is unsuitable to have a standard design for all our residential districts and neighborhoods. Further, it is not adequate to have a major public building with the same identical design located in the south and the north of country.

One method of resisting standardization is to discover and preserve a city’s soul. A city’s soul manifests in the preservation of historical buildings and in the protection of its unique social and cultural activities. Moreover, the soul of the city resides in its residents and encompasses their potential for creativity and reinterpretation of the latest trends.

A community’s limited vision and weakness of thought lead many cities to seek out becoming global cities. This simply materializes as mimicking other commercial experiences that are thought to be successful. Here, we can see clear similarities between Dubai, King Abdullah Economic City, Silk City and NEOM.

A city that falls in the trap of standardization loses a major competitive edge while weakening its ability to attract residents, visitors and investors.

The key to a unique city is “Authenticity”. As communities lose their authenticity, naturally, their cities lose it as well. When we lose our local accent to global languages and change local dress to international fashion trends, we allow foreign typologies to dominate our cities. The issue is not only in the aesthetics, but as Sharon Zukin states “a city is authentic if it can create the experience of origins.”

Cities can resist standardization and fulfil their potential by:

1 – Protecting historical buildings and reviving historical neighborhoods that contain memories, meanings and symbolic values.

2 – Preserve unique residential neighborhoods, distinguishing each and strengthening a community’s characteristics.

3 – Support local businesses and local brands, protect and promote them.

4 – Support local religious, cultural, non-profit organizations and allow them to be present in cities and practice.

5 – Support creativity in architecture, urban design and landscape architecture. Develop a deep understanding that distinguishes between mere modern forms of architecture and forms that stem directly from a culture and place.

مع الحداثة والتَّقدم تتبنى مُدنُنا نماذج عالمية في الإدارة والتخطيط، وتفقد الكثير من ميزاتها وتتحول تدريجياً إلى ما يمكن أن نطلق عليه (مدينة البعد الواحد).

ومدينة البعد الواحد مدينة شرسة تكون الحياة فيها قاسية، فيما يلي أتطرق لبعض صفاتها:

في مدينة البعد الواحد يكون الاقتصاد هو القائد، والمحرك، وهو المرجعية، ويؤكد على أسبقيَّة البعد المادي على الإنسان، وفي مدنية البعد الواحد يكون النُّمو الكمي هو الأهم، وتكون المصلحة المادية هي الأساس، وتتحول المدينة كلها إلى مصنعٍ منتجٍ، أو سوقٍ للاستهلاك، وتعمل يد الاقتصاد الخفية على ضبط إيقاع الحياة في المدينة، وفي هذه المدينة تُعطى الأولوية للعلاقات التعاقدية على العلاقات الإنسانية، وقد يظن الفرد في هذه المدينة أنَّه حرٌّ، حيث أنَّ مجال الاستهلاك واسعٌ، ولكنَّ الواقع يؤكد أنَّه مقيَّدٌ محدودٌ بالخيار الوظيفي إلى أبعد حدٍّ، غير قادر على النقد والاحتجاج وليس أمام الفرد سوى التَّكيُّف مع الأمر الواقع.

إنَّ مدينة البعد الواحد تسعى للتَّنمِيط في كل مناحي الحياة، وتلغي بالتالي شخصية الأفراد وهوياتهم الخاصة، وتؤمن بأنَّ هناك حلولاً علميةً وهندسيةً يمكن تعميمها على الجميع، وبالتالي فهي تحارب التَّميُّز والتَّفرُّد والتَّمييز، وتعرف ظاهرة التنميط ” بأنَّ كثير من المنتجات الحضارية تصبح متشابهة ونمطية؛ بسبب الإنتاج الصناعي السلعي الآلي الضَّخم … والتَّنمِيط في المنتجات الحضارية يُؤدِّي إلى تنميط في أسلوب الحياة العامة والخاصة”.*

فالتَّنمِيط بالتالي يقضي على الإنسان وحريته، والإنسان بطبيعته يحاول مقاومة إجراءات التنميط والاحتجاج عليها من خلال كسر القوانين واللُّجوء للعنف والإدمان وحتى الانتحار في بعض الأحيان !

والمدينة قد تسعى للتَّنمِيط تحت شعارات العدالة أو التنظيم، ولكنَّ الواقع يؤكد أنَّ التَّنمِيط هو أحد أدوات هيمنة السوق والاقتصاد وروح البعد الواحد على المدينة.

فمدينة البعد الواحد تتغول على المجال العام والخاص، وتعمل على تضييق مساحات حرية الأفراد، وتنحصر مجالات التعبير فيها على الاستهلاك، والتعبير عن الأملاك، ويتمُّ فيها تهميش الروحانيات والثقافة الرَّصِينة والتعبيرات السياسية والاجتماعية.

كما أنَّ من سمات مدينة البعد الواحد، تسلُّط البيروقراطية، حيث يتوه الإنسان بين مجموعةٍ متشابكةٍ من الإجراءات الدقيقة والمعقدة، ويشعر بأنَّه نكرةٌ غير قادرٍ على التَّأثير في المواقف الاجتماعية والسياسية والاقتصادية المحيطة به، ويشعر بالعجز التام إزاء ما يتعرَّض له من ظلمٍ، لا سيما عجزه في مواجهة هذه الإجراءات التي تعمل على هدر جهده ووقته في معاملات قد لا يدرك مغزاها، وتتفاقم معاناته وهو يرى وقته يضيع، مع أنَّه أثمن ما يملك.

ولعلِّي في المقالات القادمة أتطرَّق في تفصيلٍ أكثر لكلِّ سمةٍ من سمات مدن البعد الواحد.

*بعض الأفكار مستوحاة من كتب الدكتور عبدالوهاب المسيري.

As modernization and progress occurs, cities adopt global management and planning methods, and doing so, they lose many of their unique characteristics — gradually transforming into one-dimensional cities. These cities are cruel, and living in them becomes extraordinarily harsh. The following article explores the characteristics intrinsic of one-dimensional cities.

In one-dimensional cities, the economy is the leader, driving force, and reference of success. As a result, economic practices assume priority over the material — and subsequently, over the human. In one-dimensional cities, economic growth proves more important than true societal development. The material interest is the basis, and the entire city transforms into a factory or a marketplace of endless consumption.

The invisible hand of the market adjusts the rhythm of life in the city, and priority is given to contractual relations over human relations. The individual might think that he/she is free — where consumption choices are vast — but in reality, the individual is constrained to only functional choices. In turn, the individual becomes unable to critique, protest and is only allowed to operate within the status quo.

One-dimensional cities seek to standardize all aspect of life, cancelling out an individual’s character and identities. It believes that there exist a scientific and engineering solution to every problem, and these solutions can be applied to all. As such, one-dimensional cities resist and eliminate uniqueness, individualism and specificity.

The standardization phenomenon can be defined where “many of the civilization’s products are alike and standardized through manufacturing production techniques… [,] and this standardization of civil products leads to the standardization of public and private lifestyle”*

Standardization, in consequence, eliminates the human and his/her freedom. Due to their nature, humans make attempts to resist the process of standardization by protesting acts that break the law, violence, addiction, and even suicide! This city might seek to standardization under the slogan of justice or planning; but standardization is one of the tools of the market and the one-dimensional city.

The one-dimensional city invades the private and the public sector and works to reduce their freedoms, as expression is only permitted through consumption and ownership. The spiritual, cultural and socio-political dimensions are also marginalized.

Another characteristic of one-dimensional cities is its sway of bureaucratic procedures — where the individual is lost between a web of complicated and fine procedures, feeling worthless and unable to influence surrounding social, political and economic factors. The individual feels complete deficiency against the injustice faced, including facing the incomprehensible procedures indicative of one-dimensional cities that waste time and effort. Consequently, suffering upsurges as time — an individual’s most valuable asset — is squandered and consumed by one-dimensional cities.

In the following articles, I shall go in detail in every character of these.

*Some of these  ideas are inspired by Dr. Abdulwahab Al Missiri’s books.