I listen to a lot of audio non-fiction. My AirPods? Essential. Audible, BBC Sounds, NPR and Apple Podcasts. That’s how I stumbled onto Strong Towns, an unapologetically American take on urbanism.
Yet, for all its red, white, and blue framing, it routinely spotlights issues that transcend borders. I was in Nottingham for a Premier League match —Nottingham Forest versus Fulham (a brutal 1-3 loss, if you must know)—wandering the city streets while absorbing a discussion about how U.S. cities approach parking.
Later, poking around the Strong Towns website, I landed on this essay. The title resonated so deeply that I borrowed (part of) it for this post.
I ask myself this question, a lot. I was a radio producer by training who became a chief operating officer (COO) by practice. But now? Now I’m - what, exactly? If this essay is anything to go by, I might just be an aspiring urbanist.
The passage that hit home for me described how an urbanist must see a city in its full complexity:
How would an economist see this issue? How about a civil engineer or a city planner? A transportation specialist or a developer? A politician? How about a social scientist, who can possibly predict the big picture effect of change in our cities?
It takes a perspective that includes at least some knowledge and understanding based on all of the above disciplines to understand how every city issue or project has multiple levels of impact — many that are unseen, on a broad range of other areas and people than just the expected or intended target.
This is how I approached being a COO - synthesising expertise across domains to ensure decisions were made at the right time, by the right people, with the best possible information.
So imagine my delight when I read the next part:
While a city planner is, by definition, an urbanist, the typical urbanist does not have the formal training or education to be a city planner.
Checks CV. Nothing about city planning. And yet, Arian continues,
An urbanist is the person with the responsibility of taking that next step to understand the unique complexities of city life and activity beyond just what we see with our eyes.
Urbanist then is not a formal role. It is a perspective, a way of thinking. Anyone can claim the title, so long as they:
.. care to look deeper into the inner workings of city dynamics. It is the citizen who cares for their city like they would a friend, with a heartfelt desire to appreciate and understand.
What the heck am I? I am not there yet but I know where I want to be.