Question of the Month: What Should Be the Next Urbanism Buzzword?
Earlier this month, USA Today announced in an article that while its practices are still in action, “smart growth” is over as the hot urbanism buzzword. “Intelligent cities” is the hot new phrase. Many have reacted strongly to this statement—us included—so we’re curious what you think the next urbanism buzzword—or buzzphrase—should be, and why. Even if the trend or topic isn’t popular, or hasn’t yet gained traction, we want to hear it. We’ll post a roundup of the best ideas at the end of the month.
Post your responses in the comments below, or send us your thoughts on Twitter @NextAmCity, or post them on our Facebook wall.
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The Daily Buzz
John Reinhardt in Washington DC on Fri, Feb 11, 2011 at 11:23am
Hasn’t it been determined that “intelligent” or “Smart Cities” is the next big thing? I tend to think any oversimplification of the complexities through buzzwords is a shame, but if I had to start thinking about the next concept, it would probably be “Integrated Systems” or “Smart Systems” - I think a systemic approach that breaks down silos is important.
Catarina Bentes on Sat, Feb 12, 2011 at 9:00am
healthy cities…
ML in Habitsville on Tue, Feb 15, 2011 at 5:01pm
“Megaregions”
This is a term being used over and over again
Joshua Vincent in US on Fri, Feb 18, 2011 at 4:37pm
The Self-supporting CIty
Brett Roeth in Washington, DC on Fri, Feb 18, 2011 at 5:01pm
I tend to think that titles, buzzwords, and sound bytes do more harm than good. They are the tools the demagogue employs to distract the public from the real issues and limit our ability to have rational, democratic dialogue. For example, consider the battle between the Congress for New Urbanism and the Harvard GSD over whether “ecological urbanism” is a worthy counterpart of “new urbanism.” While there are certainly differences between these two lines of thought, this battle seems to be little more than petty name-calling. Also, the idea that one buzzword can supersede another presupposes that the buzzwords are in some sort of opposition. In reality, “smart growth” and “intelligent cities” are two very different concepts: the former speaks to how cities are designed, while the latter focuses on how we collect data from cities and leverage that data to make better decisions.
So, I say the new buzzword is no buzzword—let’s just design and build more sustainable, livable, and equitable communities!
Brian in San Diego on Fri, Feb 18, 2011 at 6:05pm
I like Mr. Roeth’s Comment and thinking.
Ladd Keith in Tucson on Fri, Feb 18, 2011 at 7:17pm
Completely agree with Brett Roeth, we’re drowning in meaningless buzzwords as it is.
Craig purcell in Baltimore on Fri, Feb 18, 2011 at 11:31pm
Inside the walls
Leo Hollis in london on Sun, Feb 20, 2011 at 2:53pm
Infostructure .n.
The stuff that makes a city intelligent. the 21st century city equivalent of Bazalgette’s sewers, Otis’s elevator, Olmsted’s plans for Central Park, etc. But the big question is does infostructure come from the ground up or from top down
Jan-Willem Wesselink in Amersfoort, Netherlands on Mon, Feb 21, 2011 at 3:48am
Vital Cities, where planners think interdesiplinary on social, spatial en economic issues.
pepijn verpaalen in amsterdam on Wed, Feb 23, 2011 at 9:35am
Happiness. Sustainability is happiness on the long term. Only if people and companies are happy they will keep on investing in their surrounding (buildings and living areas) and fight to maintain the quality. Happiness is leading in our approach. We believe that happiness is achieved by creating synergy between users, buildings, places and finance.
More information and examples of projects are available at htto://www.urbanos.nl