Re-Imagining the Modern City: Can We Design for Community Again?

A recurring theme in Lyceum conversations is the decades-long decline in community life. Sociologist Robert Putnam, and many others, have identified the design of modern cities as a chief cause of the problem. We live in distant parts of the city, work in other parts, enjoy ourselves in still others, and get from place to place isolated in cars. Historically, cities were organized by the traffic of foot and hoof, dwellings stood alongside shops and businesses, and all were oriented around shared public spaces and buildings, like civic buildings, parks, and churches. How did our cities become shaped away from a community focus, what are the effects of that today, and can anything be done here?

Host or Publisher St. Paul Lyceum