What Makes A City Great? An American Perspective

[M II A II R II K]

What Makes A City Great? An American Perspective


8 November 2010

By H.V. Savitch

Read More: http://www.planetizen.com/node/46776&rf=wff

Any effort to explain the meaning of a great city is bound to elicit a multiplicity of responses. Journalists often equate a great city with a "hot city" (an influx of people and capital) or with a "cool city" (the presence of jazz clubs, art festivals, etc). More serious accounts tie the "great city" to desirable outcomes, like the ability to effectively govern or bring about sustainable development. Scholars of the subject sometimes infer that a great city is also a "global city." The concept of a great city has been treated as a further step a "world city" can take toward greatness. Despite the available literature on the "great city" the concept suffers from ambiguity and loose meaning.

- The ambiguity in scholarship is matched by the fuzziness of policy makers. Mayors from all kinds of cities aspire to the nomenclature of "greatness" with real effects on policies. When we speak of greatness, we mean that a city holds a certain majesty and prominence. Achieving that status means that a city is extraordinary and distinguished in a number of very important ways. This distinction can be encapsulated in attributes that can be projected across the world. The characteristics can vary from military capacity, to cultural assets, to commercial prowess, to the transcendent propositions of philosophy and religion. Periods of greatness may vary and so too will the attributes that brought a particular city into ascendency. At first glance, it may seem that greatness is a matter of random luck, but in reality we can discern consistent patterns that account for a city's distinct quality.

- One way to envision urban greatness is to comprise it in a simple formulation of the "4Cs", with each "C" respectively standing for currency, cosmopolitanism, concentration and charisma. It is the cumulative impact of the "4Cs" that differentiates a great city from other cities.

- On the one hand, currency connotes the value of something and its ability to carry weight in crucial circumstances. On the other hand, currency indicates a city is up to the temper (zeitgeist) of the times. Currency conveys that a city shapes the world by the value and forwardness of its actions.

- Cosmopolitanism entails an ability to embrace international, multicultural or polyethnic features. In examining how cosmopolitanism shapes a city we recognize it is not the stock of international elements held within a city, but its flow in and around it. This flow enables people and ideas to circulate throughout urban society. More often than not, the interaction across cultures encourages tolerance, pluralism and an ability to absorb different ways of life.

- Concentration is a long-standing feature of cities. As used here, concentration embraces the dual ideas of demographic density and productive mass. Taken together, we might theorize that both high densities and productive mass would lead to the most vibrant cities—first because this kind of city pulsates with human activity all the time and second because it provides material well being for most inhabitants.

- Charisma is an elusive concept because so much of it is based on perception and is commonly evaluated by examining mass attitudes. The image of a city can be an important component of charisma, epitomized in a commanding symbol of one sort or another. Lynch demonstrates how symbols can contribute to the "legibility" of a city, enhance its remembrance and thereby advance a deep seated appeal. To be effective, charisma must be authentic and genuinely reside in the history of a city. Beyond the mere sign of a city's logo is a substantive history which is replete with meaning.

- Within the United States four cities stand out as worthy of being considered "great". The selection of cities was determined by consulting surveys and data from three sources that ranked cities by various definitions of importance. New York is an obvious leader and it is followed, in no particular order, by Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco. We begin with qualitative, thumbnail accounts of how the 4Cs currently work in these cities.........

San Francisco is strong on charisma. Image courtesy of Flickr user Stuck in Customs.






Chicago gets a lot out it's "Second City" identity. Image courtesy of Flickr user Stuck in Customs.