What I think is the ultimate city?
My perspective on an idealistic ultimate city, would be a city that has a perfect balance between construction/technology and organic natural elements. To create a city that doesn’t control nature, but embraces it with open arms. A city with a maze of transport routes that were environmentally friendly, easy access to places by foot to discourage the use of cars and other fossil fuel burning engines/machines. A city with a sense of whole community, low crime and economically sustainable job and business. Neither the boom or the bust. A city that would take an advantage of the technologies that we have invented as a species to overcome problems succinctly, and to appreciate the best for both humans, and the world we live on.
Two cities, which is the ultimate city?
Personally, from what i gathered in reading this book, I think that the Garden city is the ultimate city. Although on the surface it appears to be a relaxed countryside type of lifestyle, i think it would make the ultimate city, as it has hope for the future even though it may not be the ideal exciting city scene that the metropolitan had. The Garden city has a sense of community, fairness, and respect to its surroundings. It isn’t based on greedy consumption and economic competition between firms or politicians to fight over oil or other dying resources. Instead it has adapted to a new, maybe even old way of life in order to keep the generations going.
What is utopia?
Utopia is an idea of a city or place that is perfect - it is the
idealistic way of life for everyone where everything is in harmony and peace. Utopia can mean various things - living in harmony with nature, having a perfect world where everything is in order, or an ideal society/community. It is the opposite of Dystopia.
What is dystopia?
Dystopia is the opposite to Utopia - meaning that it is the unideal, polluted, depressing way of life or place. It is referred to as a place or a community that is dysfunctional and over all has a negative feel or emotion to it. Nothing is perfect, or close to it.
And which of those words fits which city and why?
Out of the two cities that were described in the book (Garden city and metropolis) i think that the garden city would fit the utopian description better then the metropolis, due to the way it is illustrated and expressed in the book as a fine city with natural recourses and a sense of pure stability. It gives off the impression that the city is somewhat perfect - it has a sense of a sound community, freedom and relaxation along with allowing the natural elements to overgrow and be unleashed. The metropolitan on the other hand, was built to be a lively city that would revolutionize the world. But when population and pollution increased, and resources decreased, the way of metropolitan life seemed to be a impossible future. This city represents the dystopian idea because the city has a sense of abandonment, unpleasantness and a demand for controlling and over-throwing nature, rather then allowing the two elements to get on harmoniously.
-Emily Smith