Principles for Better Cities: Towards Sustainable Development in Metropolitan Regions, Precincts and Places
by Sustainable Cities Collaboratory | First Published in 2024
In a world as complex as the present, cities need long-term guidance on present and future directions. Principles for Better Cities provides a such a basis for thinking through complexity and then translating principles into practice. It accords with the Metropolis mission to encourage dialogue on basic issues of metropolitan governance.
The authors’ approach is quite unique. At the top level, the principles are intended to be global and inter-civilizational. They are negotiated in the present as the most direct and simple statements that can be made in relation to domains of social life: ecology, economics, politics and culture. At the second and third levels, the principles seek to move beyond big general statements to more precise claims. In their increasing detail, the principles become increasingly attuned to this world, now.
Principles for Better Cities is the culmination of the authors’ collaborative work across five years with over thirty cities, including most recently Berlin, Brussels, Córdoba, Dakar, Guangzhou, Johannesburg, Mexico City, Montréal, and Quito as part of the Sustainable Cities Collaboratory.
The principles have been written in a way that encourages reflection and change. In fact, the authors encourage their rewriting. As Michael MüIler, Governing Mayor of Berlin, says in his foreword, “I commend these Principles for Better Cities to you — not as rigid prescriptions, but as a chance to start a dialogue in your own city. Change the principles the way you change your city — for the better”.
Download Principles for Better Cities here.
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