While we are in the midst of what has to be the longest construction boom in the city’s history (it seems to have no end in sight), it’s worth stopping for a moment to think about what a city is. A city is built by humans, obviously. But it does not end with that. A city is not a passive thing or some neutral machine for living. It acts on us and it changes our manners, modes of thinking, and behavior. Our built environment makes us more urban in much the same way that the beaver-made dam made its maker, the beaver, more aquatic.
We know what the water-related features of a beaver are, but not so much the urban-related features of a big-city human. And with good reason. These are harder to define because we are still in the infancy of our urbanization. We are still in the process of becoming the ideal animal of a human-built environment. Beaver-made dams are much, much older than cities.
What does the city want? It wants you to get rid of your stove, your cupboards, your pantry, your racks of pots and pans, your drawers crammed with utensils. The city believes you can make do with just a sink, a few wineglasses and cups, something to make coffee with, and a mini-fridge to keep white wine and perishable snacks. What the city is always saying to us is that the home should be for sleeping and fucking and little else…
