ABSTRACT
The city is the most complex biological agglomeration, and it must
be consciously regulated and constructively shaped by man. The
demands we make on life today are all of the same nature depending
on social stratification. The surest sign of true community is the
satisfaction of the same needs by the same means. The upshot of
such a collective demand is the standard product. The folding chair,
roll top desk, light bulb, bath tub and portable gramophone are typical
standard products manufactured internationally and showing a
uniform design . . . They are manufactured in quantity as a mass-
produced article, as a mass-produced device, as a mass-produced
structural element, as a mass-produced house . . . Because of the
standardisation of his needs as regards housing, food and mental
sustenance, the semi-nomad of our modern productive system has
the benefit of freedom of movement, economies, simplification and
relaxation, all of which are vitally important to him. The degree of
our standardisation is an index of our communal productive system.
