ABSTRACT
Cities are success stories. That’s why they grow so fast. But success stories aren’t problemfree. Of all living species, bacteria are the most successful – but, although indispensable for life, we only notice harmful ones. Of all higher life, humans are the most successful: we just don’t notice the ecological damage we do. Cities reflect this. They incubate cultural development and economic growth – but cause enough CO2 to threaten all life: we just don’t notice it. Cities maximize benefits, especially cultural – but also problems. Wealth contrasts with poverty, overwork with unemployment, luxury with homelessness.1 Problems increase with size: particularly noticeable whenever a bridge joins two riverbank towns into one city.
