Cities can be "Stars" or "Diamonds", depending on whether they generate their own energy and light

CorporateNature No 150

"STAR" CITIES SHINE LIKE STARS

All cities are network hubs of some magnitude. However, cities that are at the intersection of many networks often become self-sufficient: they develop a life of their own through the interplay of these networks. In this way, such cities resemble the stars: they emit light from the thermonuclear reactions that take place inside them. The energy released by the stars then powers other systems in the universe (including Earth, for example).

"DIAMOND" CITIES ONLY REFLECT LIGHT, LIKE DIAMONDS

In complete contrast, cities that are the terminus / entrypoint of a single network (e.g. a port at the end of a railway line, whose only purpose is to ship iron ore out of Australia) are like diamonds. A diamond only reflects the light of an external source and can never shine with light of its own. In other words, diamond cities depend entirely on the network and do not take on a life of their own.

KEY TAKEAWAY

A city that wants to continue developing for centuries should focus on joining diverse networks and emitting its own light, thus becoming a "star" city. This will power progress elsewhere and create positive externalities. While "diamond" cities that reflect light that comes from a single network are not sustainable in the long run.

So, don’t be a diamond. Be a star. Or, failing that, at least be a light bulb.

Tokyo: a prime example of a "star" city (Image source: Wikipedia) 

Congestion leads to inefficiency and system failure but does extra capacity restore circulation?

CorporateNature No 149

Congestion leads to inefficiency and failure but it takes systemic measures to unclog gridlocked streets.

1) CONGESTED FRIDGE

If you overfill your fridge, you would struggle to find inside it the food you are looking for. A congested fridge also means that every time you open it, you would have to keep the door open for longer and thus waste energy. And so it goes, until one day you start exploring the source of the bad smell and find a rotten head of broccoli at the back of the bottom shelf. 

2) CONGESTED BODY

If you regularly overeat, excess fat builds up in your arteries, putting increasingly more stress on your cardio-vascular system. Soon something as simple as climbing up the stairs requires a strenuous effort. While the body is sturdy, congestion eventually catches up until one day the heart has had enough. 

3) CONGESTED CITY

If you overfill a city, it becomes not only inefficient but also unwelcoming. Neighbourhoods become overpopulated and polluted, main roads become a time-consuming nightmare to navigate, parks become stressful instead of relaxing. Eventually, the city stagnates economically and degrades culturally until one day people decide to move elsewhere.

4) CAN EXTRA CAPACITY RESTORE CIRCULATION?

In each of these cases, congestion is clearly undesirable. To unclog the system, it often helps to increase circulation capacity:

A) Blood thinning drugs make the five litres of blood run more smoothly around your body.

B) Some 37% of the area of Manhattan is taken up by streets, while aisles take up 75% of the store area of Walmart supermarkets.

Yet, if the anti-congestion measures are not applied in a systemic way, stopgap patches may fail. Hence one of the favourite jokes of stuck-in-traffic Americans is that building more highway lanes to mitigate traffic congestion is like loosening your belt to fight obesity.

Traffic jam in Delhi (image source: Wikipedia) 

Without flow, lakes turn into swamps; Without development, cities become ruins

CorporateNature No 148

If water stops flowing, it turns into a swamp.

If a city stops developing, it turns into ruins.

Both of these "end states" have their role in nature and society: swamps are important habitats for wetland species; while ruins can evolve into tourism hubs or degenerate into quarries for construction material. 

Neither of these would ever be completely still: there will be movement in the swamp when a frog or a bird disturbs the surface; and tourists will shuffle around the columns and arches of city ruins. Yet, these disturbances do not equal progression in a determined direction, as in when a river flows and a living city develops.

Roman ruins (image source: Wikipedia)

Clouds with their silver linings and storms are like Cities with their opportunities and hardships

CorporateNature No 144

Clouds produce both beautiful views and rainstorms depending on your relative position as observer. Cities create opportunities and offer hardship depending on your social status.

1. CLOUDS

Does every cloud have a silver lining? It depends on your point of observation.

You may get to see a silver lining if you are under a cloud looking up towards the sun but this is nothing compared with the vast expanse of silver and silk that you would see if you were flying by plane above the clouds. The way the cookie crumbles is:

A) If you are high up, you are bound to enjoy the resplendent brightness of the clouds beneath you.

Z) If you are under the clouds, you may occasionally see some silver linings but you are quite likely to get soaked by the rain.

2. CITIES

The same principle applies to the world’s cities:

A) If you are well-off or well-positioned in society, you are likely to see cities as exciting places full of opportunities: higher earning potential, access to education and social networks, beautiful architecture and parks, glamorous restaurants, offices and conference venues.

Z) If you are lower in the social hierarchy and at the bottom of the wealth distribution pyramid, you will hardly see many of these opportunities and you will experience a lot of the hardships: high rents, relatively expensive transportation and food, long commutes, crime and insecurity. 

The higher you go, the more the skies beneath will open up for you in your city. The lower you are, the more exposed to the elements you'll be. Sadly, this is how "the cloud crumbles and the city thunders."

Every cloud has a silver lining (image source: Wikipedia) 

Tale of Three Cities: Oak Forests, Aspen Colonies, Bamboo Groves (Part 3: Shenzhen)

CorporateNature No 143

Cities come in different shapes and sizes. If global cities were groups of plants, they could be divided into three categories: old oak forests, colonies of quaking aspens, and fast-growing bamboo groves. 

Shenzhen as a bamboo grove

Bamboo is the fastest-growing plant in the world. Some species of bamboo can grow up to 9 centimetres an hour. 

Shenzhen, in southern China, has emerged as a city as rapidly as a bamboo grove. It was only founded in 1979 when Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping started the policy of opening up China to the world. However, only after 40 years, its population is now 13 million and its GDP of around USD 400 billion is bigger than that of neighbouring Hong Kong. Remarkably, it has also managed to reinvent itself economically: starting from low-cost manufacturing, it has moved up the value-added chain and is now a global hub for computer hardware, finance and fintech.

Bamboo Grove (image source: Wikipedia) 

Tale of Three Cities: Oak Forests, Aspen Colonies, Bamboo Groves (Part 2: New York)

CorporateNature No 142

Cities come in different shapes and sizes. If global cities were groups of plants, they could be divided into three categories: old oak forests, colonies of quaking aspens, and fast-growing bamboo groves. 

New York as an aspen colony

The quaking aspens of North America are the kings of adaptation. They reproduce mainly by growing root sprouts, so an individual tree can create a vast colony of clones. In Utah, the Pando aspen colony is a single quaking aspen (about 8,000 years old) and is the heaviest known living organism on Earth.

Global network cities like New York are the quintessential aspen colony: adapting and changing with the times. It is now the biggest financial centre in the world, but as recently as the 1950s, New York was the hub of the biggest industrial cluster in the US and the industry was garments.

       

Quaking aspen colony (image source: Wikipedia)                     

Tale of Three Cities: Oak Forests, Aspen Colonies, Bamboo Groves (Part 1: Detroit)

CorporateNature No 141

Cities come in different shapes and sizes. If global cities were groups of plants, they could be divided into three categories: old oak forests, colonies of quaking aspens, and fast-growing bamboo groves. 

Detroit as an old oak forest

Detroit is a prime example of a city in decline. It boomed a century ago when Henry Ford founded his Ford Motor Company there in 1903. After Ford, a range of companies set up shop in the city: Dodge, Chrysler and Packard, making Detroit the fourth largest city in the US. But the automotive industry has fallen on hard times in recent decades and the fortunes of the city sank with car-making. In 2013 Detroit filed for bankruptcy.

Downtown Detroit, 1905 (image source: Wikipedia)

Big Cities and Modern Democracies are like Cars: All three need regular maintenance

CorporateNature No 140

1. NEW YORK CITY AND THE “BROKEN WINDOWS” APPROACH

When crime rates in New York City skyrocketed in the 1980s and early 1990s, the local government launched a law enforcement campaign based on the “broken windows” theory. The idea is simple: when you reduce low-level offences such as graffiti, vandalism, loitering, and general public disorder, this creates the perception of a better urban environment, which in turn deters more serious crime. By the late 1990s, violent crime in New York City had dropped by a staggering 56%, compared to a drop of 28% in the US as a whole.

While there is no hard data on the size of the impact of the “broken windows” policy and although other factors such as economic growth played a key role in crime reduction, it seems that improved quality of life for New Yorkers translated into a more orderly society.

2. DEMOCRACIES AND WHAT MAKES THEM TICK

For a modern democratic country to function properly, it needs to implement fundamental principles such as rule of law, freedom of expression, pluralism, freedom of participation in the electoral process, etc. It takes time, effort and multiple iterations to set up such complex cultural and institutional constructs. Once we get them (somewhat) right, we must strive to keep them in good working order. Running a democracy is a continuous process which involves maintaining the overall structure and adjusting to the current times.

Analogous to the New York example, if we live in a democratic environment of sub-par quality, the cracks in the system would make true democracy difficult to maintain.

3. CITIES AND DEMOCRACIES REQUIRE "CAR MAINTENANCE"

Big cities and modern democracies are complex social machines. Your car is a less complicated machine, but its need for maintenance is not all that different.

A brand-new car is like the conceptual idea of a democracy that exists in theory: they are both in perfect working condition. However, as time passes and the car gets driven, it picks up small dents, it gets exposed to the elements, and its mechanisms start to deteriorate. Soon these minor issues add up and if there is no regular maintenance, it gets to a point where the car becomes a road safety concern.

Wouldn't it be better if we took care of the minor issues promptly, rather than wait for them to stack up and overwhelm the system?

Manhattan skyline (image source: Wikipedia) 

Cities are ecosystems of constructive and destructive forces: think of bees and flies

CorporateNature No 139

There are two extremes in human behaviour: constructive and destructive. Constructive activities develop and produce new things, e.g. knowledge, infrastructure and all kinds of human structures that reduce entropy (chaos). On the other hand, destructive activities reduce to ruin existing structures and add to chaos - from a human point of view at least (nature would be free to disagree with us what is constructive and what is destructive).

In the animal world, two insects can represent reasonably well these two extremes: bees and flies.

1. THE CONSTRUCTIVE HONEY BEE

Honey bees are notoriously hardworking, disciplined and organised, as well as forming incredibly complex societies. The result of their productivity is complex structures (honeycombs) and sophisticated products such as honey, royal jelly, beeswax and propolis.

2. THE DESTRUCTIVE HOUSEFLY

To a human, the common housefly is the destructive yin to the honey bee’s constructive yang. Flies spread disease and lay eggs that grow into larvae in the dirtiest places in your house. There is a neat way to get rid of flies, though, without getting your hands dirty: all you need to do is open the window and let it fly back to nature, where the destructive/constructive equation is not a given and not clear-cut.

3. CITIES ON THE CONSTRUCTIVE-DESTRUCTIVE SPECTRUM

Just like beehives, some cities are orderly and productive: think of the Swiss cities of Zurich and Geneva which consistently rank at the top of global quality of life indices. Other cities, especially in tropical regions and developing countries, are a giant mess, with ghettos and favelas. Even the sprawling southern US cities are not a paragon of orderliness, with their notorious traffic jams in rush hour. Therefore, we should be able to forgive Gandhi for being anti-city, having experienced the squalor of cities in India.

Yet, even messy and squalid cities are more productive compared with nomadic communities or farming communities in the countryside. If cities weren't making good use of their human capital, people wouldn't be living there. Cities create their own ecosystems, just as nature does. The constructive/destructive forces in them form a broad and diffuse spectrum, just as nature accommodates both bees and flies.

Honeycomb (image source: Wikipedia)