“What is A City ?”
Written by Lewis Mumford
Summary by Scott Rogers
In this writing Mumford proposes that a city is “A theater for social action”. To Mumford this means the sociological interactions that occur between the urban population. Mumford states that a “city is a collection of primary groups and purposive associations”. The primary groups (families, neighborhood) are present in all communities. The purposive associations however, are a characteristic of the city. Mumford makes this point evident in the following quote “It is only in the city….that man’s more purposive activities are focused, and work out, through conflicting and cooperating personalities, events, and groups, into more significant culminations”.
Mumford regards groups as the distinguishing factors of the city. Group activity is created in the city which creates social drama. Without this social drama “there is not a single activity performed in the city that cannot be performed in the open country”, this illustrates the importance of social groups and their interaction as the most important element in the city to Mumford. He also claims the physical organization of the city may or may not enhance the social drama and art, politics, and education may make the drama more significant. The plans and buildings are symbolic of the spirit of the city and Mumford states that the physical organization of the city therefore “should be subservient to it’s social needs”.
A critical factor in urban studies is size. Mumford’s view on this issue is that population size should be expressed “as a function of the social relationships to be served”. Elaborating further he states there is an optimal size beyond which growth limit’s the social benefits. Physical size also has a maximum area of expansion beyond which growth paralyzes rather than furthers social relationships. Population size and area are the most important tools in planning to Mumford as they influence social intercourse.
Mumford calls for “Polynucleated cities” which are clusters of communities that are spaced, sized, and populated at optimal levels. These levels are far below that of a city of a million inhabitants which he believes has disabilities. One example of these disabilities are the land values which stand in the way of effective adaptation to new needs. In conclusion he states that this city shall be the ideal prototype of the future that needs to be deliberately planned regionally for the necessary social benefits of it’s citizens.
I agree with most of Mumford’s ideas in this writing. The notion that the distinguishing factor between the city and the open country are the diverse sociological interactions and the purposive associations and activities which allow for significant culminations to occur. I believe the clustered cities are a nice notion to fill the area between large cities and the countryside. However, if they were the only cities in existence they would not be very exciting and create the notoriety or individuality among other traits of the large cities of the world today.