Musings 7/11 Citichat 14 September 2001

CITICHAT 36/2001 - 14 September 2001


Musings on 7/11

I’ve changed my mind a number of times since Monday about the contents of this Citichat. Then I was thinking of writing in regard to the increasing variety of ways the private sector in South Africa structures itself for dealing with city issues. By Tuesday night, quite numbed by the day’s events, I thought that it might be an idea to pass up doing anything this week at all. But, as this newsletter is meant to provide a personal commentary on cities, city issues and ‘happenings’ I later felt that it can hardly ignore the tragedy that took place and which is still being played out in two of the world’s best known cities this past week. Whilst ‘Citichat’ is personal opinion it is based as far as possible on facts, so it is not a vehicle for emotional outpourings. Therefore I do not want to talk about what has happened this week from the human tragedy point of view, we have the media for that. Rather, to try to comment more pragmatically on the issue from a city point of view.

A couple of weeks ago I recorded the comments of my American friends at our local conferences as to the importance of cities. That they are the economic hub and heart, the icon for the region, the ‘kitchen’ for the community. But in reality none of these capture the intensity yet variety of the experiences that cities offer. For they are so much more, they are the meeting place for every facet of human life be it business or social, community, residential, sport, recreation, education, culture, art, religion, the market, the trading centre - engaging, making, learning, seeking, finding - the melting pot of humanity, rich and poor, legal and illegal, that is drawn like a magnet to seek work but equally to seek social intercourse, companionship and shared experience. None more so than in New York. With its incredibly diverse neighbourhoods, racial, ethnic, economic, social, its teeming mass of millions of people all seemingly in a rush to keep ahead of the highly competitive environment in which they live which makes them often appear impatient and rude. Its streets spurt columns of smoke from underground train tunnels whilst vehicles of every size shape and colour aggressively and loudly negotiate the roads with their never ending bumps and holes, its noises and smells, it has always been for me the epitome of a city. Some say that New York isn’t America just as London isn’t England – maybe, but they are both cities in the true sense of the word. Pumping with sheer vitality, excitement and exhilaration. And EXPERIENCES. Drawing the best of the good and the worst of the bad, for that is what cities are all about, they attract it all.

Both cities’ buildings and bridges are just so representative of their character, London’s dignity and history provides a homogeneity that is never boring. New York’s glitter and its ‘in your face’ brashness makes you have to look for the gems amongst its eclectic offerings of every style and shape and type. And great gems there are, too many to mention. For me the Chrysler Building catches something of the past that I find deeply satisfying. The Empire State is the grand old lady that one never tires of. Wolfgang Koeppen described it thirty years ago as “the tallest building in the city claiming to be the 8th wonder of the world. All of humanity crowds into the elevators for a ride up to heaven. Signposts flash by like vast storm fronts confirming unity. Security guards guide the traffic. It’s as busy as a large train station.”

What is it with structures that they so succinctly define the nature of their settings? The Great Pyramids at Giza, the Tower of London, the Taj Mahal, St. Sophia - all capture the imagination of people throughout the ages. Some become symbols or icons of a single place, others of the cities they are set in and yet others of a whole country or civilisation. Structures are a prerequisite for human life and an ever present factor in our modern world. The delicacy of the Acropolis overlooking the city of Athens, the impenetrable fortress of Masada homogenious with the desert below, the ‘Africanness’ of the Djenne Mosque of Mali, the blinding beauty of the Taj Mahal. Can you imagine Rome without St Peter’s, London without its Houses of Parliament, Paris without the Eiffel Tower, Sydney without its Opera House? All contribute to the ethos and particular character of the city about them. And whilst it is the sheer massing of its ‘tall buildings’ that provides the backdrop to Manhattan’suniqueness, the World Trade Centre – its two soaring, gleaming towers quite dominating the skyline have proclaimed the ingenuity and the high technology of the financial centre of the world.

I look at pictures of prominent buildings and structures that disappeared before my time with a faint regret that I never had the chance to taste their special significance. As a result they are not even part of my personal experience bank. But I did walk, admittedly nervously, on the slab of one of the top floors of the second World Trade Centre tower while it was under construction and open to the sky above and around. Later, as with millions of others, I was exhilirated by the ride to the top and marvelled from its roof deck at the teeming city below. And the Manhattan that is imprinted on my mind will always be confused by their absence. The space they occupied will always conjure up the surreal image of them seemingly imploding on themselves. I love cities, I love New York. I expect the new at the expense of the old. But never like this.