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Hank Savitch School of Urban & Public Affairs University of Louisville

WHAT MAKES A GREAT CITY GREAT? PUTTING AMERICA IN A GLOBAL CONTEXT. Hank Savitch School of Urban & Public Affairs University of Louisville.

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Hank Savitch School of Urban & Public Affairs University of Louisville

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  1. WHAT MAKES A GREAT CITY GREAT? PUTTING AMERICA IN A GLOBAL CONTEXT Hank Savitch School of Urban & Public Affairs University of Louisville

  2. London is not a pleasant place; it is not an agreeable place, or a cheerful place or easy or exempt from reproach. It is only magnificent. -- Henry James

  3. GREATNESS DOES NOT EQUAL COMFORT • Parisian new towns vis-a-vis Paris • New York Suburbs vis-a-vis New York City • Tampa, Phoenix, Salt Lake City are comfortable, pleasant places but not great

  4. HISTORICAL VIEW • Jerusalem & Rome: Religion and Politics 6th to First Centuries, CE • Athens & Alexandria: Intellectual (Plato, Socrates, Aristotle, Ptolemy) 6th to First Centuries, CE (respectively) • Venice & Amsterdam: Seaport Trading, 13th and 17th Century (respectively) • Florence and Paris: Art 14th to 16th and 19th (respectively) • New York and Hong Kong: Commerce (20th and 21st centuries) • LA (Hollywood), Seattle & Bangalore: Creativity, Innovation

  5. Greatness • Amplitude, majesty, intensity, prominence • Inner ability to generate unique strength and attributes • Outer ability to project uniqueness

  6. Four Cs of Urban Greatness

  7. Concurrency • Encompass the dominant values, drives and temper (zeitgeist) of the times • Jerusalem: Birth of 3 religions in religious era • Athens: Philosophy in a time of searching • Florence: Art, Birth of Renaissance • London: Economic prowess re industrial revolution • Seattle: Microsoft and digital age

  8. Cosmopolitanism • Gateway to a larger world through trade, culture, immigration, other appeals • Ethnic diversity and multi culturalism -- Athens focal point of Greek City States -- Rome center of a Mediterranean empire -- Venice opening to the Orient -- London foreign business and immigration

  9. Concentration • Centeredness through density and clustering (Jacobs, Porter) • Radial Concentric City • Monocentric and conical spatial form of -- Athens’ Agora -- Rome’s Coliseum -- Venice’s Ports -- Paris’ Golden Triangle

  10. Charisma • Unique and magnetic appeal • The character of a city that signals immediate recognition • Logos -- Jerusalem’s Old City -- Athens’ Parthenon -- Venice’s Canals -- Paris’ Eiffel Tower

  11. Application to American Cities • Revising the definition of “greatness” -- Cities still belong to nations -- Nations are limited in number of great cities -- Cities still project national economies • National level “great cities” as regional cores -- Scaled down yet still outstanding -- Possessing concurrency, cosmopolitanism, concentration and charisma

  12. Four Cities • New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco • Basis of Selection -- Taylor and Laing, highest GNC scores (New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco) -- Boschkin’s “K” cluster of seven variable (New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston and San Francisco)

  13. The 4Cs in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco

  14. Concurrency • NYC’s financial power in a global and transnational era • LA’s film and television presence in an age of media • SF’s banks, insurance and visual character in a time of tourism • Chicago’s niche position as the “second city” with a little bit of everything

  15. Cosmopolitanism • NYC as the immigrant/multi cultural city as both un American and typically American • LA as the Western gateway for Asians and Latin Americans • SF as the great tourist attraction combined with its being the “gay capital” of America • Chicago, again the “second city”; niche position with a little bit of everything

  16. Concentration • NYC with two central business districts (mid town and lower Manhattan); highest central city density in the country • Chicago mid level skyline • SF smaller and lower and skyline; compact CBD and waterfront • LA is the outlier as a low density and poly nucleated (“LA School” claim to “post modernism”)

  17. Charisma • NYC first city to visit, move to or make a career (“The Big Apple”) • LA’s celebrities, its de-centered, outdoor life style (“Sunny LA”) • SF’s urbane beauty, charm and nostalgia coupled to left leaning politics and social tolerance (“City on the Bay”) • Chicago history (gangsters, stockyards, machine politics, sports teams) coupled to a current combination of amenities (“The Windy City”).

  18. Conclusions • Not all cities can be Great Cities -- need “4C” requisites -- it is enough to be a “good city” -- cities still attempt copy cat, superficial efforts (convention centers, sports stadia, invented museums) • Niche positioning possible -- meeting “4C” requisites (structural issue) -- skillful development strategy (agency issue) -- Chicago • City Greatness is dynamic -- conditions change and so do cities -- shifted greatness in ancient, medieval and modern cities -- future shifts to Beijing, Mumbai and Sydney

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