The City and Civic Process
Welcome to a web site dedicated to the idea that the city is a core societal value and that citizens can shape the destiny of their city through the agency of civic process. Cities evolved as centers of civilization and served as principle civilizing agents until the advent of industrialization and the rise of the Nation States. With industrialization came rapid urbanization and the centralization of powers in national centers and multi-national corporations.
The city’s role as a polity and as center of knowledge became overshadowed by its role as a production center and as a place of economic opportunity. When citizens found they were no longer able to shape their collective destinies, they began moving out to suburban and exurban enclaves giving rise to formless, sprawling urbanized regions shaped primarily by new technologies and ubiquitous market forces
But now, with globalization, the development dynamic is changing, the role of cities is on the rise. Even though production activity is declining in cities, knowledge-based activities continue to expand and the city’s role as a center of culture is again taking on renewed significance. Whereas production activities can be uncoupled from their control centers and decentralized, knowledge-based activities remain deeply rooted in cities.
The future of cities basically hinges on two types of factors, those affecting their livability—the attractiveness of its amenities—and those affecting the integrity of knowledge being formed there, i.e., on the enhancement of knowledge cultures based in the city. In a global, knowledge-based society, the development of cities needs to be intentional, i.e., shaped collectively by the citizens of each city. This web site therefore seeks to explore efforts to re-establish the age-old agency of civic process as a way for cities to shape their destiny.
Richard V Knight,...
the
founder, of this web site is author and co-author of several books concerning
the development of cities including Cities in a Global Society. He served as
principal consultant to the European Union’s FAST sponsored study “The
Future of Cities: The Role of Science and Technology” and conducted studies
of knowledge-based development in several cities including Amsterdam, Barcelona,
Delft, Genoa, Lillie, Lyon, Milan, and Vienna and serves as a Counselor, for
city development.
Richard V. Knight
12620 Princeton Road
Huntsburg, Ohio 44046
USA
Telephone and voice mail:
USA 1 440 636 5515
Email:
Richard V. Knight - USA
and
Richard V. Knight
- United Kingdom
Copyright ©2006 Richard V. Knight, All Rights Reserved.
