Ciudades con velocidad y forma de la ciudad, en el espacio urbano y en la Las NTIC (Nuevas Tecnologías de Información
organización de la sociedad. y Comunicación) y las tecnologías de transporte 11
movilidad múltiples: Tanto los fenómenos de zonificación, densidad, privado han fomentado, por lo tanto, la
un desafío para los arquitectos, centralidad, axialidad, polarización y segregación concentración urbana y han impulsado la
urbanistas y políticos1 social dependen de estas técnicas y al mismo metropolización. Ella puede definirse como la
François Ascher tiempo generan y orientan su desarrollo. concentración de riqueza humana y material
en las ciudades más grandes. Este proceso está
IV. Las dinámicas del sistema PIB aceleran la ocurriendo en todos los países ya industrializados
metropolización y urbanizados. Es, en un sentido, la etapa
I. La historia de las ciudades está estrechamente Contra los pronósticos de los observadores de siguiente a la urbanización en países que ya están
vinculada a las técnicas de transporte y fines del siglo XIX tardío –como Paul Virilio, casi completamente urbanizados, principalmente
almacenaje de bienes, personas e información o arquitectos y urbanistas como Frank Loyd en Europa occidental y Europa del Norte.
Por esto las primeras ciudades ya necesitaron hábitats Wright–, el desarrollo del transporte privado
densos, sistemas de dinero, contabilidad, escritura, y las telecomunicaciones no ha llevado a la V. Las tecnologías de información no inhiben
técnicas de preservación de alimentos y otros. desaparición de las ciudades y a la dispersión. el desarrollo de la movilización física;
Todo lo contrario. Según economistas como fomentan movimientos reales de todo tipo
II. El sistema de movilidad PIB Paul Krugmann, el proceso a través del cual el Incluso a inicios del siglo XX, los comentaristas
(Personas, Información, Bienes) crecimiento de las ciudades y la concentración del desarrollo tecnológico creían que el teléfono
Estas diferentes técnicas constituyen un sistema de ciertas actividades promueven el desarrollo iba a reemplazar una cantidad significativa
que hoy es completamente interdependiente: del transporte y las telecomunicaciones, genera de contactos personales directos, y por tanto
muy pocos movimientos no involucran en realidad un fortalecimiento mutuo. De hecho, generaría un distanciamiento de los centros de
simultáneamente recursos de estos tres campos. es difícil ver por qué estos desarrollos habrían de actividades. Contrariamente, el teléfono hizo
ir en dirección contraria a las condiciones de su posibles más encuentros cara a cara que los
III. La forma de la ciudad y la organización creación, siendo que las tecnologías que son objetos que reemplazó. Permitió mantener relaciones a
de los espacios urbanos interactúan con las sociales no son independientes de la sociedad, sino distancia, y facilitó la organización de reuniones
técnicas de transporte y almacenaje que están enraizadas en la lógica de la sociedad y creando una nueva escala de organización
El sistema PIB tiene un profundo impacto en la sirven a los agentes que la dominan. urbana. Lo mismo es válido para las tecnologías
Multi-mobility, multispeed city shape itself, on urban space and social serve the agents that dominate it.
organisation. The NICT (new information and communication
cities: a challenge for architects, Zonings, densities, centrality, axialities, polarisation, technologies) and technologies of private transport
town planners and politicians1 functional and social segregation depend on these have thus promoted urban concentration and fed
François Ascher techniques and, vice versa, generate and direct their metropolisation.
development. Metropolisation can be defined as the concentration
of human and material wealth in the biggest cities.
IV. The dynamics of the PIG system accelerate Metropolisation is taking place in all the formerly
I. The history of cities is deeply interwoven with big-city growth and metropolisation industrialised and urbanised countries. It is, in a
the techniques for the transport and storage of Contrary to the beliefs of late 19th-century way, the next stage of urbanisation in countries
goods, people and information (P.I.G.) observers, and of many forecasters –thinkers that are already near-totally urbanised, notably in
Thus, already, first cities needed dense habitat, like Paul Virilio or architects and urbanists Western and Northern Europe.
money and accounting, script, food preservation like Frank Lloyd Wright– the development
techniques, etc. of private transport and telecommunications V. The information technologies do not
has not resulted in the demise of the cities and inhibit the development of the physical
II. Techniques for PIG transport and storage in dispersal. Quite the contrary. As has been mobilities of goods, people and information.
constitute a system explained, notably by economists such as Paul On the contrary, they promote real movement
These different techniques constitute a system Krugmann, the process whereby the growth of of all kinds
and today, they are totally interdependent: there cities and the concentration of certain activities Even at the beginning of the 20th century,
are few movements that do not simultaneously promotes the development of transport and commentators believed that the telephone
mobilise resources from all three of these domains. telecommunications, is actually reciprocally would replace a good number of direct personal
reinforcing. In fact, it is hard to see why contacts, and thus lead to a movement away from
III. City shape and the functional and social these developments would run counter to the the centre of activities. In fact, the telephone
organisation of urban spaces interact with conditions of their creation, since technologies created more face-to-face exchanges than it
the techniques of transport and storage that are social objects are not independent of replaced. It made it possible for people to
The PIG system has a profound impact on society; they are rooted in the logic of society and maintain personal and professional relations at
a distance. It facilitated appointments, created a to freight transport by road and rail, with accelerated rise in property values in the most
new scale of urban organisation. multimodal logistical platforms established physically accessible areas in a way bears witness
The same is true of ICT today. It generates near communication nodes, and to the urban to this change and to the growing relative value of
more possibilities for mobility than it replaces. and interurban transport of people, with the physical, actual (as opposed to virtual) accessibility.
However, it is a different kind of mobility. polarisation of all sorts of activities around By no means the least of the consequences for the
Today, both the business and scientific multimodal stations and road junctions on city is that the attractiveness of an urban space lies
communities operate on an increasingly global the outskirts of cities. The consequence is a in the richness of the multisensory experiences
scale, and much medium-distance mobility has transformation of the urban hierarchies and that it offers. Thus, stores wishing to compete
been replaced by long-distance movement. networks. with e-commerce must offer the possibility of
The spatial scales of economic and social life are However, this model exists alongside another touching and trying their products. The acoustic
expanding along with the speeds at which people, new form of travel, which we could describe and even olfactory design of spaces is becoming
goods and information can travel. metaphorically as percolation. As Zygmunt increasingly important.
Bauman might have written of the liquefaction In parallel, individuals are more and more attracted
VI. The hubs and spokes model of rapid of modernity, the way car drivers filter through to events that give them the opportunity of meeting
transport organisation extends to multiple scales. heterogeneous urban areas could be likened to other individuals, of being together, of community.
Meanwhile, car drivers percolate through the a form of percolation, a capacity to navigate Live experience is valued. Parties of all kinds,
periurban zones labyrinthine environments that have no guiding festivals, big sporting events, communal rituals
The hubs and spokes system is a type of network thread to direct the flows. (parades, carnivals, Halloween), are multiplying.
associated with the development of rapid These events punctuate urban life both spatially
transport systems. Speed means minimising VII. The development of ICT also creates a and temporally. They play a growing role in the
stops, which produces the tunnel effect and sort of paradox: as they become commonplace, design and management of space.
makes it efficient for flows to spread outwards the audiovisual technologies enhance the value
from focal platforms called hubs. of everything that cannot be experienced VIII. Individuals also use ICT to enhance their
This type of reticular organisation obviously electronically or digitally autonomy, to control their own space-time
applies to air transport, with its huge The face-to-face, the ability to touch, taste, There is nothing new in the phenomenon of
airport platforms. It also extends, however, feel, are becoming increasingly precious. The individualisation, of increased personal autonomy;
the Renaissance invention of perspective –the the choices of certain sections of the population. Modern society is increasingly diversified. It
move from a flat representation of the world to one However, even individuals belonging to socially is made up of plural individuals, with multiple
based on the individual’s viewpoint– is a spectacular disadvantaged groups are constantly faced with allegiances. In the past, people who belonged
example of this centuries-long evolution. choices: what to eat, whom to meet and what to to the same social class or lived in the same
Individuals pursue ever-greater intimacy, privacy, do. In his Consumer Society, Jean Baudrillard took place, had broadly similar lives. Today, every
capacity to control their environment. They want the view that this hyperchoice is largely artificial, individual’s life reflects their membership of a
to be able to choose what they do, when they do it, the difference between two washing powders series of different environments, between which
with whom and where. For this they have to be able being purely symbolic. Nonetheless, choice is an they navigate to the rhythm of their different
to move in space and in time. everyday compulsion that is characteristic of life personal and collective histories. Individual
To move in space, they use every method of in modern societies; what we do is less and less behaviour is still socially determined, but it
transport, usually a combination to meet their specific routine or dictated by tradition. We are constantly is more diverse, with latitude for increasingly
needs, from planes to shopping trolleys to suitcases forced to make decisions, in minor matters as well personal combinations. Mobility is both a
on wheels, to trains, trams, buses, cars, motorbikes, as more important things, to choose a husband or consequence and an instrument of this societal
bicycles and rollerskates. To move in time, they wife, a television, a film, a meal, even a religion. For diversification. It is also an increasingly important
employ techniques that enable them to desynchronise religion and traditions too are now modern, in that element in the construction and expression of
and resynchronise, to store and dispose of information they are increasingly a matter of individual choice. each individual’s singular personalities.
and objects easily and quickly. From videos to e-mail So the variety of the choices available to us is
to mobile phones, voicemail and text messaging but becoming socially more important. And mobility XI. A networked social structure: mobilities
also the frozen goods and microwaves that make it has become a key feature of this variety of choices: structure society
easy to eat alone or in company at any time. the more mobile we are, the more choices we have; The possibility for individuals to choose –much
the other side of the coin, though, is that we are more than in the past– who they are and what
IX. With increasing autonomy, individuals also obliged to move in order to be able to choose. they do, in an increasingly diverse society, even
constantly have to choose and the range of though social determinants continue to operate,
choice is growing all the time. Mobility is the X. In an increasingly diversified society, the is gradually altering social ties. While these
primary instrument of these choices pursuit of individual autonomy and the variety were formerly very strong and lasting, because a
True, economic and cultural inequalities restrict of choices generate enormous complexity neighbour was often also a workmate, a relative
and a friend, in today’s increasingly varied society a working environment to a sports club, from a relatives according to a family syntax, in a third
–where individuals choose what they do and with local relationship with neighbours to an emotional with friends in a sporting syntax, etc. They are
whom, and therefore change jobs frequently– social bond with people who live elsewhere but share the word-individuals who constitute the main links
bonds too are often weaker, but incorporated into same interests. between these texts-social fields. They move
increasingly complex networks. In this way, individuals move physically and from one field to another, either physically, or
We see particular people less, but we meet more virtually in distinct social universes, which through telecommunications. When an employee
and more people. Society is thus structured and take a different configuration for each person. phones home from the workplace, this is in a way
functions more like a network, or rather like a Metaphorically, we could liken them to a sort a change of text.
series of networks, a network of networks which of hypertext, like the words that link a group of The various social fields are different in nature.
increases the possibilities of mobility for people, computer texts. Hypertext is the process whereby An individual’s participation in each will vary in
goods and information. we can click on a word in a text in order to access duration and motivation. The interactions may
the same word in a series of other texts. In a be economic, cultural, emotional, reciprocal,
XII. A hypertext society hypertext, the word belongs simultaneously to hierarchical, conventional, face-to-face, written,
In this society, people increasingly switch between several texts; in each one, it contributes to the spoken, telecommunicational, etc. The fields also
networks, between social universes, employing production of different meanings by interacting vary in scale (from the local to the global) and in
a combination of real and virtual methods of with other words in the text, but with syntaxes openness. The networks that structure these fields
communication. that may vary from one text to another. The can take the form of stars, webs and hierarchies.
With the car or the tram, we can move between digitisation of images has created the further And individuals practise code switching, in other
districts for work or entertainment. Likewise, possibility of constructing hypermedia, which link words they juggle with different social and cultural
a single computer screen conveys us in a few texts, sound documents and images (the prefix codes to move from one to another.
seconds from the world of work to the world hyper here is used in the mathematical sense of
of the family. With the mobile phone, we can hyperspace, as n-dimensional space). XII bis. Unequal access to the hypertext
switch instantly from face-to-face chat with Similarly, individuals exist in distinct social This hypertext metaphor can also be used as
friends to remote conversation. Modern methods fields like words in the different documents of a a new way of identifying and analysing social
of transport and communication allow us to hypertext. In one, they interact with colleagues inequalities. The fact is that not everyone has
transfer from one social context to another, from according to a professional syntax, in another with the same possibility to construct social spaces
utilizarse como una nueva forma de identificar y en un número restringido de puntos, incrementando dispersión afecta los espacios urbanos en diversos
analizar desigualdades sociales. El hecho es que así los efectos de escala y densidad y maximizando niveles. Por una parte, genera concentración de
no todos tienen la misma posibilidad de construir ciertas interacciones; por otro lado, algunas otras riqueza material y humana en y alrededor de
espacios sociales en n dimensiones, o moverse funciones, que no requieren densidad o que de ciudades cada vez más grandes: o sea, lo que
fácilmente de un campo social a otro. Para algunos hecho operan mejor sin ella, pueden distanciarse llamamos metropolización.
los estratos de las redes están absolutamente cada vez más de los puntos de polarización. Por otra parte, genera nuevas formas de crecimiento
fusionados: sus campos económico, familiar, local, Este proceso bilateral no es nuevo y ha estado urbano, lo que podríamos llamar crecimiento
religioso están mayoritariamente traslapados. Así, ocurriendo en ciudades norteamericanas desde externo: las ciudades más grandes absorben
por ejemplo, quienes están excluidos del mercado fines del siglo XIX. Sin embargo, con los avances pueblos y ciudades de menor tamaño cada vez más
laboral generalmente no pertenecen a múltiples en el transporte y las telecomunicaciones, su escala lejanos en su perímetro de funcionamiento diario,
campos: suelen vivir en grandes conjuntos de e intensidad han aumentado. constituyendo de esta manera territorios urbanos
viviendas, dependen de una economía local Las tecnologías para el transporte y almacenamiento extendidos y discontinuos, que incluyen a la ciudad
informal e interactúan principalmente sólo con de personas y energía permiten concentraciones y el campo, el pueblo y la metrópolis. La unidad de
miembros de su propia comunidad. cada vez más grandes: por ejemplo, con complejas estos nuevos territorios depende del transporte y
La capacidad de moverse a través de una serie combinaciones de ascensores y escaleras, nuevas las telecomunicaciones.
de campos abre potencialidades que no son técnicas de construcción, nuevos sistemas de Hemos utilizado el término metápolis para
igualmente accesibles para todos. Como resultado aire acondicionado, es posible construir centros describir estas nuevas entidades urbanas, estas
de esto, la movilidad física y virtual se está comerciales de varios miles de metros cuadrados ciudades extendidas, heterogéneas, discontinuas
convirtiendo en un elemento de importancia bajo un mismo techo. y policéntricas.
creciente en la generación de desigualdades Además de lo anterior, el transporte privado y el
individuales y sociales. uso de las comunicaciones inalámbricas, incluso XV. Nuevos centros urbanos
para internet, están incrementando la dispersión Ciertos autores han adoptado la noción de no-lugares,
XIII. Las ciudades y el uso del transporte y urbana al causar que los habitantes de la ciudad una palabra que el antropólogo Marc Augé tomó
las TCI: polarización y dispersión busquen más lejos aún espacios más amplios y de Jacques Duvignaud, Michael de Certeau y, en
Los métodos rápidos de transporte llevan a que más bajos precios. cierto modo, de Melvin Webber. Para Marc Augé,
in n dimensions, or to move easily between be distanced from the polarisation points. of city growth, what we might call external
social fields. For some, the network layers are This two-way process is not new and has been growth. The biggest cities absorb towns
completely collapsed: their economic, family, going on in North American cities since the end and villages from further and further away
local, religious fields largely overlap. So for of the 19th century. However, with improvements into their perimeter of day-to-day function,
example, those excluded from the job market in transport and telecommunications, the scale thereby constituting distended, discontinuous,
do not generally belong to multiple fields: they and intensity have increased. heterogeneous urban territories, containing city
usually live in big housing estates, depend on an The technologies for the transport and storage and countryside, borough and metropolis; these
informal local economy and mainly encounter of people and energy are mobilised for ever new territories are held together by transport
only people from their own locality. larger concentrations: for example, with complex and telecommunications.
The ability to move through a series of fields arrangements of lifts and escalators, new building We have used the term metapolis to describe
opens potentialities that are not equally techniques, new air-conditioning systems, it is these new urban entities, these new kind of
accessible to all. As a result, physical and virtual possible to construct shopping centres of several stretched, heterogeneous, discontinuing and
mobility is becoming an increasingly important thousands of square metres under a single roof. polycentric cities.
element in the generation of individual and In addition, private transport and the use of
social inequalities. wireless communications, even for the internet, XV. New urban places
is adding to urban dispersal, with city dwellers Certain authors have adopted the notion of
XIII. Cities and the use of transport and constantly looking further afield for more space non-places, a word that the anthropologist Marc
ICT: polarisation and dispersal and lower prices. Augé has borrowed from Jacques Duvignaud,
Fast methods of transport lead cities to evolve Michel de Certeau and, in a way, from Melvin
in two directions. On the one hand, a number XIV. Metropolisation and metapolisation Webber. For Marc Augé, we are experiencing a
of functions can be concentrated at a restricted This two-way process of polarisation and proliferation of non-places and the disappearance
number of points, thus increasing the effects dispersal affects urban spaces at every scale. of places. By place, he means a space that is
of scale and density and maximising certain On the one hand, it results in human and material identitary, relational and historical. For him, our
interactions. On the other hand, some other wealth being concentrated in and around ever supermodern world is “surrendered to solitary
functions, which do not require density, or which larger cities –what we call metropolisation–. individuality, to the fleeting, the temporary and
in fact are better served otherwise, can increasingly On the other hand, it generates new forms ephemeral”, and the spaces constituted for the
purpose of transport, transit, commerce, leisure, shopping centres and malls with cafés, newspapers in your seats; using your mobile phones would
are precisely the spatial matrices where direct and public entertainment; or in new ephemeral be inappropriate; and even chatting quietly to
interaction between people has ceased. spaces, particularly raves and festivals, which your neighbour would allow only very limited
There is thus a close link between this very temporarily make use of all sorts of places. communication.
pessimistic vision of supermodernity with its So it would seem that mobilities, real and virtual, are On the other hand, the cafe terrace outside has
notion of the non-place, and the development not causing the demise of the city or of places, but all the characteristics of the hyperplace: it is a
of transport and telecommunications, with are in fact generating new forms of city and place. single space that permits mobilities of all kinds,
the spaces that they engender, with the social discussions and social relations and activities. In
relations that they are perceived to destroy. XV bis. From place to hyperplace fact, to take up some of the concepts of William
These theories are particularly attractive to This hypermodern society with its hypertext Mitchell, you could even add a few giant flat
those who are nostalgic for certain old forms of structure generates hyperplaces. These hyperplaces screens and a little bit of virtually enriched reality.
urbanity, or who promulgate a whole mythology are first of all spaces with n dimensions; for instance, You will perhaps say that it is not exactly a very
of the European City and its sociability. places where individuals can, if they want, practise new place: quite true, but it is a very urban place;
Unlike Marc Augé, we consider that there is no different activities quasi simultaneously in multiple in a way, it is a modern form of the agora, enriched
dissolution of places into non-places, but rather social fields, and with the people they have chosen over time by new elements to make way for new
the constitution of new urban places, and that, in to be with, whether they are actually or virtually practices. Now all we need to do is to incorporate
fact, the spaces of mobility, of transit, of passage, present. The hyperplace is a potential space, with the new methods of transport, communication
are particularly favourable to the emergence multiple physical and social dimensions, which and exchange; to adjust to the new rhythms
of these new places. For one thing, airports, offers individuals possibilities for practical and of life; to make possible overlapping activities,
motorway service areas, stations, shopping relational choices. crossbreeding between public and private,
centres, leisure parks, are, in Marc Augé’s I would say that the space we are in now is hybridisation between interior and exterior…
definition, identitary, relational and historical not really a hyperplace: you are pretty much
spaces. Secondly, all sorts of urban places are obliged to listen to me. Sleeping here, while I XVI. The à la carte 24/7 city, on foot, on
today emerging or re-emerging. In traditional am talking, is socially difficult, because it would horseback and by car: the challenge of
public spaces, squares, boulevards; within private invite disapproval. Getting up to go elsewhere is multimodality and intermodality
spaces, as evidenced by recent developments of impossible for most of you, since you are trapped Citizens of the hypertext society increasingly live
XVI. La ciudad à la carte 24 horas al día, 7 días mínimo. Parte del potencial de estos espacios pasado y en busca de un paraíso urbano perdido;
18 a la semana, a pie, a caballo y en auto: el desafío queda demostrado en Architecture on the Move, la los encargados del transporte público que no
de la multimodalidad e intermodalidad exposición presentada por el Instituto City on the saben como dar servicio a estas áreas suburbanas
Los ciudadanos de la sociedad hipertextual viven vidas Move en el pabellón francés de esta Bienal2. y que quisieran que la población viviera en
con movimientos constantes y multidireccionales. grupos fácilmente transportables; los ecologistas
Día y noche viajan alrededor de esta metápolis XVII. Aprendiendo a hacer la ciudad veloz y de preocupados del consumo de energía debido al
distendida y multipolar, utilizando diversos medios baja densidad desparramo urbano; los alcaldes que de hecho
de transporte, ya sea en un solo desplazamiento o Para las autoridades de la ciudad, los urbanistas y financian la mayoría de las entretenciones utilizadas
bien alternativamente, dependiendo de su destino, la los arquitectos, el objetivo es producir nuevos tipos por la población de las comunidades externas.
hora, el clima, y de por quién estén acompañados... de lugares y crear una nueva urbanidad: generar La mayoría de estas preocupaciones merecen
En una ciudad heterogénea los transportes, públicos espacios adecuados a los ambientes, prácticas y ser tomadas en serio. Es verdad que deberíamos
y privados, tienen distintas ventajas y desventajas relaciones sociales que se dan en ellos. tratar de preservar, o más bien desarrollar, las
dependiendo del lugar y las circunstancias. Esto no es tan difícil en una ciudad ya existente, con altas cualidades específicas de las ciudades antiguas que
La calidad y eficiencia de una ciudad, por tanto, densidades y donde las identidades pueden construirse encontramos principalmente en Europa.
depende de su capacidad de ofrecer múltiples en base a nuevos elementos contextuales. En general, Es verdad que necesitamos encontrar soluciones
soluciones, ofrecer la más extensa gama de opciones yo diría que esto sabemos cómo hacerlo. Ello no innovadoras para proporcionar transporte a los
posible para decidir a dónde ir y cómo llegar allí. En significa que siempre lo hagamos bien, pero no nos numerosos habitantes de las áreas periféricas de baja
este contexto, la intermodalidad y la multimodalidad faltan ejemplos que puedan servir de inspiración para densidad que no tienen vehículos propios (niños,
son las condiciones clave para la eficiencia de cada tipo el diseño urbano en estas circunstancias. En cambio, personas discapacitadas o de escasos recursos) o
de transporte. Los estacionamientos de automóviles, sabemos mucho menos cómo hacer la ciudad en zonas que no tienen acceso al transporte público.
vistos como el foco de un importante cambio modal, de baja densidad, en espacios fragmentados, por Es verdad que necesitamos proteger los recursos
se están volviendo cada vez más importantes, sin donde la gente se mueva rápida e individualmente. naturales no renovables, restringir las emisiones
embargo frecuentemente se les trata menos como Muchos arquitectos y urbanistas responden a estos de dióxido de carbono, y que la expansión urbana
un lugar que como un mero espacio para almacenar problemas proponiendo la eliminación de las zonas espontánea constituye una amenaza en este sentido.
automóviles. Del mismo modo, muchos lugares discontinuas y de baja densidad en las ciudades Finalmente, es verdad que en la mayoría de los
de transporte continúan siendo percibidos en europeas. En este punto, tienen un vasto espectro países democráticos las instituciones políticas locales
términos técnicos estrechos, con un valor urbano de apoyo: gente nostálgica de las ciudades del se adaptan mal a la nueva escala metropolitana. No
lives of constant and multidirectional movement. Move Institute in the French pavilion at this paradise. The public transport bosses who don’t
Day and night they travel around this distended Biennial2. know how to service these suburban areas and
and multipolar metapolis, using different would like the populations to live in easily
methods of transport, either successively in XVII. Learning to make the city with speed transportable groups and ecologists worried
a single journey or alternately, depending on and low densities about energy consumption due to urban sprawl.
their destination, the time, the weather, who For city authorities, town planners and architects, City mayors who in fact finance most of the
they are with… In a heterogeneous city, the then, the aim is to produce new types of place, to central amenities used by the populations of
different types of transport, public and private, create a new urbanity, in other words to make outlying communities.
have different advantages and disadvantages places that suit the ambiences, practices and Most of these concerns deserve to be taken
depending on place and circumstance. social relations that take place within them. seriously. It is true that we should try to preserve,
The quality and efficiency of a city, therefore, That is not too difficult in existing city, where or rather to develop, the specific qualities of the
depends on its ability to offer a multiplicity densities are high and where identities can be ancient cities found notably in Europe.
of solutions, to provide the widest possible constructed out of new contextual elements. It is true that we need to find innovative solutions
variety of choices in deciding where to go and Overall, I would say, we know how to do it. That to provide transport for the many inhabitants of
how to get there. In this context, intermodality doesn’t mean we always do it well, but we are low-density outlying areas who do not have
and multimodality are the key conditions for not short of examples to inspire urban design in access to cars (children, people with disabilities,
the efficiency of each type of transport. Car these circumstances. In contrast, we have much the less well-off, etc.) or to public transport.
parks, as the focus of major modal change, less idea of how to make the city in zones of low It is true that we need to save non-renewable
are becoming increasingly important, but they density, in fragmented spaces, where people natural resources, restrict carbon dioxide
are often treated less as a place than as a mere move around quickly and singly. emissions, and that spontaneous urban sprawl
space for storing automobiles. Likewise, many Many architects and town planners respond to constitutes a threat in this respect.
transport places continue to be perceived in these problems by proposing the elimination Finally, it is true that in most democratic countries
narrow technical terms, with minimal urban of discontinuous and low-density zones in local political institutions are ill-adapted to the
value. Some of the potential of these spaces European cities. In this, they have a wide new metropolitan scale. Nonetheless, a return
is demonstrated in the Architecture on the spectrum of support: people nostalgic for the to the past reflects a reactionary principle that is
Move exhibition staged by the City on the cities of the past and in search of a lost urban undesirable in itself, and is unrealistic in terms of
en términos de las políticas que podría implicar. están dispuestos a viajar y gastar dinero por una buena las personas, los tiempos y lugares de la movilidad
Es una ilusión creer que podríamos retornar a un estilo de comida con amigos, en casa o en un restaurante. cobran mayor importancia: el transporte requiere ser
vida de un pueblo o de una vida centrada regionalmente, Todo esto es un gran desafío para los urbanistas más conveniente, más económico y más agradable.
en donde todo lo que hacemos sucede localmente. actuales: necesitan ser capaces de planificar Más aún, el transporte ya no es simplemente un
Indudablemente, deberíamos tratar de reintroducir algún la urbanización de ciudades discontinuas, de medio para llegar de A a B: es una parte de la vida
comercio local, pero a juzgar por las numerosas encuestas, espacios urbanos de baja densidad, de ciudadanos por derecho propio, y merece ser valorado como tal.
es seguro que esto haría aumentar la cantidad de viajes veloces, y a la vez mantener los valores de la El movimiento debería ser también un gusto.
necesarios. La división del trabajo no se revertirá y el empleo ciudad existente, continua, peatonal. Finalmente, también debería recalcarse que la
utilizará espacios urbanos cada vez más extensos. No hay movilidad tiene un costo económico, social y
vuelta atrás en la demanda por una mayor diversidad XVIII. La movilidad, sin embargo, no es sólo medioambiental. La generalización del movimiento
cultural, y la cultura y el ocio seguirán generando un un desafío para arquitectos y urbanistas...está que estamos experimentando implica que individuos
desarrollo urbano a gran escala. tan profundamente enraizada en nuestras y grupos de personas deberían ser capaces de
Por tanto, necesitamos crear modelos urbanos sociedades urbanas que es también un controlar su movilidad, que esta movilidad debería
nuevos, que combinen altas densidades de población importante tema social y político contribuir al establecimiento de identidades sociales,
y una mayor polarización para ciertas actividades y Primero, la movilidad es indispensable desde un que los movimientos de algunos no deberían afectar
grupos sociales, con niveles de dispersión crecientes. punto de vista económico y social. Hoy en día, desfavorablemente la vida de otros, que el transporte
Necesitamos hacer las ciudades no sólo con lugares la movilidad es una condición clave de acceso al de bienes y personas no debería dañar la herencia
colectivos de vivienda y casas urbanas, sino que mercado laboral, a una vivienda, a la educación, a la natural y cultural, y que la energía que se utiliza no
también con espacios discontinuos, casas individuales cultura y el ocio, a la familia...El derecho a trabajar, debería comprometer el futuro de nuestro planeta.
con grandes jardines privados, parques temáticos, a tener una vivienda, a recibir capacitación, ahora Estos son los desafíos de la movilidad sustentable.
aeropuertos, estacionamientos, etc. Necesitamos implican el derecho a la movilidad. Ciertamente, no es fácil encontrar soluciones para
hacer la ciudad para ciudadanos que algunas veces se En cierto sentido, este derecho a la movilidad este sistema de ecuaciones económicas, sociales, y
trasladan a pie, pero también se mueven a 50 km/h; es una precondición de los otros derechos; se ha medioambientales. Sin embargo, es por esta razón
para ciudadanos que comen en cadenas de comida convertido en una especie de derecho genérico, con que la movilidad se ha convertido en un tema
rápida, que comen y beben mientras se transportan una importancia social creciente. fundamental para las democracias actuales.
the policies that it might entail. increasingly attracted to quality food and are the times and loci of mobility assume growing
It is an illusion to believe that we could return prepared to travel and spend for a good meal importance: transport needs to be more
to a village or district-centred lifestyle, where with friends, at home or in restaurants. convenient, more economical and more pleasant.
everything we do takes place locally. Certainly, All this is a major challenge for today’s town Moreover, transport is no longer simply a means
we should try to reintroduce a few local shops, planners: they need to be able to design the of getting from A to B: it is a part of life in its
but judging from numerous surveys, it is a safe urbanity of discontinuous cities, of low- own right, which deserves to be valued as such.
bet that this would increase other journeys. density urban spaces, of speedy citizens, while Movement should also be a pleasure.
The division of labour will not be reversed still maintaining the values of the existing, Finally, it should also be underlined that
and employment will occupy ever larger urban continuous, pedestrian city. mobility has a cost, economic, social and
spaces. There is no going back on the demand for environmental. The generalisation of movement
more cultural diversity, and culture and leisure XVIII: Mobility, however, is not only a we are experiencing implies that individuals and
will continue to generate a urban development challenge for architects and town planners… groups should be able to control their mobilities,
on a large scale. It is so deeply rooted in our urban societies that these mobilities should contribute to the
So we need to invent new urban models, which that it is also a major social and political issue establishment of social identities, that the
combine high densities and greater polarisation First, mobility is indispensable from an economic movements of some should not adversely affect
for certain activities and social groups, with and social point of view. Today, movement is a the lives of others. The transport of goods and
increasing levels of dispersal. We need to make key condition of access to the job market, to people should not damage natural and cultural
the city not only with collective accommodation accommodation, to education, to culture and heritage, and that the energies they employ
and town houses, but also with discontinuous leisure, to the family... The right to work, to should not mortgage the future of our planet.
spaces, individual houses with large private accommodation, to training, now incorporates These are the challenges of sustainable
gardens, theme parks, airports, car parks, etc. an implicit right to mobility. mobility.
We need to make the city with citizens who In a way, this right to mobility conditions the It is certainly not easy to find solutions to
sometimes travel on foot, but also at 30 mph; other rights; it has become a sort of generic this system of economic, social, societal and
with citizens who snack in varieties of trendy fast right, of increasing importance to society. environmental equations. However, it is for this
food outlets, who eat and drink on the move (on Secondly, as mobility increasingly becomes a reason that mobility has now become a major
foot, in cars, in trains). But they would be also factor in the day-to-day lives of individuals, issue for our democracies.