I am writing a five-part miniseries about cities to consolidate and record my learning about urban planning and economic development. These thoughts represent a synthesis from books, talks, podcasts, conversations, documentaries, and our work at Subcity. Part I is The Location of Cities.
“Underneath the city, there are programs and infrastructure designed to support the buildings, equipment, people, and jobs - the very things that have always made cities engines of upward mobility for humanity.”
-Everywhere Ventures (Subcity investor)
Walking is the original, default transportation method for human beings. Ancient cities that have been excavated or outlined are all shockingly similar in their walking distance across —a diameter of roughly 1.5 miles that one could cover on foot in approximately 30 minutes (15 minutes from the center of town to the perimeter wall).
It is impossible to talk about the layout of cities without talking about transportation.
Cities may seem to develop organically but beneath the bustling surface are transportation decisions and priorities that guide how the “organic” growth of the city will unfold.
There have been three major waves of technology in transportation. Each has impressed its needs on the city and in turn helped shape the city itself. The first started as subterranean trains started running under bustling cities as it was easier to build there than aboveground. London’s metropolitan railroad, precursor to the Underground, was opened in 1863. In 1897 Boston opened its subway lines . New York City followed in 1904, and Philadelphia in 1907. The second big technological change brought the steam engine right into the heart of the city. This required a massive amount of land for rail yards and straight, continuous tracks from outside of the city. This fueled the rise of manufacturing and the interplay between cities and the interior. The third technological change was the automobile. Cars required paved or cobbled streets, fueling stations, and ultimately highways and byways, onramps and offramps. Subways, trains, and cars pulled residents from the concentrated downtown to the surrounding boroughs, suburbs, and counties. Each technological wave stretched the physical distance between home and work but the average commute time remained around 20-30 minutes. The ease and speed which one could get from home to work spurred development around exits, train stops, and subway stations on whatever path these modes of transportation followed.
Most recently, in the years before COVID-19, there was an explosion in micro-mobility. Scooters and rental bikes, most useful for the 1-2 miles between other longer-form types of transportation like planes, trains, and automobiles, were seen proliferating across cities around the world. During COVID-19, to foster outdoor dining, cities have closed miles of roadways to cars and opened them up to bikers, walkers, diners, and general greenspaces. There has been fierce debate if these changes will revert to cars or if this is the opportunity many have been waiting for to “reclaim” the city from the automobile.
The “15-minute city” is a movement championed by a diverse coalition of architects, developers, city planners, and civic leaders. This concept envisions that all a citizen requires, from groceries and child-care, to work and recreation, should be within a 15-minute walk…almost exactly the radius of the ancient city.