Designing Cities We Deserve!

Marisa Denker asks what makes people move and stay in certain cities, and avoid or leave others?

Here’s a confession for you. I’m someone that falls in love a lot… with cities. I feel a magnetic pull to certain cities – where the people and space come together to make it a place that’s full of life, connection and engagement across all ages and backgrounds.

But what makes this happen?

For me, when it comes down to it, such a liveable and loveable city is one that’s co-designed – with and for its inhabitants. It’s a city that’s human-centred. A city that listens to those in it. A city that’s built on the needs, hopes and dreams of its people. A city that strives to include people of all ages, ability and backgrounds, and gives them an equal voice. A city where the people feel a sense of belonging, a sense of ownership, a sense of safety and a sense of real connection with each other and with the place. A city that finds beauty in the banal, that surprises and delights you. It’s a city that’s engaging, inclusive and playful.

It’s important to think about how liveable our cities are, and how to make them more so. More people than ever before are living in cities and this number is set to increase to 70 per cent of the world’s population by 2050. Yet, ironically, with more people living closer together, the sense of exclusion and polarisation can still be very high and in some cases is becoming higher.