The Use of Knowledge in Urban Development
Nobel prize-winning economist F.A. Hayek s work has important insight for urban planners.
Tuesday, December 29, 2020
This post was written for an essay contest on the question “What would Hayek say today?”
Hayek and other Austrian economists demonstrated that government ownership of the means of production is a sure route to poverty, but today, central planning remains the norm in one crucial area: cities.
In the United States, the Supreme Court determined that cities could designate sections of city land for specific types of development in the landmark case
Euclid v. Ambler. Since then, land use regulation has expanded to include heights limits, parking requirements, and design guidelines across the world’s great cities.
A
Cities, you may have heard, are toast. The argument is straightforward and seemingly incontestable: The coronavirus thrives among close clusters of human beings, and nowhere are humans clustered closer than in big cities. The virus’s toll seems to make the connection plain. New York City, the most populous and most dense urban area in the United States, was also the first to be devastated by the virus.
The pandemic will pass, but many fear that our response to Covid-19 may have ravaged urban economies for good. Lockdowns shuttered bars and turned restaurants into “ghost kitchens” whose primary patrons are overworked DoorDashers. The overnight shift to remote work obviated the need for office buildings and the vast economy that supports their workers, from public transit to corner stores. Online commerce, which had been decimating physical retailers for more than a decade, accelerated its crushing inevitability. Even cultural institutions seem at risk: If “Hamilton”
Farhad Manjoo: Why should we ever return to living and working so close to one another?
Not only are cities worth saving, they are also ripe for rebirth.
(Martin Nicolausson | The New York Times) The pandemic will pass, but many fear that our response to COVID-19 may have ravaged urban economies for good, writes New York Times columnist Farhad Manjoo.
By Farhad Manjoo | The New York Times
| Dec. 24, 2020, 3:34 a.m. | Updated: 3:44 p.m.
Cities, you may have heard, are toast. The argument is straightforward and seemingly incontestable: The coronavirus thrives among close clusters of human beings, and nowhere are humans clustered closer than in big cities. The virus’s toll seems to make the connection plain. New York City, the most populous and most dense urban area in the United States, was also the first to be devastated by the virus.
Why should we ever return to living and working so close together? indiatimes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from indiatimes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.