This video is missing a whole lot of things and saying a whole lot of bullshit. You don't need to try to give a tip in their video. It's already fucking disastrous and unsavable
I saw this video around the time it came out, I was 19 and it really struck a chord with me. Now I'm 23, I'm studying architecture. I've probably referenced all the principles multiple times to my peers. Coming back to it now revitalizes my conviction of what's said here. Thank you so much for making this video, I hope I will be able to make it some justice.
Chris Høydahl hopefully you make something beautifull, cosy, green, nice, warm, original but familiar city’s in the future. And please look at THE beauty of former medeaval city’s.....
@Chris Høydahl what are your views on modern architecture. For me, I'm a thorough traditionalist in terms of architecture. Videos like these just reinforce my view that modern architecture has ruined our cigies; is that viewing the same for you, too?
Though I would add that many cities outside of Europe are also simply breathtaking but just dont have enough publicity. Take Islamabad as an example. Originated in the 1960s, it is a beautiful, carefully planned city. You can check the city's aerial view out on youtube. Seriously, check it out, the city is indeed breathtaking : )
Things to make a good city; 1. Dense, not sprawling 2. Good walkability 3. Good public transport and not much car infrastructure (roads, highways, parking) 4. Good, fitting architecture that matches local materials 5. Lots of green space, parks and street trees.
But it is bad when density is clearly prioritized compared to green space. I often see when in already dense cities green spaces are often sacrificed for even more density.
he said meaningfull building, for things we love, but didn't add Architecture that reflexts historical importance. A part of the reason most of the loved cities are old is in the fact that they are old AND well preserved. It's nice to see a building with a knowledge that that building reflects a style of building from long ago. all over Europe it's common knowledge that older churches are worth preserving, while we don't go to them very much anymore, we do understand their historic importance of connecting communities and the extra effort that often went in building them. historic contents and connection can even help to start loving a building you found ugly at first glance..
The problem is, if there is too much public transport, you would end up having to stop at 20 stops, and that is not good. Diving by car is personal transport. Despite pollution, it is more convenient than public transport. I think what we should do is make a system of pods everywhere so we can combine the smoothness of trains and the convenience of cars. Right now, in the US and UK, travelling on a train sucks but the reasons are different: for the us, the top speed of trains is only 50mph and they often have to give way to freight trains, and in the UK, the trains are overcrowded, there is a series of cancellations and delays and the prices are too high.
@@bonda_racing3579 be honest with yourself, and explore both fields; whichever one also shows the greatest potential for growth is worth considering. Ultimately, its whatever you enjoy doing, and something that can keep you both attentive and thrilled.
This is a hate letter to 90% of US cities, and I love it! To me, cities within the USA are dead, boring, and dirty, I see no life or joy even if there's a lot of both. They look like being planned to just sleep, work and repeat.
@@circleinforthecube5170 I love skyscrapers too, but cities in the US just make no sense at all. Big parking lots everywhere, damaged streets. There's nothing like the vibrant European life
@@MR.ALFE95 American cities are very beautiful, it’s just that there are some parts, that aren’t. Like NYC, it’s gorgeous, and it’s full of towers, San Francisco, is a very good example of a beautiful city, and it’s very much like the video shows Savannah, Beverly Hills, Boston, and almost every small city in Massachusetts, Seattle, downtown Portland, Jackson Hole, San Antonio, Fort Worth, Providence, Saint Helena, Napa, San Jose, Chicago. Basically almost every city is beautiful, it’s just the new development from the 30’s or 50’s to now when things started to change and now a lot of cities are full of parking lots and highways, spread out suburbs, cafes in the middle of nowhere, you can’t deny the beauty of American cities, it’s just where you focus. European cities in the other hand, were pretty much already built, and beautiful, the growth was made like the city was created. The suburbia was good for a quick and nice answer to the housing crisis and affordability (having so much land and no big houses?), the problem was when the government took it as the only way of doing housing, and the single family home zoning just made it worse, no corner stores, etc.
the most beautiful us cities are the older ones. new york, for example. not that it’s absolutely beautiful, but it is much, much more interesting than the others. it doesn’t even come close to a city like amsterdam or paris though.
J-productions I was thinking that when some cities look like the buildings have no culture I agree with adopting European influences and wish the U.S had much more of that. Many cities do not have cobblestone streets they have been paved over. But I overall think you made good points. Just sprawling cities with little innovation in their buildings look bad. I’m not that informed about this but I want to be. This is important and would be fine if you correct me.
J-productions Well what I mean about local architecture is adobe revival in the southwest and areas where parts of it are more unique. Thank you for sharing what you know I find this interesting. Why did you decide to get into this field. It is something I would love to do.
As a student in architecture and urban design, I find this content very interesting! It's a very different perspective than what I've been taught at school
I'm an architecture student as well, my dream is to make beautful houses and small buildings that are traditional style. In architecture school they make us follow and force to love modern architecture which to me just looks ugly and not attractive. They don't talk about these ideas much often, it's almost like people forgot about it becuase most architects think it was an idea of the past and it shouldn't be followed. Idk me personally I think the way they are teaching architecture right now doesn't feel right. I'm trying my best to read old books on how architecture used to be and learning by myself how to design traditional styles. I'm different I don't want to design too many modern houses, there are other styles that I think are better. I read the history of how modern architecture came to be be and with time architecture just lost identity. Because they way of thinking architecture has changed It started since the late 1800 till present where now boring soulless walls with big panels of glass is the architecture of today. Back then architecture had character, they had art, ornamentation, sculpture, different glass designs where now its just square walls and square windows. We can bring back these styles if we support it and learn about them. I hope in the future architecture can be more diverse becuase everything modern is not interesting.
@@notmattified4882 well that’s the reason why there are so many boring cities in the world. Can’t imagine how depressed their citizens are. Regulations are should be implemented right in balance between practically and architectural as well as freedom. That way you can make a good city that everyone loves and people can get their freedom to do whatever they want to do cause the city supports what they need. If there aren’t regulations then freedom will only go for the capitalist while the rest don’t get it.
@@kautsarardiansyah6396 I meant the freedom to choose what architectual style your building has and how tall it is. When there are regulations it just looks bland.
This video is wrong. Its better for it to be more spread not and not to overcrowded and busy. Have you ever been out in the country? Its cool for it to be big open and spread out. Thats how cities should be. Overcrowded and to busy is bad.
I do too.... Ive found some land near Dallas TX that i could probably develop if i had maybe.. 5 mil? It would be on a lake plan too. Country land is cheap.
The best public squares make you reluctant to go back home. When I visited my ex-girlfriend in Marseilles, France for a week, several nights we ended our day by hanging out way past midnight at this nearby square full of bohemians, hippies, musicians, poets, breakdancers, graffiti artists, jugglers, people speaking Spanish, Arabic, Turkish, Chinese with a French accent with all cultures on display. Marseilles is my favorite city.
@@devtogoru I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Morocco for 2 years. Learned Arabic, and stayed in touch with the friends I made there. When I visited Marseilles 10 years later, parts of that city felt like a middle-class neighborhood in Casablanca or Rabat. To me, Marseilles is France without white people. I would move there in a heart beat if I had the chance.
This video is wrong. Its better for it to be more spread not and not to overcrowded and busy. Have you ever been out in the country? Its cool for it to be big open and spread out. Thats how cities should be. Overcrowded and to busy is bad.
@@Texan_christian1132 I see what your saying but the countryside is much different from urban cities. People like different ways of living, but all can agree that the urban sprawl we have right now is terrible. I don't know if the entire United States could become like the countryside, since the countryside is so low density that it would take a lot of space to fill up. Some people like dense living areas in which you see many people daily, while I'd say most would prefer in between this and the country. In replacement of the horribly designed cities we currently have, we should build a spectrum of neighborhoods with varying densities and attributes.
All the urban planners and builders in Florida should watch this video because they keep adding suburbs in the middle of nowhere, where you have to drive for 30 minutes for entertainment.
North America in general. Canada and America went from having dense, lively cities with the potential to become beautiful and clean to spread out suburbian hell where public transit is shamed and cars have seized power.
A lot of the qualities this says are needed in an attractive city are actually found on college campuses and that is partially why I think most of us enjoy our years in college. They often have a square in the center to hang out in. College dorms are compacted living areas where you can see what everyone else is doing. You get connection there. Old universities have diversity in buildings because as it developed they had different building styles over the years. Just look at some of the big or popular colleges they have all or most of the qualities of an attractive city. I have been suggesting for a while to people that there is something special about a college campus that needs to be incorporated to the world at large.
Gery A what university for example? I want to apply there! My college environment is painful to live in. We are all like squeezed into a can like sardines
He forgot mentioning how green spaces, water and transport modes (bike vs cars) are significant contributers to the city feeling. Other than that it's a very good video.
@@saniahaque5256 New cities can be awesome as well, the problem is the politics behind the design of a city. American cities are designed for cars and capitalism, not humans nor fair society. One big problem of western european cities nowadays is that central districts (with the old buildings) are more and more a wealthy thing and poor people are relocated in remote suburbs (though some cities are not that affected by this gentrification like Marseille). Anyway focusing on profit, class discrimination and individual transportation is why newly builded cities tend to be bad, but some new cities and district are great the problem is not the age
@@AashimaSharma-b4c he used a _few_ american cities. there are only a handful of good cities in the U.S., and usually theyre only *partly* good for the ones that are (not the whole area). the rest of american cities are complete sh*t.
@@exchangAscribe I don't think that most American cities suck however at some point you realize these cities weren't built for people but rather to generate more revenue and make more money. They don't prioritize people, they're just urban hell with some modern touches.
This video is completely wrong. Its better for it to be more spread not and not to overcrowded and busy. Have you ever been out in the country? Its cool for it to be big open and spread out. Thats how cities should be. Overcrowded and to busy is bad.
If anyone is interested on where these ideas come from, I believe a lot of it was influenced by The Pattern Language by Christopher Alexander, written in the 1970's.
Yes that´s the first thing I thought as well! I´m doing my whole graduation project based on his patterns. I really hope we can make cities more humane places to live.
I would say that the works of Jane Jacobs( The Death and Life of Great American Cities) and Jan Gehl( Cities for People) are far more influential in Architectural and Urban Design Schools.
UnbEaTabiL pErson I ag4ee with you, and Singapore is considered, to me, and attractive place to live because of the greenery in Bo4anic Garden and Mcrichie Reservoir.
The central parts of Odessa, Ukraine, have trees lining almost every street. And plenty of parks as well. And you will not find two identical buildings anywhere near.
Morgan Low they are really nice but I still gotta give it to my main European ones like Venice. Although a lot of classic ancient Asian cities are just as unique and beautiful.
+The School of Life can I ask a favour? I like your videos about the future because as a youth I beleive that my choices can help create that future. I am involved in a few different groups that work towards creating a more positive school and community. An issue I've encountered is you have wonderful caring people who appear scared, awkward and un-empathetic. they have the desire to change the world the desire to make other peoples lives better, but they don't step outside their comfort zones. I was like this but I went through some hellish times that had me wake up and chase initiatives that are proven to make others lives better, heck yea it was uncomfortable at first but there's not one second that I regret it. I need you to bring together a beautifully scientific, spontaniously wise video that will impact human beings to wake up too{ there's gotta be another method than going through hell and surviving because there just has to be}. Along the lines of detailing things like we're all crazy and we all need to take more time to understand ourselves but with the twist that this starts right now not tomorrow not never. Right now. Show ways proven to change the world, hearts that went out and changed the world and the little ways that we can step out and do that today.... one more thing; (I will do if you do not do this) Please make infographics of some of your videso because then the information transfers better on a wider range of platforms and viewers........ ahaha enough of my ramblings for now. Thank you so much for all the videos and resources you've made available they're so awesome.
Jane Jacobs. She looked at cities through a holistic lens, as entities that arise organically to suit people's needs. While she wasn't above the sort of deliberate planning you've advocated, she stressed the need to let cities be, as she witnessed herself the terrible toll urban planning in the 50s-80s took on urban communities when aesthetics was championed before function, and central design before localized prerogative. San Francisco, which you've cited here, has unusually high housing & property costs for a city of its size. Aesthetics came at the cost of accessibility, and housing markets that could reliably meet people's needs. It may be pretty, but they are not an example of what cities should live up to if they value not impoverishing their populace or creating incidental gentrification. Markets may be ugly, but their "chaos" tends to have reason that may escape a central planner, and thus, shouldn't be dismissed so off hand. It's true that greedy developers serve themselves, but the incentives behind their actions many times arise through true demands or needs of the greater public. Ergo, they aren't always building in isolation towards everything else.
I watched this video 6 years ago in school, and I’d like to add: Less or no cars. Cars are loud, ugly, the roads and parking take up tons of space. They reduce human communication (causing road rage, people on bikes rarely get that mad at each other), and they’re dangerous.
Exactly! Noise, pollution and a waste of space (not to mention they're lonely and don't promote excersize as with most cities, all parking is close to something
Excessive car use was the result of state-corporate collusion in the 1950s, and the human tendency to take anything too far. Don't imitate them with an unreasoned hatred of cars. basil: Commuter rail going out to suburbs was wonderful. It's sad that even supposedly green populations like Massachusetts let it die, often surprisingly late in the 20th century.
"Private" vehicles should exist only to be used for work (transport of materials, moving to a house etc) It's such a revolutionary invention that has been used OH so wrong... Now public transport has been ingrained to people's minds as not being able to afford a car, which is ALWAYS thought to be the better option (even though it costs so much). I also think that public transport should be made a bit more social, with a design that encourages communication, but I don't know how that could be achieved, yet ;)
I don't agree. There is a real concerted effort to get rid of cars that, while not completely wrong in it's intent, has been driven by ideology that I just don't support or care about. One issue is that cars are much like buildings. They're just not beautiful and aesthetic the way they used to be. So, we tend to kick them into the same "ugly, useless" category of existence and lecture people who enjoy their cars as bad people who are selfish and unfeeling about the needs of the group. Individuals have needs, too. And places like The Western part of America is Car Country. People enjoy the wide open spaces and the automobiles we use to traverse it. Part of this attitude comes from the intra-immigration of East Coast people who move to the West Coast and want to force their way of life on us without giving one bit of care about Who Westerners are; What We value, love, and care about; and Never think that Our needs, desires, ideas for efficiency, and aesthetics are vastly different than those of the East Coast. That old rivalry has resulted in the demolition of The Western Character and aesthetics is starting to replace everything that made places like Los Angeles as a City and California as a State beautiful and pleasing. An example of this is the redesign of the center of Hollywood. Hollywood and Highland no longer has the essence and beauty of glamorous, spacious, sunny Hollywood where you might see a star or celebrity walking down the street. Why? Because that same area has been redesigned to look exactly like a mini version of Times Square in NYC, complete with homeless people, crime, claustrophobic and dirty aesthetics, ugly streets, and a sad loss of identity replaced by bright lights and harsh hardness. Right around the time this was forced onto the citizens of LA, people began reporting a huge change in the population. Where Angelinos used to be considered friendly and optimistic, they're now described as rude, dour, and suspicious. Sound familiar? Like NYC maybe? That's fine with East Coast transplants (including the homeless population that were put on buses and shipped off to California cities by the NYC government, which we don't appreciate). They're at home in such an environment. Angelinos, however, aren't at home in that kind of place and feeling, and it's killing the identity, happiness, and the livability of our Cities, Counties, and State. Our misery factor is up and the worse parts just keep escalating. A huge part of being an Angelino/Californian is our car culture, which East Coast transplants now socially outlaw as bourgeois and evil to want our space, privacy, and close circle. East Coast liberals brought "walkable city, use public transportation" mindset with them and injected them into West Coast/California/Los Angeles liberals; all of whom have voting power and are seeking to "phase out" private car ownership and replace it with their own Transportation Of The People mentality. Meanwhile, they've made public transportation a really crappy, uncomfortable, unsafe, undesirable option for most people. And Still they demand it and fight for making everything as expensive, difficult, and unpleasant for drivers as possible. And if this happens, the only people who'll be able to afford to have the amazing experience of having their own car will be wealthy Democrats, mostly of the political, bureaucratic, and Hollywood elite variety. Everyone else will have to eat cake... while they can because our Nanny State is attempting to engage in taxing sky high everything they believe isn't good for us. All this without a single regard for how gorgeous and well run California and its Cities were once, including keeping the roads safe and maintained, syncing the lights for better traffic flow, and planning everything to be connected by car, which also works for public transportation, as well. And their domineering won't even allow for classic cars ownership as they goose-step their Will about what types of cars are acceptable and which aren't, while blindly ignoring the multiple levels of damage they're doing to both people and infrastructure. They don't care that they're making things worse and depressing the population. They only care that their pathological power trip is given full carte blanche without the annoyances of Californians simply refusing to comply or fall in line. In the meantime, the beauty and order of California and its Cities -- which had all of the features listed in the video, once upon a time -- is becoming ugly, disordered, unsafe, and boring as they fight to erase the building height restrictions and other laws that were in place to protect our desires for what we wanted for our living spaces... For Our Own Good, of course
I am from Frankfurt and find it kind of unfair. Frankfurt may not be beautiful in comparison to London or Paris, but its still a nice city and really green. Maybe you stopped by in the 90s..
i've been a lot i frankfurt..i think the most beautiful parts got bombed away.. the skyscrapers are stunning..but how mantiond in the video the let you feel little and ugly..the thing is you have so beautiful places like the Römer and the Dome but then "BANG" square's and skyscrapers
To save your time 1. Variety in order 2. Full of live 3. Compact to be close to each other 4. Orientation and mystery for mix experience 5. Human scale 6. Local unique character Main problems 1. Intellectual comfusion on defining beauty city 2. Political will surrender to market force
It made me happy that there were mentions or pictures of Czech cities of all the cities out there in the world. Indeed, wandering the streets in the historic Czech cities makes me feel very comfortable. It is sad though that the new developments, in Prague and elsewhere, tend to feel very alienated and boring. Being now in the Netherlands, I must say that they master the named rules even now, with mainly, the new buildings still corresponding to the brick environment and being compact.
This video is wrong. Its better for it to be more spread not and not to overcrowded and busy. Have you ever been out in the country? Its cool for it to be big open and spread out. Thats how cities should be. Overcrowded and to busy is bad.
6:02 I can attest to that particular Piazza. When my family was visiting me in Rome for vacation, we stayed at an airbnb down the street from Piazza di Santa Maria in Trastevere and when we were done with our day of exploring we went down to the piazza and sat by that very same fountain drinking vino, cheersing, laughing, and sharing stories well into the night with dozens of locals who make that fountain their regular hang out spot. City squares bring people together, and that is evident in nearly every European city from Napoli to Firenze to Lisbon to Krakow (just to name a few).
The best public squares make you reluctant to go back home. When I visited my ex-girlfriend in Marseilles, France for a week, several nights we ended our day by hanging out way past midnight at this nearby square full of bohemians, hippies, musicians, poets, breakdancers, graffiti artists, jugglers, people speaking Spanish, Arabic, Turkish, Chinese with a French accent with all cultures on display. Marseilles is my favorite city.
+Martin2035 I was in Prague at NYE and was baffled by the fact that your "New Town" is from the 14th century as well, haha. Wasn't expecting that. In my hometown in Germany, all those old buildings were destroyed in WW2, in fact 90% of our city laid in ruins after the war, so I enjoy diving into the architecture of the past that is now gone and replaced by ugly concrete blocks here.
Thank you!!! I felt powerless and alone, like I was the only one that felt like something went horribly wrong at some point and that there was nothing to be done to stop it! I hope the future looks brighter than the present 🥰
NO! This video is wrong. Its better for it to be more spread not and not to overcrowded and busy. Have you ever been out in the country? Its cool for it to be big open and spread out. Thats how cities should be. Overcrowded and to busy is bad.
I completely disagree with the five floor limit and the occasional skyscraper. Cities like New York are awe inspiring with the jungle of massive skyscrapers everywhere. I think its amazing. to be around.
7 years, hub... But New York- and specifically Manhattan, does have a lot of rules aside from height. The grid is rather strict, and there are mandated setbacks as height goes up depending on footprint. This goes together to form air corridors that make sure the city is well ventilated (along with all the parks), and to ensure sunlight will reach the streets.
8:13 Biggest building in Russian Empire - Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral Biggest building in Russia now - Lakhta Center(oil company's office) Biggest building in USSR - Moscow State University
At the end of the video there is a shot with a wild space and a building growing from underneath a tree. For me it is very explicit that they think today we should respect as much as we can nature.
Barcelona isn't that green but it's well designed and everyone loves it. Green isn't essential aslong as the city looks nice and friendly and is designed to make you feel safe and secure then green is not needed
This video is wrong. Its better for it to be more spread not and not to overcrowded and busy. Have you ever been out in the country? Its cool for it to be big open and spread out. Thats how cities should be. Overcrowded and to busy is bad.
+michael0155 - Too bad most cities i make end up looking like either a clusterfuck of capitalist ugliness, or a communist city block. I'd love to build a city where the houses actually TOUCH each other, like in real life, where an entire house-block stretches for a hundred meters uninterrupted, like in Amsterdam or Copenhagen.
michael0155 :O I never knew. I just googled it, and you can with the City sets. I bought that game on release day. Damnit, if it wasn't for the fact that Sim City (2013) was such a lackluster game, I'd upgrade to the deluxe edition in a heartbeat, just so i could build a structured city like Paris or Barcelona. Here's hoping that Cities: Skylines get's an update that allows for that. At least make an update, so that modders can do the work for them :P
michael0155 I've just spent over half an hour checking out new mods. I haven't played the game for half a year, but Holy crap there have come a lot of amazing mods. This game just keeps getting better and better.
A factor that isn't mentioned is the design of the buildings. Many surviving classical buildings are works of art full of little details and aesthetically pleasing arches etc. Now it's more glass box minimalism, detail-bare and cold with maybe random shapes to vaguely make up the blandness.
He's describing the average European city. 1. Variety and Order *check*, 2. Alive streets *check* (even too much with all the tourists), 3. Compact *check*, 4. Small lanes *check*, 5. big buildings that actually mean something? *check*, 6. diversity in buildings that show the culture *check*.
@@greenmachine5600 Both fit the description, but I would say that Europe is more: Detailed colorful walls, simple light, and Japan is: simple (but cute) walls and a light show
@@troyeakb6314 some people find beauty in skylines with skyscrapers. He is just describing Europeans cities because HE thinks they are beautiful. Not saying they’re not tho
Anyone else want to start their own country and make it the most gorgeous place ever? The only thing I'd regret are the types of tourists that take pictures of every square inch of something they see and those who dress like idiots
Sadly Cities Skylines does not have mixed zoning. Buildings in which a shop is on the lower floor and apartments are above. If you want a lively city core, people must also have to live there where the shops are.
Completely disagree with your statement on skyscrapers and imposing a 5 story limit on all construction. I am awestruck by the grandeur of immense high rises with incredible architecture. As long as the street on it has mixed use development and life, it’s totally fine. Plus it makes efficient use of expensive land.
I get what they are saying, personally I think either go for them or don't, you either have a lot of them with a few standout world known ones or you just don't do them at all. The worst thing is when a city has about 3 skyscrapers total that just look out of place
@@BucketsGaming23 Well if you were to cut them off in a good manner like, for example, having a bridge on a river to access skyscrapers from the neighborhoods, while also having some nature do its thing, that'd be nice.
He did say in the video that the tall buildings should have earned it and be important, tall buildings are nice but too many of them make a city ugly especially when they are residential. Skyscrapers can be beautiful for example The American Radiator Building, Tribune Tower, and Chrysler Building. People wouldn't hate skyscrapers so much if they were built more like these or even things like Big Ben or the Aloha tower but I still think too many tall buildings will create problems.
@@MS0018-r3d I think the ugly high rise buildings are the ones built with bricks or cement (like panel buildings), but I rarely see an ugly skyscreaper that was made mostly of glass.
A refreshing take on city planning. I come from a hot & cold wind swept semi affluent prairie city of 250,000 people. It has done a fine job with its infrastructure & nature building though heavily influenced by the North American style of city planning. I’m aware of the Barcelona superblocks & thought implementing similar residential buildings could provide numerous mini covered courtyards around the city where people could gather out of the seasonal harsh elements. I also would think having buildings built side by side would be more energy efficient during the blazing hot summer days & freezing cold winter nights. Since our city is somewhat small & young there is time to creat our own unique “order & variety”.
Form Based Codes are a much better toolset (than conventional, Euclidean zoning) for building attractive cities, squares, walkways, and even controlling private redevelopment around parks and waterways.
This video turns very dark toward the end, and he follows the same, tired Marxist stereotypes of all business owners and builders being greedy bad guys. The truth is that most beautiful small city centers came about when one or a few wealthy philanthropists decided to give back to the city that they lived in or grew up in.
You gonna have to be an extremely aggressive outspoken city planner or politic to cause even a minor change. Do you think that Bank of America that owns the tallest building in almost every city will support your beauty standards? It's not easy to fight against the major "pizza" companies that own the economy, or convince families that living in an isolated private property is worse than in a community where you can see exactly who and when does their homework at night through the window. Majority of citizens are so robotic and hypnotized that they simply don't care about anything other than a corporate 9-5 job and the traditional family values, this is why half of the nation sits on the anti-depressant pills and is rotting to the core (pharmacy of course likes every bit of it). I love the idea of harmony and utopia but unfortunately I doubt that it can emerge from anything other than a comforting fantasy at this point of time. If you want to be a city planner or a politician then go for it, but don't be a naive like a small child who dreams about becoming an astronaut or president when he/she grows up.
DO IT! I am a baby architect and it's a really rewarding profession. Architects and City Planners work at slightly different scales, but we have similar training. It is a lot of work (schooling AND the professions) but it is completely worth it. And check out my channel, I talk about architecture and give advice to students ; )
***** Well the current party that is in is definitely controlled by the requests of their donors, but nowhere near the extent of somehwere like america, and not every party is like that.
Thank you so much for this. I am an aspiring/struggling real estate developer from the philippines and investors tend to be put off by my idealistic views on how to improve our land. This gives me a bit of hope for my dreams.
I suggest that you read Soft City, a book from David Sim (who works with Jan Gehl, a master of Cities for People); very accessible, great enlightening drawings, and a good compendium for creating good cities. And, of course, don't miss Gehl's published work and his documentary Human Scale
Definitely don’t give up, it would be nice to see cities with beautiful architecture! I consider the Philippines to be beautiful in unique ways and lively, it would be nice if there was more architecture (besides Manila) that showed how wonderful it is.
Great video although I think two of the most important things, at least to me, are missing: 1) Pavements/sidewalks should be wider than roads and roads as narrow as possible. 2) There should be many trees in the streets. I am shock when I go to England and I see there so few trees in the streets in comparison to cities in dry climates like some Spanish citis like Barcelona, Sevilla, the old town of my own city Palma .... they are packed with trees. Trees can make an ugly street look nice and a nice street look superb.
Sure there should be trees and sidewalks but this video is wrong. Its better for it to be more spread not and not to overcrowded and busy. Have you ever been out in the country? Its cool for it to be big open and spread out. Thats how cities should be. Overcrowded and to busy is bad.
So many good points in this video, but, as others have also said, not everything is quite right. Keeping short-sighted money-interests in check is essential, but rigid public planning is not the answer. Cities should be developed organically, and only in little bits at a time, with many different architects involved. Public authorities should regulate in terms of scale, density, function shares and more, and should make sure never to sell off a large chunk of land to the same developer.
So you're saying diversity among developers and city planners is the key to a beautiful city? I can agree with that. Governments impose specific guidelines for construction, like dimensions, but still leave room for creativity from the architects, like said in the video.
Munich has a rule no building is allowed to be over the height of church in the city centre. I am not religious but appreciate the rule and the beauty it brings to Munich👌
A topic close to my heart. Some good ideas in this video, but also a lot of bs. The primary factor for the "beauty" of a city is street life. Streets need to be lively (lots of pedestrians) and clean. This principle is mostly thrown away in modern cities because of cars. Cars rule modern street planning, and city life is the worse for it. The solution offered in this video is also terrible. Rigid city planning is actually what fckd a lot of cities up. The chaos produced by independent planners is part of what makes a city lively (and lovely).
The cities where there was planning generally planned to do the opposite of what the video or more accurately Alain De Boutain propose e.g. hide stuff, spread stuff out, deny beauty. The big issue around political will is that most people are poorly educated around this topic and believe in people not being restricted, except when they want to do something in ones own back yard.
That is the reason why i love European cities so much as Asian. I feel depressed with the same boring box of steel and glass everywhere. Not that it is ugly, but it had no character and soul and turn up feeling numb and empty.
There are so many great writers about urban development. Two of the most famous is Kevin Lynch (books: "Image of The City", and "Good City Forms), Jane Jacobs (book: Life and Death of Great American Cities). And you have other intellectuals like Leon Krier, Rem Koolhaas, Frederick Law Olmsted (landscaping), etc. Urban planning is very interesting, is almost like the scientific side or architecture.
Tim RM On the contrary, this video says that people want to see other people, but city builders assume that people don't want to, and build the city in a way that makes it hard for people to see each other.
This video is wrong. Its better for it to be more spread not and not to overcrowded and busy. Have you ever been out in the country? Its cool for it to be big open and spread out. Thats how cities should be. Overcrowded and to busy is bad.
I am a conservation and design officer and agree with everything you have said. I put forward these ideas daily and have a daily battle. There is such a thing as beauty and I am very glad you are not afraid to say so. I will share with my colleagues. Thank you very much.
HTF Didot what city?? San Francisco is actually ugly and their population is shrinking too.. it’s the bridge people come to see... San Francisco has a lot of unbalance too. Grand Rapids city Michigan USA on the other hand is ranked number one in economy and 2 Nd fastest growing population in America. Yet their skyscrapers are fairly equally spaced apart, clean, lot of downtown entertainment and public spaces and diverse as well.
This is an eye opening lesson! Thank you! I remembered a very original Argentinian movie called " Medianeras", which is on youtube. It begins with the images of the streets and buildings of Buenos Aires , explaining how that mess has a huge impact on people's inner lives.It says: " what can you expect from a city which gives its back to its river" ? The movie is about urban loneliness, but it is a very tender one. You won't get depressed:-) And after all, despite everything, there is no way not to love Buenos Aires!
+Jacob Heathman The free market is only nice with regulation. Otherwise it is just the way of the rich and no common good will be served. Over regulation is stifling but no regulation is destructive.
Marcel den Ouden completely untrue, regulation only strangles small businesses and creates monopolies. Government regulation and interference ruins the market
Mr. Alain de Botton, I have been a follower of your work for some years now. I admire the way you approach philosophy and have made it accessible to many others like me. Thank you for your efforts. I wish you my best. Ideas described in this video are extremely important and it's high time we redirect our attention to the way we build our human habitats.
I agree with every single point in this video, it's honestly one of my main gripes with modern life. All we need to do to prove everyone hates modern cities is to look at how the average old city has now become a tourist magnet. People have been so conditioned into ugliness that they associate beauty with tourism far away instead of a right that they should demmand back home too
NO! This video is wrong. Its better for it to be more spread not and not to overcrowded and busy. Have you ever been out in the country? Its cool for it to be big open and spread out. Thats how cities should be. Overcrowded and to busy is bad.
I think that one of most important things is consistensy, if the city is like Chicago full of skyscraper should follow that order, if a city like downtown París is full of 4 story buildings should keep with similar buildings on contrast La Defense that is far away from downtown looks great because is sureounded with similar style buildings
Frankfurt is indeed a beautiful place; I challenge anyone to walk along the River Main, or go the Sachsenhausen to the Stadtwaldt, or to walk the length of Kaiserstrasse from the Hauptbahnhof at one end to the zoo at the other, and not discover a beautiful city.
Frankfurt is truly a beautiful and amazing city! went there a couple of months ago, and some parts where orgasmic, What a beautiful thought of urban planing, so many remarkable buildings and with a lot of space around to admire its beauty and scale. the connection to the ground on most of them was well though of, strong in scale, but very human (London tall buildings fail a lot on that matter, except the lloyds bank, truly remarkable one) I've noticed that the author has a narrow point of view on art and architecture on other films, and this one, although some of his points are very true, they lack in vision, knowledge and art (some for lack of time, others for ignorance).
This is so true. I love a city where the buzz of life is going on around me. I like to see lights on in windows, kids playing, and varied activity. A city should be a place you can walk around and also be relaxed in. I wish the problem of traffic could be positively addressed in cities, and particularly here in London. I'd also love the Shard to disappear of the face of the planet.
Why do you immediately think of something bad? He didn't say he would like to watch them all day long and stalk, it was just to emphasise that it is nice to live in a neighbourhood were people actually know their neighbours and sometimes glimpse what they are doing, feeling that they are living in a lively community rather than a sterile, isolated environment.
I just watched the video, and I can kinda see why I find it so appealing, but other things seem counter-intuitive. The buildings have a nice balance of order and chaos, but the colour scheme is all the same. The tallest buildings belong to corporations, but I still think they look majestic for some reason. My favourite things about the city, now that I think about it, are the public areas and shadowy, secretive areas. There's good squares, with people and artwork, and a good balance of big streets and small ones. I really like urban landscapes, for some reason. I live in the country, and I hate it. Nothing to marvel at.
Wow, despite you forgot to mention a lot of important factors of attractive cities like green places this was one of the best videos i've seen on YT so far....
I have a couple of real problems with this video. Some of the most beautiful buildings have represented corporations or capitalism. The Empire State Building, Willis Tower, The Chrysler Building. Why shouldn't companies be allowed to have tall buildings? Also a 5 story limit for most buildings in an urban area is a little ridiculous. You used New York City as an example of a good city, should buildings not be the height of those in New York?
I'm from Hong Kong, and most buildings are about 15 to 30 floors tall. The tallest buildings are for financial companies and stuff, and yet people call our skyline one of the best. To be honest, this video is wrong in most places.
You got a point. However i think what the video tried to say was that skyscrapers, like the ones in NYC, work when they are in an area with each other. Some of the allure of Manhatten is being lost between the huge tall buildings sure. But i don't think the people in Brooklyn would appreciate one of them in their neighbourhood. And with good reason. You can have tall buildings if the neighbourhood "allows it". It is after all, a financial district designed to solve certain logistical problems for a lot of businesses that need the airspace to work efficiently. Certainly the ESB and the Chrysler building are absolute masterpieces (Willis Tower not so much IMO) and they work because of the context of their surroundings. If we are talking about residential buildings i find it much easier to defend the notion of sticking to 5-7 stories as a guideline. In those areas, the appeal of the squares and small streets and what ever he talked about, makes much more sense. Good day:)
Mustafa Exactly, those buildings can hardly be called “pretty”. America lacks any real “pretty” cities, the only one I can think of being any old colonial ones, which are few and far between. We need more french quarter and less Manhattan but unfortunately that will never happen and the world refuses to accept we must sacrifice practically and comfort for the sake of beauty that will benefit the rest of society
I watched this video to help me put together a minecraft city that is early in development. I never thought about the science behind what makes a city beautiful. Great and informative video.
I was all excited when he said Phoenix AZ I was like yay my home city! Then he just dissed Phoenix and I was all silent. And then the guy kept going on and on about what makes a city bad and everything bad thing he said matches Phoenix no joke. Good videos though!
Watching these for preparing to build my city on theotown, and these would be my source of inspiration for the track that i would pursue and that civil eng/architecture :)
I was kinda sad until he mentioned Edinburgh. It definitely is one of the best cities in the world. The structures are mostly similar in height and sizes yet varies in looks. The important buildings and churches remain prominent and well preserved, with the Edinburgh castle visible all throughout the city. It's got cute alleyways and secret passages. No shortage of mid-sized squares and green places, plus a seaside. It's got narrow intimate roads and also big ones. It's not too big not too old. It's old but also new. Not too busy like london but not too silent like small towns. I love this city so much. I always feel both relaxed and excited when I visit it.
Frances Atty I’m a noisy guy... but I don’t like disturbing people. Talking to me won’t turn down my guitar, nor will it quieten my motorcycle (if I end up getting one)
While I dislike noisy neighbors, I think adapting to the noise to become a heavy sleeper is a good idea. And make all the doors are locked at night while you’re at it. And buy a gun. You’ll be good to go then.
@@jlupus8804 Yeah, I'm not sure if it was because I was a kid but I adapted to living right next to a busy road. Buses and lorries wizzing by seemed like nothing at all. Before that, I lived in a house where only a few cars would slowly go by.
Whats wrong with tall towers? height restrictions lead to housing shortages and sky-rocketing prices. Look at San Fransisco, they blame the tech industry for high rent but it's actually the city's restrictive building codes
SaltCity Tutoring no it's not "greedy landlords". It's the cities shitty big style of governing that increases taxes thus increasing the standard of living.
Azitock San Francisco is prone to Earthquakes, high rises are a huge threat to public safety in a place like SF. There are height restrictions in Tokyo as well because of earthquakes yet they keep rent affordable, it's really all about the market
The short answer is its complicated In many cases speculators and out of state land owners can drive up property costs San Fran is a city in the midst of a tech boom, so there's a huge population influx steep hills and unstable terrain make building tall heavy towers hard, hence why small wooden buildings are so common towers often cause a feeling of isolation and resulting depression among residents San Fran residents tend to have more power due to higher per capita income in the city. And understandably will always oppose building huge buildings in their own neighborhoods San Francisco is considered by many to be one of the most beautiful cities in the US and I don't think city officials want to change that, due to the huge hit they would take in tourism dollars.
If I were to found a new city, my foremost principal would be that a child should be able to safely travel it's streets. Cars and trucks have made our streets dangerous violent places, and that is unfortunate. It also robs children, the elderly, the disabled, really everyone of their freedom of movement.
It is about age of the city and the speed of the development. When you think of the European city you mainly have in mind some medieval part in the city centre, not the whole structure. I believe there is no European city that is considered as really beautiful that is as young as US cities. At some point of the history we just didn't keep up with the speed of growth, and we are just learning how to deal with it.
I lived in Paris for a year, I was so depressed, specifically because I lived all my life in a sunny city " Marrakech, Morocco " and then moved to Nice, France - I loved it, but I'm still thinking about going back to Marrakech. I would love the variety of all 3 actually, the beautiful nature of nice, the chaos and weather of Marrakech, as well as the skyscrapers like where I lived in Paris, La Défense. However, I think this channel is biased and tries to build their own paradigm and tries to create a kind of a movement by shaping the masses' way of thinking and making it similar to their own by calling rich people greedy, and hating on big buildings just for that instead of motivating people to build wealth. But since it's a game of winners and losers, and they think they belong to the losers, they want everyone to be the same as them. As long as you play by the rules, feel free to be as greedy as you want, the greed should have limits of not intentionally hurting the other. But if the other is collateral damage, or he actually lost at the game, he just needs to get better, adapt, and change, not cry and whine to others. Life is not fair, we get it, it was certainly not fair with me, and certainly a lot worse with others, so if there is anything that should be fixed, it should be about giving everyone the lowest possible opportunities to live, and then just let them fight in the game of winners and losers. Not making everyone the same and calling people that won " greedy ".
The height problem is more complex: why would big corporations, today's powerful organisations, be less legitimate than old powerful organisations that made their big high buildings, Religions ? A religion is one thing, The "Church", the powerful organisation that controls it, was the big powerful organisation of the old time, thirsty for power ... same as modern companies of today. The biggest houses in the city, the most sophisticated, were those of the rich and powerful... not always angels. But they built beautiful houses and palaces, and these are part of what makes our old cities beautiful to look at today. If we can't help the fact there are always powerful people, religions, companies, or in the case of communist states, the state itself (ex: big buildings of ussr) ... instead of wishing to hide these (they still would exist), we might as well want these rich and powerful organisations to make their buildings nice and beautiful. Skyscrapers are modern cathedrals. They ought to be beautiful. Cities reflect society, with humble people and powerful ones, nice guys and bad guys. Cities are the physical expression of the reality of society, that's all. That's why, i don't think forbiding tall buildings is an answer. Regulating height, ok. In my city, the highest structure is a 8 centuries old cathedral, symbol of the almighty power of church over society. it is kind of anachronic. i don't mind that a big company builds its big tower. they just have to make it look good.
Paris center is nice, but then once you get out of that, you have huge skyscrapers and roads like in USA, residential areas with huge houses and driveways, straight blocks of houses, all aligned,
From Oslo, Norway and here there is a new apartment complex called "Vannkunsten" close to the Oslofjord. The complex consists of several buildings with a water canal in the middle, Venezia style. The buildings themselves are adorned in grey chipher plates, and are shaped very much like classical houses with v shaped roofs. Right beside it is a square where you have a view out to the fjord. The area is filled with stores and playgrounds for kids and lots of people gather here. It's the best thing that has happened to the city since the opera House.
One important point missing though: we Need the green: Parks, Forests, trees, Community gardens
Maybe that could go under "Life"?
@@christian5256 Yes but green especially!
This video is missing a whole lot of things and saying a whole lot of bullshit. You don't need to try to give a tip in their video. It's already fucking disastrous and unsavable
Lewi TM There are things that have not been discussed here, but what nonsense or lies are you referring to?
@Lewi TM why are you so mad?
I saw this video around the time it came out, I was 19 and it really struck a chord with me. Now I'm 23, I'm studying architecture. I've probably referenced all the principles multiple times to my peers. Coming back to it now revitalizes my conviction of what's said here. Thank you so much for making this video, I hope I will be able to make it some justice.
Chris Høydahl hopefully you make something beautifull, cosy, green, nice, warm, original but familiar city’s in the future. And please look at THE beauty of former medeaval city’s.....
I’m rooting for you man!
@Chris Høydahl what are your views on modern architecture. For me, I'm a thorough traditionalist in terms of architecture. Videos like these just reinforce my view that modern architecture has ruined our cigies; is that viewing the same for you, too?
Hey man i am thinking of studying architecture, do you recommend
Come to Valletta in Malta, trust me.
Guess who watched this attentively like they were gonna build an entire city tomorrow.
Cities skylines
@@oguzkzn7137 Kinda too simple for me :(
same lol, or move to a beautiful city
Mood
Good idea. Take your powerful computer, rendering software and bring us a proposal in 2 weeks ;)
This is so true, I never knew why I liked European cities so much. Everything you said makes sense
im glad i live in switzerland it still has its own character when it comes to architekture
Yeah I agree, I wish I was white European
Though I would add that many cities outside of Europe are also simply breathtaking but just dont have enough publicity. Take Islamabad as an example. Originated in the 1960s, it is a beautiful, carefully planned city. You can check the city's aerial view out on youtube.
Seriously, check it out, the city is indeed breathtaking : )
@@Deadeye-San same 😂
Oldtowns and quarters with single family homes/2-3 families.
@@midloran That’s the lamest and saddest comment I’ve ever read. Your parents must be proud. Inferiority Complex Lamo should be your name.
Things to make a good city;
1. Dense, not sprawling
2. Good walkability
3. Good public transport and not much car infrastructure (roads, highways, parking)
4. Good, fitting architecture that matches local materials
5. Lots of green space, parks and street trees.
But it is bad when density is clearly prioritized compared to green space. I often see when in already dense cities green spaces are often sacrificed for even more density.
he said meaningfull building, for things we love,
but didn't add Architecture that reflexts historical importance.
A part of the reason most of the loved cities are old is in the fact that they are old AND well preserved.
It's nice to see a building with a knowledge that that building reflects a style of building from long ago.
all over Europe it's common knowledge that older churches are worth preserving, while we don't go to them very much anymore, we do understand their historic importance of connecting communities and the extra effort that often went in building them.
historic contents and connection can even help to start loving a building you found ugly at first glance..
Why dense
Your comment leads me to believe you didn't watch the video
The problem is, if there is too much public transport, you would end up having to stop at 20 stops, and that is not good. Diving by car is personal transport. Despite pollution, it is more convenient than public transport. I think what we should do is make a system of pods everywhere so we can combine the smoothness of trains and the convenience of cars. Right now, in the US and UK, travelling on a train sucks but the reasons are different: for the us, the top speed of trains is only 50mph and they often have to give way to freight trains, and in the UK, the trains are overcrowded, there is a series of cancellations and delays and the prices are too high.
I just really got interested in architecture all of a sudden
@The One your solution is urban planning and urban design!
Same I was planning on automotive engineering but architecture and urban planning has thrown a wrench into my plans? What should I do ?
@@bonda_racing3579 be honest with yourself, and explore both fields; whichever one also shows the greatest potential for growth is worth considering. Ultimately, its whatever you enjoy doing, and something that can keep you both attentive and thrilled.
Do you dream about it?
Same LoL
I'm using these tips in my minecraft world
Eduardo Arr good idea.
I would love to see your Minecraft
Yo lmao me too
same
Please don’t
This is a hate letter to 90% of US cities, and I love it! To me, cities within the USA are dead, boring, and dirty, I see no life or joy even if there's a lot of both. They look like being planned to just sleep, work and repeat.
thats your view, i find many us skyscrapers from the 1910s to 90s to be beautiful and the messiness and chaos beautiful, i dont want us to be europe
@@circleinforthecube5170 I love skyscrapers too, but cities in the US just make no sense at all. Big parking lots everywhere, damaged streets. There's nothing like the vibrant European life
@@MR.ALFE95 American cities are very beautiful, it’s just that there are some parts, that aren’t.
Like NYC, it’s gorgeous, and it’s full of towers,
San Francisco, is a very good example of a beautiful city, and it’s very much like the video shows
Savannah, Beverly Hills, Boston, and almost every small city in Massachusetts, Seattle, downtown Portland, Jackson Hole, San Antonio, Fort Worth, Providence, Saint Helena, Napa, San Jose, Chicago.
Basically almost every city is beautiful, it’s just the new development from the 30’s or 50’s to now when things started to change and now a lot of cities are full of parking lots and highways, spread out suburbs, cafes in the middle of nowhere, you can’t deny the beauty of American cities, it’s just where you focus. European cities in the other hand, were pretty much already built, and beautiful, the growth was made like the city was created. The suburbia was good for a quick and nice answer to the housing crisis and affordability (having so much land and no big houses?), the problem was when the government took it as the only way of doing housing, and the single family home zoning just made it worse, no corner stores, etc.
@@oscaralejandrotorresaguila5886 I have a corner store about a mile & a half up the country lane
the most beautiful us cities are the older ones. new york, for example. not that it’s absolutely beautiful, but it is much, much more interesting than the others. it doesn’t even come close to a city like amsterdam or paris though.
0:48 not too caotic not to ordered
2:52 visible life
4:53 compact
6:52 orientation and mystery
8:10 scale
9:50 make it local
J-productions why if they are all the same it is alienated but you know more so tell us
J-productions I was thinking that when some cities look like the buildings have no culture I agree with adopting European influences and wish the U.S had much more of that. Many cities do not have cobblestone streets they have been paved over. But I overall think you made good points. Just
sprawling cities with little innovation in their buildings look bad. I’m not that informed about this but I want to be. This is important and would be fine if you correct me.
J-productions Well what I mean about local architecture is adobe revival in the southwest and areas where parts of it are more unique. Thank you for sharing what you know I find this interesting. Why did you decide to get into this field. It is something I would love to do.
thank you!!
thanks for doing my homework
As a student in architecture and urban design, I find this content very interesting! It's a very different perspective than what I've been taught at school
Then your education is wack because this is the truth.
What have you been taught at school?
Great I hope in the future people like you can make good looking buildings
I'm an architecture student as well, my dream is to make beautful houses and small buildings that are traditional style. In architecture school they make us follow and force to love modern architecture which to me just looks ugly and not attractive. They don't talk about these ideas much often, it's almost like people forgot about it becuase most architects think it was an idea of the past and it shouldn't be followed. Idk me personally I think the way they are teaching architecture right now doesn't feel right. I'm trying my best to read old books on how architecture used to be and learning by myself how to design traditional styles. I'm different I don't want to design too many modern houses, there are other styles that I think are better. I read the history of how modern architecture came to be be and with time architecture just lost identity. Because they way of thinking architecture has changed It started since the late 1800 till present where now boring soulless walls with big panels of glass is the architecture of today. Back then architecture had character, they had art, ornamentation, sculpture, different glass designs where now its just square walls and square windows. We can bring back these styles if we support it and learn about them. I hope in the future architecture can be more diverse becuase everything modern is not interesting.
@@javierpacheco8234 Where are you studying it ?
Sad that the people who actually choose how a city looks probably won’t watch this
Big sad :'(
well then, we have to ask ourselves how do we show this to people who actually choose how a city looks (or bring it to their attention) .
So you want more restrictions and regulations in making buildings? Pathetic. Does freedom mean anything to people these days?
@@notmattified4882 well that’s the reason why there are so many boring cities in the world. Can’t imagine how depressed their citizens are. Regulations are should be implemented right in balance between practically and architectural as well as freedom. That way you can make a good city that everyone loves and people can get their freedom to do whatever they want to do cause the city supports what they need. If there aren’t regulations then freedom will only go for the capitalist while the rest don’t get it.
@@kautsarardiansyah6396 I meant the freedom to choose what architectual style your building has and how tall it is. When there are regulations it just looks bland.
I don't know why it took RUclips so long to recommend me this... I mean... this is my field and been searching for this exact video
This video is wrong. Its better for it to be more spread not and not to overcrowded and busy. Have you ever been out in the country? Its cool for it to be big open and spread out. Thats how cities should be. Overcrowded and to busy is bad.
Based on my recommendations, I think RUclips wants me to build a city
Build their wallet first ;)
The Gods have spoken.
So get cities skylines
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
Mind wants me ti build a whole nation
That's why Mediterranean towns (Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Albania, Cyprus, Malta, Sicily, etc) are the best and most visited in the world.
Rodrigo Gibson good point
@Mr. P. Enis I think that's because Albania has only soviet inspired giand building blocks
And France
No it's just because it's hot there let's be honest
As far as I know, Sicily is still part of Italy
I really want to create my own city now, Any one got 100 Billon dollars to spare?
I do too.... Ive found some land near Dallas TX that i could probably develop if i had maybe.. 5 mil? It would be on a lake plan too. Country land is cheap.
No but you can buy Cities: Skylines for $20 and that's kind of the same thing.
Algiark I have it... but i cant make any real money off of it :P
Ask Trump for a small loan of 100 Billion dollars.
I think i might
The best public squares make you reluctant to go back home. When I visited my ex-girlfriend in Marseilles, France for a week, several nights we ended our day by hanging out way past midnight at this nearby square full of bohemians, hippies, musicians, poets, breakdancers, graffiti artists, jugglers, people speaking Spanish, Arabic, Turkish, Chinese with a French accent with all cultures on display. Marseilles is my favorite city.
Marseille is the capital of north africa. Change my mind 😆
@@devtogoru I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Morocco for 2 years. Learned Arabic, and stayed in touch with the friends I made there. When I visited Marseilles 10 years later, parts of that city felt like a middle-class neighborhood in Casablanca or Rabat. To me, Marseilles is France without white people. I would move there in a heart beat if I had the chance.
Marseille is a disaster lol Many better cities here
This video is wrong. Its better for it to be more spread not and not to overcrowded and busy. Have you ever been out in the country? Its cool for it to be big open and spread out. Thats how cities should be. Overcrowded and to busy is bad.
@@Texan_christian1132 I see what your saying but the countryside is much different from urban cities. People like different ways of living, but all can agree that the urban sprawl we have right now is terrible. I don't know if the entire United States could become like the countryside, since the countryside is so low density that it would take a lot of space to fill up. Some people like dense living areas in which you see many people daily, while I'd say most would prefer in between this and the country. In replacement of the horribly designed cities we currently have, we should build a spectrum of neighborhoods with varying densities and attributes.
All the urban planners and builders in Florida should watch this video because they keep adding suburbs in the middle of nowhere, where you have to drive for 30 minutes for entertainment.
Actually, every single urban planner should watch this video
North America in general. Canada and America went from having dense, lively cities with the potential to become beautiful and clean to spread out suburbian hell where public transit is shamed and cars have seized power.
@@Ry_TSG pretty much
That IS the point.
They don't want the city to be beautiful, they want you to depend on cars
why are you leaving your house for entertainment? get a personality.
A lot of the qualities this says are needed in an attractive city are actually found on college campuses and that is partially why I think most of us enjoy our years in college.
They often have a square in the center to hang out in. College dorms are compacted living areas where you can see what everyone else is doing. You get connection there. Old universities have diversity in buildings because as it developed they had different building styles over the years. Just look at some of the big or popular colleges they have all or most of the qualities of an attractive city. I have been suggesting for a while to people that there is something special about a college campus that needs to be incorporated to the world at large.
Interesting viewpoint.
I recently went on tour of some UC campuses and thought the same thing!
I don't like going into the square of mine b/c people will bother me lol but that's just me lol.
Thats such a thoughtful idea. I completely agree
Gery A what university for example? I want to apply there! My college environment is painful to live in. We are all like squeezed into a can like sardines
He forgot mentioning how green spaces, water and transport modes (bike vs cars) are significant contributers to the city feeling. Other than that it's a very good video.
This video is basically :
"How to make an attractive city?
1. Make it the opposite way the Americans do"
@@saniahaque5256 New cities can be awesome as well, the problem is the politics behind the design of a city. American cities are designed for cars and capitalism, not humans nor fair society. One big problem of western european cities nowadays is that central districts (with the old buildings) are more and more a wealthy thing and poor people are relocated in remote suburbs (though some cities are not that affected by this gentrification like Marseille). Anyway focusing on profit, class discrimination and individual transportation is why newly builded cities tend to be bad, but some new cities and district are great the problem is not the age
He used many American cities as an example too, I think its more like " Make the opposite way they make new Cities "
@@AashimaSharma-b4c he used a _few_ american cities. there are only a handful of good cities in the U.S., and usually theyre only *partly* good for the ones that are (not the whole area).
the rest of american cities are complete sh*t.
@@exchangAscribe I don't think that most American cities suck however at some point you realize these cities weren't built for people but rather to generate more revenue and make more money. They don't prioritize people, they're just urban hell with some modern touches.
This video is completely wrong. Its better for it to be more spread not and not to overcrowded and busy. Have you ever been out in the country? Its cool for it to be big open and spread out. Thats how cities should be. Overcrowded and to busy is bad.
“Cities should have bustling streets and not empty ones”
Every city in 2020: 👁 👄 👁
Let me rephrase that: "Cities should have empty streets and not bustling ones."
bustling with avid life not alienated isolation
At least in dense cities you can hear the occasional people singing and playing from their balconies
Something China should think of.
I prefer peace and quiet to hustle and bustle.
I don't like crowds.
If anyone is interested on where these ideas come from, I believe a lot of it was influenced by The Pattern Language by Christopher Alexander, written in the 1970's.
Yes, I've just read it. (Dec 2019.) And thought how many of these ideas go back to the 70s, and A Pattern Language.
Yes that´s the first thing I thought as well! I´m doing my whole graduation project based on his patterns. I really hope we can make cities more humane places to live.
thank you that exactly what I was wondering!
I would say that the works of Jane Jacobs( The Death and Life of Great American Cities) and Jan Gehl( Cities for People) are far more influential in Architectural and Urban Design Schools.
i watch this to make my skyline cities look better
Just tuck away your polluting manufacturing and you'll be good. It's a great game.
Master
but hard :(
you're not alone lol
haha I'm here for Cities: Skylines as well.
Amirullah Izzan omg yeah
So what your saying is I can’t have a city of brutalist megastructures intertwined with streets running parallel on 14 levels?
Now that’s what I call a beautiful city
That sounds aesthetically unique, but real depressing
@@luthfi7725 soo.. a dystopia?
@@solus2074 oh that's true. And just like a dystopia, it sounds real cool on paper but probably real crap irl lol
Of course you can, just go to São Paulo...
Trees, plants, flowers, birds, animals, ponds make city beautiful and attractive for me.
UnbEaTabiL pErson I ag4ee with you, and Singapore is considered, to me, and attractive place to live because of the greenery in Bo4anic Garden and Mcrichie Reservoir.
So basically, you dont want the city part of a city.
You might like these things called forests
Not necessarily. Natural life can be incorporated into cities. Search up "Wuhan" for example
The central parts of Odessa, Ukraine, have trees lining almost every street. And plenty of parks as well. And you will not find two identical buildings anywhere near.
Classic European cities are the best.
*CHANGE MY MIND!*
Classic Asian cities look nicer, tbh
Morgan Low they are really nice but I still gotta give it to my main European ones like Venice. Although a lot of classic ancient Asian cities are just as unique and beautiful.
Japanese suburbs maybe
Nah
@@Lam-ba-Lam I never saw a old Asian citie in my entire life
discovers school of life videos and nothing else gets done for the rest of the night
+The School of Life can I ask a favour? I like your videos about the future because as a youth I beleive that my choices can help create that future. I am involved in a few different groups that work towards creating a more positive school and community. An issue I've encountered is you have wonderful caring people who appear scared, awkward and un-empathetic. they have the desire to change the world the desire to make other peoples lives better, but they don't step outside their comfort zones. I was like this but I went through some hellish times that had me wake up and chase initiatives that are proven to make others lives better, heck yea it was uncomfortable at first but there's not one second that I regret it. I need you to bring together a beautifully scientific, spontaniously wise video that will impact human beings to wake up too{ there's gotta be another method than going through hell and surviving because there just has to be}. Along the lines of detailing things like we're all crazy and we all need to take more time to understand ourselves but with the twist that this starts right now not tomorrow not never. Right now. Show ways proven to change the world, hearts that went out and changed the world and the little ways that we can step out and do that today.... one more thing; (I will do if you do not do this) Please make infographics of some of your videso because then the information transfers better on a wider range of platforms and viewers........ ahaha enough of my ramblings for now. Thank you so much for all the videos and resources you've made available they're so awesome.
+Gj Mattson 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
+Gj Mattson True, True
Too true!
Jane Jacobs.
She looked at cities through a holistic lens, as entities that arise organically to suit people's needs. While she wasn't above the sort of deliberate planning you've advocated, she stressed the need to let cities be, as she witnessed herself the terrible toll urban planning in the 50s-80s took on urban communities when aesthetics was championed before function, and central design before localized prerogative.
San Francisco, which you've cited here, has unusually high housing & property costs for a city of its size. Aesthetics came at the cost of accessibility, and housing markets that could reliably meet people's needs. It may be pretty, but they are not an example of what cities should live up to if they value not impoverishing their populace or creating incidental gentrification.
Markets may be ugly, but their "chaos" tends to have reason that may escape a central planner, and thus, shouldn't be dismissed so off hand. It's true that greedy developers serve themselves, but the incentives behind their actions many times arise through true demands or needs of the greater public. Ergo, they aren't always building in isolation towards everything else.
I watched this video 6 years ago in school, and I’d like to add:
Less or no cars. Cars are loud, ugly, the roads and parking take up tons of space. They reduce human communication (causing road rage, people on bikes rarely get that mad at each other), and they’re dangerous.
Exactly! Noise, pollution and a waste of space (not to mention they're lonely and don't promote excersize as with most cities, all parking is close to something
kid when you grow up ask mommy to let you out of the basement
Excessive car use was the result of state-corporate collusion in the 1950s, and the human tendency to take anything too far.
Don't imitate them with an unreasoned hatred of cars.
basil: Commuter rail going out to suburbs was wonderful. It's sad that even supposedly green populations like Massachusetts let it die, often surprisingly late in the 20th century.
"Private" vehicles should exist only to be used for work (transport of materials, moving to a house etc) It's such a revolutionary invention that has been used OH so wrong... Now public transport has been ingrained to people's minds as not being able to afford a car, which is ALWAYS thought to be the better option (even though it costs so much).
I also think that public transport should be made a bit more social, with a design that encourages communication, but I don't know how that could be achieved, yet ;)
I don't agree. There is a real concerted effort to get rid of cars that, while not completely wrong in it's intent, has been driven by ideology that I just don't support or care about.
One issue is that cars are much like buildings. They're just not beautiful and aesthetic the way they used to be. So, we tend to kick them into the same "ugly, useless" category of existence and lecture people who enjoy their cars as bad people who are selfish and unfeeling about the needs of the group.
Individuals have needs, too. And places like The Western part of America is Car Country. People enjoy the wide open spaces and the automobiles we use to traverse it.
Part of this attitude comes from the intra-immigration of East Coast people who move to the West Coast and want to force their way of life on us without giving one bit of care about Who Westerners are; What We value, love, and care about; and Never think that Our needs, desires, ideas for efficiency, and aesthetics are vastly different than those of the East Coast.
That old rivalry has resulted in the demolition of The Western Character and aesthetics is starting to replace everything that made places like Los Angeles as a City and California as a State beautiful and pleasing.
An example of this is the redesign of the center of Hollywood. Hollywood and Highland no longer has the essence and beauty of glamorous, spacious, sunny Hollywood where you might see a star or celebrity walking down the street.
Why? Because that same area has been redesigned to look exactly like a mini version of Times Square in NYC, complete with homeless people, crime, claustrophobic and dirty aesthetics, ugly streets, and a sad loss of identity replaced by bright lights and harsh hardness.
Right around the time this was forced onto the citizens of LA, people began reporting a huge change in the population. Where Angelinos used to be considered friendly and optimistic, they're now described as rude, dour, and suspicious. Sound familiar? Like NYC maybe?
That's fine with East Coast transplants (including the homeless population that were put on buses and shipped off to California cities by the NYC government, which we don't appreciate). They're at home in such an environment. Angelinos, however, aren't at home in that kind of place and feeling, and it's killing the identity, happiness, and the livability of our Cities, Counties, and State. Our misery factor is up and the worse parts just keep escalating.
A huge part of being an Angelino/Californian is our car culture, which East Coast transplants now socially outlaw as bourgeois and evil to want our space, privacy, and close circle. East Coast liberals brought "walkable city, use public transportation" mindset with them and injected them into West Coast/California/Los Angeles liberals; all of whom have voting power and are seeking to "phase out" private car ownership and replace it with their own Transportation Of The People mentality.
Meanwhile, they've made public transportation a really crappy, uncomfortable, unsafe, undesirable option for most people. And Still they demand it and fight for making everything as expensive, difficult, and unpleasant for drivers as possible. And if this happens, the only people who'll be able to afford to have the amazing experience of having their own car will be wealthy Democrats, mostly of the political, bureaucratic, and Hollywood elite variety.
Everyone else will have to eat cake... while they can because our Nanny State is attempting to engage in taxing sky high everything they believe isn't good for us.
All this without a single regard for how gorgeous and well run California and its Cities were once, including keeping the roads safe and maintained, syncing the lights for better traffic flow, and planning everything to be connected by car, which also works for public transportation, as well.
And their domineering won't even allow for classic cars ownership as they goose-step their Will about what types of cars are acceptable and which aren't, while blindly ignoring the multiple levels of damage they're doing to both people and infrastructure.
They don't care that they're making things worse and depressing the population. They only care that their pathological power trip is given full carte blanche without the annoyances of Californians simply refusing to comply or fall in line.
In the meantime, the beauty and order of California and its Cities -- which had all of the features listed in the video, once upon a time -- is becoming ugly, disordered, unsafe, and boring as they fight to erase the building height restrictions and other laws that were in place to protect our desires for what we wanted for our living spaces... For Our Own Good, of course
I wish you mentioned more about green space and the need for plants and trees in cities
+FarmerBenny i think he did, with the plaza argument
Plazas are not always parks, even if it were, 30 m may be small for a park
@@kurojima Nope.
@@kurojima he actually said we need to make City very dense so I don't think he have in mind any green spaces in his dream cities.
I am from Frankfurt and find it kind of unfair. Frankfurt may not be beautiful in comparison to London or Paris, but its still a nice city and really green. Maybe you stopped by in the 90s..
Wow I searched it up... It looks beautiful...
i actually also think that Frankfurt is a quite nice city!
i've been a lot i frankfurt..i think the most beautiful parts got bombed away.. the skyscrapers are stunning..but how mantiond in the video the let you feel little and ugly..the thing is you have so beautiful places like the Römer and the Dome but then "BANG" square's and skyscrapers
You're right. Skyscrapers need to be heavily restricted to certain parts of the city.
Frankfurt has the most Impressive german Skyline!
To save your time
1. Variety in order
2. Full of live
3. Compact to be close to each other
4. Orientation and mystery for mix experience
5. Human scale
6. Local unique character
Main problems
1. Intellectual comfusion on defining beauty city
2. Political will surrender to market force
thanx
I think cities with lots of skyscrapers and modern things are beautiful though
@@memrman8331 it’s just of Americans that want to be European
It made me happy that there were mentions or pictures of Czech cities of all the cities out there in the world. Indeed, wandering the streets in the historic Czech cities makes me feel very comfortable. It is sad though that the new developments, in Prague and elsewhere, tend to feel very alienated and boring. Being now in the Netherlands, I must say that they master the named rules even now, with mainly, the new buildings still corresponding to the brick environment and being compact.
This video is wrong. Its better for it to be more spread not and not to overcrowded and busy. Have you ever been out in the country? Its cool for it to be big open and spread out. Thats how cities should be. Overcrowded and to busy is bad.
6:02 I can attest to that particular Piazza. When my family was visiting me in Rome for vacation, we stayed at an airbnb down the street from Piazza di Santa Maria in Trastevere and when we were done with our day of exploring we went down to the piazza and sat by that very same fountain drinking vino, cheersing, laughing, and sharing stories well into the night with dozens of locals who make that fountain their regular hang out spot. City squares bring people together, and that is evident in nearly every European city from Napoli to Firenze to Lisbon to Krakow (just to name a few).
The best public squares make you reluctant to go back home. When I visited my ex-girlfriend in Marseilles, France for a week, several nights we ended our day by hanging out way past midnight at this nearby square full of bohemians, hippies, musicians, poets, breakdancers, graffiti artists, jugglers, people speaking Spanish, Arabic, Turkish, Chinese with a French accent with all cultures on display. Marseilles is my favorite city.
That's where my house is! (I'm from Rome)
I'm from Czech Republic !! So proud, that you mentioned it.
+Martin2035 a very beautiful country!
Fiddling Beelzebot :)
+Martin2035 I find the Czech Republic is quite good at architecture. 😊
+Martin2035 I was in Prague at NYE and was baffled by the fact that your "New Town" is from the 14th century as well, haha. Wasn't expecting that. In my hometown in Germany, all those old buildings were destroyed in WW2, in fact 90% of our city laid in ruins after the war, so I enjoy diving into the architecture of the past that is now gone and replaced by ugly concrete blocks here.
Philipp X yeah, Prague is old :)
Cities Skylines players take notes lol.
Lol I am here for Minecraft
This is true
Well as a hong kong player I doesn't take it
TJusnow lol
U got me
Thank you!!! I felt powerless and alone, like I was the only one that felt like something went horribly wrong at some point and that there was nothing to be done to stop it! I hope the future looks brighter than the present 🥰
NO! This video is wrong. Its better for it to be more spread not and not to overcrowded and busy. Have you ever been out in the country? Its cool for it to be big open and spread out. Thats how cities should be. Overcrowded and to busy is bad.
I completely disagree with the five floor limit and the occasional skyscraper. Cities like New York are awe inspiring with the jungle of massive skyscrapers everywhere. I think its amazing. to be around.
***** Perhaps some cities could have a higher floor limit - say ten or fifteen for a place like New York. That would help make each city local.
Adipose Express 10 or 15? Have you seen a picture of New York? I don't think a ten story building's been built there in decades...
Ajmal Kunnummal Actually, I haven't really. I was just guessing for the purpose of example.
Inspiring to do exactly what?
7 years, hub...
But New York- and specifically Manhattan, does have a lot of rules aside from height. The grid is rather strict, and there are mandated setbacks as height goes up depending on footprint.
This goes together to form air corridors that make sure the city is well ventilated (along with all the parks), and to ensure sunlight will reach the streets.
8:13
Biggest building in Russian Empire - Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral
Biggest building in Russia now - Lakhta Center(oil company's office)
Biggest building in USSR - Moscow State University
For sure.
??
Разве не башня федерации?
@@Ponyalaa лахта центр в 1,5 раза выше
No mention of greenery and green spaces?
They did, not much but they mantioen the trees make streets look alive
Yeah, add trees to ugly apartments, they will make them look TOTALLY better!
Tim Slee that’s not what he means, he means if there i nature and life then it adds to the feeling of comfort in the midst of cities
At the end of the video there is a shot with a wild space and a building growing from underneath a tree. For me it is very explicit that they think today we should respect as much as we can nature.
Barcelona isn't that green but it's well designed and everyone loves it. Green isn't essential aslong as the city looks nice and friendly and is designed to make you feel safe and secure then green is not needed
I’m pursuing urban design and I love this video! Thank you for this 💗
This video is wrong. Its better for it to be more spread not and not to overcrowded and busy. Have you ever been out in the country? Its cool for it to be big open and spread out. Thats how cities should be. Overcrowded and to busy is bad.
*jumps on city: skylines"
+michael0155 - Too bad most cities i make end up looking like either a clusterfuck of capitalist ugliness, or a communist city block.
I'd love to build a city where the houses actually TOUCH each other, like in real life, where an entire house-block stretches for a hundred meters uninterrupted, like in Amsterdam or Copenhagen.
+IchBinEin yeah. only way to do this is play simcity with attractions placed around.. even so it feels cookie cutterish
michael0155
:O I never knew. I just googled it, and you can with the City sets. I bought that game on release day. Damnit, if it wasn't for the fact that Sim City (2013) was such a lackluster game, I'd upgrade to the deluxe edition in a heartbeat, just so i could build a structured city like Paris or Barcelona.
Here's hoping that Cities: Skylines get's an update that allows for that. At least make an update, so that modders can do the work for them :P
+IchBinEin true.. modderd can do soooo much for that game..
michael0155
I've just spent over half an hour checking out new mods. I haven't played the game for half a year, but Holy crap there have come a lot of amazing mods. This game just keeps getting better and better.
A factor that isn't mentioned is the design of the buildings. Many surviving classical buildings are works of art full of little details and aesthetically pleasing arches etc. Now it's more glass box minimalism, detail-bare and cold with maybe random shapes to vaguely make up the blandness.
He's describing the average European city. 1. Variety and Order *check*, 2. Alive streets *check* (even too much with all the tourists), 3. Compact *check*, 4. Small lanes *check*, 5. big buildings that actually mean something? *check*, 6. diversity in buildings that show the culture *check*.
Nah, it's japanese cities. Especially tokyo
That's why European cities are attractive coz they fullfil these necessities instead of too many skyscrapers
@@greenmachine5600
Both fit the description, but I would say that Europe is more: Detailed colorful walls, simple light, and Japan is: simple (but cute) walls and a light show
@@troyeakb6314 some people find beauty in skylines with skyscrapers. He is just describing Europeans cities because HE thinks they are beautiful. Not saying they’re not tho
@@jost1101 i agree
Finally I found the video that I have been searching for a while, thank you for this video 👍👍
Anyone else want to start their own country and make it the most gorgeous place ever?
The only thing I'd regret are the types of tourists that take pictures of every square inch of something they see and those who dress like idiots
Christian Girodo Angelin I bet yours would be a fascist country.
GVStudios what gave it away?
no i'll accept everyone
GVStudios I was going to say: Hitler, that's who.
Study up on Microstates/Micronation. It is possible;)
+Michael Simonsen I want my own city in real life. how do I go about making one?
this is tutorial on how to build a city in cities skyline
Sadly Cities Skylines does not have mixed zoning. Buildings in which a shop is on the lower floor and apartments are above. If you want a lively city core, people must also have to live there where the shops are.
Completely disagree with your statement on skyscrapers and imposing a 5 story limit on all construction. I am awestruck by the grandeur of immense high rises with incredible architecture. As long as the street on it has mixed use development and life, it’s totally fine. Plus it makes efficient use of expensive land.
I get what they are saying, personally I think either go for them or don't, you either have a lot of them with a few standout world known ones or you just don't do them at all. The worst thing is when a city has about 3 skyscrapers total that just look out of place
@@BucketsGaming23 Well if you were to cut them off in a good manner like, for example, having a bridge on a river to access skyscrapers from the neighborhoods, while also having some nature do its thing, that'd be nice.
He did say in the video that the tall buildings should have earned it and be important, tall buildings are nice but too many of them make a city ugly especially when they are residential. Skyscrapers can be beautiful for example The American Radiator Building, Tribune Tower, and Chrysler Building. People wouldn't hate skyscrapers so much if they were built more like these or even things like Big Ben or the Aloha tower but I still think too many tall buildings will create problems.
@@MS0018-r3d I think the ugly high rise buildings are the ones built with bricks or cement (like panel buildings), but I rarely see an ugly skyscreaper that was made mostly of glass.
The more taller a building the worse the quality of the building. Sometimes we have to build short but with great quality.
A refreshing take on city planning. I come from a hot & cold wind swept semi affluent prairie city of 250,000 people. It has done a fine job with its infrastructure & nature building though heavily influenced by the North American style of city planning. I’m aware of the Barcelona superblocks & thought implementing similar residential buildings could provide numerous mini covered courtyards around the city where people could gather out of the seasonal harsh elements. I also would think having buildings built side by side would be more energy efficient during the blazing hot summer days & freezing cold winter nights. Since our city is somewhat small & young there is time to creat our own unique “order & variety”.
Thanks for having an opinion. This video is a work of art.
Form Based Codes are a much better toolset (than conventional, Euclidean zoning) for building attractive cities, squares, walkways, and even controlling private redevelopment around parks and waterways.
This video turns very dark toward the end, and he follows the same, tired Marxist stereotypes of all business owners and builders being greedy bad guys. The truth is that most beautiful small city centers came about when one or a few wealthy philanthropists decided to give back to the city that they lived in or grew up in.
OMG!! I want to become a city planner!
Maybe, just maybe, I'll go into politics and try to support city planners that understand these thing :)
This video left me very inspired.
You gonna have to be an extremely aggressive outspoken city planner or politic to cause even a minor change. Do you think that Bank of America that owns the tallest building in almost every city will support your beauty standards? It's not easy to fight against the major "pizza" companies that own the economy, or convince families that living in an isolated private property is worse than in a community where you can see exactly who and when does their homework at night through the window. Majority of citizens are so robotic and hypnotized that they simply don't care about anything other than a corporate 9-5 job and the traditional family values, this is why half of the nation sits on the anti-depressant pills and is rotting to the core (pharmacy of course likes every bit of it). I love the idea of harmony and utopia but unfortunately I doubt that it can emerge from anything other than a comforting fantasy at this point of time. If you want to be a city planner or a politician then go for it, but don't be a naive like a small child who dreams about becoming an astronaut or president when he/she grows up.
DO IT! I am a baby architect and it's a really rewarding profession. Architects and City Planners work at slightly different scales, but we have similar training. It is a lot of work (schooling AND the professions) but it is completely worth it. And check out my channel, I talk about architecture and give advice to students ; )
xys pej Not everyone lives in America where money controls the government. Also why are you trying to crush his or her dreams.
***** Well the current party that is in is definitely controlled by the requests of their donors, but nowhere near the extent of somehwere like america, and not every party is like that.
Thank you so much for this. I am an aspiring/struggling real estate developer from the philippines and investors tend to be put off by my idealistic views on how to improve our land. This gives me a bit of hope for my dreams.
I suggest that you read Soft City, a book from David Sim (who works with Jan Gehl, a master of Cities for People); very accessible, great enlightening drawings, and a good compendium for creating good cities. And, of course, don't miss Gehl's published work and his documentary Human Scale
Hey I'm from the Philippines! :)
I agree with you and I hope you succeed in your vision for Pinas. 😌
@@xloves2785 ✨✨
Definitely don’t give up, it would be nice to see cities with beautiful architecture! I consider the Philippines to be beautiful in unique ways and lively, it would be nice if there was more architecture (besides Manila) that showed how wonderful it is.
Great video although I think two of the most important things, at least to me, are missing: 1) Pavements/sidewalks should be wider than roads and roads as narrow as possible. 2) There should be many trees in the streets. I am shock when I go to England and I see there so few trees in the streets in comparison to cities in dry climates like some Spanish citis like Barcelona, Sevilla, the old town of my own city Palma .... they are packed with trees. Trees can make an ugly street look nice and a nice street look superb.
Where in England? I'm English and there are trees everywhere on the street where I live...although you can never have too many:)
I partially agree with your statement. I think both have to be wide to create a fluid transport infrastructure
@@xonai7 then we can have wide paths for us and bikes , wide streets for trams and busses then barrow roads for cars
Sure there should be trees and sidewalks but this video is wrong. Its better for it to be more spread not and not to overcrowded and busy. Have you ever been out in the country? Its cool for it to be big open and spread out. Thats how cities should be. Overcrowded and to busy is bad.
So many good points in this video, but, as others have also said, not everything is quite right. Keeping short-sighted money-interests in check is essential, but rigid public planning is not the answer. Cities should be developed organically, and only in little bits at a time, with many different architects involved. Public authorities should regulate in terms of scale, density, function shares and more, and should make sure never to sell off a large chunk of land to the same developer.
So you're saying diversity among developers and city planners is the key to a beautiful city? I can agree with that. Governments impose specific guidelines for construction, like dimensions, but still leave room for creativity from the architects, like said in the video.
But that is exactly what the video said...
Munich has a rule no building is allowed to be over the height of church in the city centre. I am not religious but appreciate the rule and the beauty it brings to Munich👌
In California that is offensive
It is same in many other European cities
you have your opinion but i absolutely hate that
in a lot of swiss villages and small towns that you cant build a flat roof because it wouldnt fit in
This rule was first established in Milan where no building could be higher than Duomo di Milano
A topic close to my heart.
Some good ideas in this video, but also a lot of bs. The primary factor for the "beauty" of a city is street life. Streets need to be lively (lots of pedestrians) and clean. This principle is mostly thrown away in modern cities because of cars. Cars rule modern street planning, and city life is the worse for it.
The solution offered in this video is also terrible. Rigid city planning is actually what fckd a lot of cities up. The chaos produced by independent planners is part of what makes a city lively (and lovely).
Isn't that basically point 2 and 1?
The cities where there was planning generally planned to do the opposite of what the video or more accurately Alain De Boutain propose e.g. hide stuff, spread stuff out, deny beauty. The big issue around political will is that most people are poorly educated around this topic and believe in people not being restricted, except when they want to do something in ones own back yard.
Public communication is the rightful king! City trains are especially great, in my opinion. They could be really classy if well made.
definitely cancer
m He fucking said so, did he not?
That is the reason why i love European cities so much as Asian. I feel depressed with the same boring box of steel and glass everywhere. Not that it is ugly, but it had no character and soul and turn up feeling numb and empty.
This is exactly the type of material I am interested in. Can someone point me some sources to learn more about this?
+Jamie Turley The Death and Life of Great American Cities is good as well.
There are so many great writers about urban development. Two of the most famous is Kevin Lynch (books: "Image of The City", and "Good City Forms), Jane Jacobs (book: Life and Death of Great American Cities). And you have other intellectuals like Leon Krier, Rem Koolhaas, Frederick Law Olmsted (landscaping), etc. Urban planning is very interesting, is almost like the scientific side or architecture.
Fabian Moreno Thank you for the sources! It really is a fascinating subject.
Troy Nickel you're welcome. If you need any extra material on this topic just @ me
All of Jan Gehls books and works
One day, after accomplishing my dreams, I'll come back to this video to see what originally organized my inspiration.
This entire video is based on the assumption that I want to be around other people
You don't have to, but most people do
No, it assumes that you are more attracted to cities where it's easy to be around other people.
The video pretends like all streets are empty and people live in houses because they hate everyone lol
Tim RM On the contrary, this video says that people want to see other people, but city builders assume that people don't want to, and build the city in a way that makes it hard for people to see each other.
Algiark alright, lets all go live in glass houses, where everyone can see what you do inside and you can see everyone outside...good luck
I need to show this to my City's Mayor!
This video is wrong. Its better for it to be more spread not and not to overcrowded and busy. Have you ever been out in the country? Its cool for it to be big open and spread out. Thats how cities should be. Overcrowded and to busy is bad.
What a wonderful video. The quality of these is just a pleasure. You guys are making youtube better!
I am a conservation and design officer and agree with everything you have said. I put forward these ideas daily and have a daily battle. There is such a thing as beauty and I am very glad you are not afraid to say so. I will share with my colleagues. Thank you very much.
HTF Didot what city?? San Francisco is actually ugly and their population is shrinking too.. it’s the bridge people come to see... San Francisco has a lot of unbalance too. Grand Rapids city Michigan USA on the other hand is ranked number one in economy and 2 Nd fastest growing population in America. Yet their skyscrapers are fairly equally spaced apart, clean, lot of downtown entertainment and public spaces and diverse as well.
This is an eye opening lesson! Thank you! I remembered a very original Argentinian movie called " Medianeras", which is on youtube. It begins with the images of the streets and buildings of Buenos Aires , explaining how that mess has a huge impact on people's inner lives.It says: " what can you expect from a city which gives its back to its river" ? The movie is about urban loneliness, but it is a very tender one. You won't get depressed:-) And after all, despite everything, there is no way not to love Buenos Aires!
Suena interesante la veré
Sometimes i need videos like this to remind me way i study architecture and way i should continue following my dreams
Wow this is an awesome video. It reminds me of the book "too much magic by James Howard kunstler". Beautiful !
+The School of Life why dont you do a video on how to be a good ruler of a country, an empire of a kingdom?
+Pegboard Studios agree.
This is such a lefty circle jerk, the free market always deals with what people really want, zoning laws and restrictions only stunt growth.
+Jacob Heathman The free market is only nice with regulation. Otherwise it is just the way of the rich and no common good will be served.
Over regulation is stifling but no regulation is destructive.
Marcel den Ouden completely untrue, regulation only strangles small businesses and creates monopolies. Government regulation and interference ruins the market
Mr. Alain de Botton, I have been a follower of your work for some years now. I admire the way you approach philosophy and have made it accessible to many others like me. Thank you for your efforts. I wish you my best.
Ideas described in this video are extremely important and it's high time we redirect our attention to the way we build our human habitats.
*>shows Kowloon Walled City*
*>too much order*
The irony...
my school is almost next to the former kowloon walled city lol, can walk there on foot
@@adrianatgaming8640 and?
@@Kevin-sy8uf Gangs, fugitives and other criminal elements flocked the kowloon walled city in the 50s
@@nine_0916 I meant like what else do they do there. I would be so crazed to be there.
@@nine_0916 And unlicensed dentists!
I agree with every single point in this video, it's honestly one of my main gripes with modern life. All we need to do to prove everyone hates modern cities is to look at how the average old city has now become a tourist magnet. People have been so conditioned into ugliness that they associate beauty with tourism far away instead of a right that they should demmand back home too
NO! This video is wrong. Its better for it to be more spread not and not to overcrowded and busy. Have you ever been out in the country? Its cool for it to be big open and spread out. Thats how cities should be. Overcrowded and to busy is bad.
Frankfurt is beautiful. Bombing just destroyed lots of it and those parts were replaced with cheap buildings.
I think that one of most important things is consistensy, if the city is like Chicago full of skyscraper should follow that order, if a city like downtown París is full of 4 story buildings should keep with similar buildings on contrast La Defense that is far away from downtown looks great because is sureounded with similar style buildings
Frankfurt is indeed a beautiful place; I challenge anyone to walk along the River Main, or go the Sachsenhausen to the Stadtwaldt, or to walk the length of Kaiserstrasse from the Hauptbahnhof at one end to the zoo at the other, and not discover a beautiful city.
Frankfurt is truly a beautiful and amazing city! went there a couple of months ago, and some parts where orgasmic, What a beautiful thought of urban planing, so many remarkable buildings and with a lot of space around to admire its beauty and scale. the connection to the ground on most of them was well though of, strong in scale, but very human (London tall buildings fail a lot on that matter, except the lloyds bank, truly remarkable one) I've noticed that the author has a narrow point of view on art and architecture on other films, and this one, although some of his points are very true, they lack in vision, knowledge and art (some for lack of time, others for ignorance).
. #RIPFrankfurt #RIPHamburg #RIPDresden #RIPNuremburg
If I am suffering from a severe headache after listening to the messed-up opinions of others, cutting my head off will solve nothing.
“Most cities are a complete mess”
Me: oh w-*Shows my city*
This video is just making fun of my city in 300 languages 😂
Lmao same
Los Angeles?
@@itzpro5951 LA is not a complete mess, it's an hell of way too much order
@@lewitm4591 complete mess was Paris before Haussman's redesign
I'm latin-american, good cities out here ngl
This is so true. I love a city where the buzz of life is going on around me. I like to see lights on in windows, kids playing, and varied activity. A city should be a place you can walk around and also be relaxed in. I wish the problem of traffic could be positively addressed in cities, and particularly here in London. I'd also love the Shard to disappear of the face of the planet.
Greetings from Colombia and thanks for including it. 🇨🇴❤️❤️❤️
And lots of green, for God's sake! Trees will make CO-2 into oxygen. And for the love of God, more trains, less cars.
Small trees down a median strip of a street in a large city would make it charming and beautiful, aesthetic in winter and happy in summer
Plant responsibly. In Sydney we have done some stupid shit like planting fig trees 5m from buildings.
Yes
Yes! Trains are (in my mind) ultimately cooler than cars.
I would rather have my own car than sit on a train next to a crazy homeless guy on meth
I'm from the Czech Republic and I say thumbs up for mentioning Telč and Prague. :)
ahoj :)
this video is less about cities and more about how most people are unhappy because they don't know what they really want.
Fishbiene yeah
Best video ever. The most informative and easy to listen to video on this topic.
7:20
”you know when your neighbor’s children are doing homework.” Yikes. I don’t think americans want to be THAT close.
And your right
Does anyone apart from this guy?
And who wants? Do YOU want??
Lucy K it’s a joke.
Why do you immediately think of something bad? He didn't say he would like to watch them all day long and stalk, it was just to emphasise that it is nice to live in a neighbourhood were people actually know their neighbours and sometimes glimpse what they are doing, feeling that they are living in a lively community rather than a sterile, isolated environment.
I think that the city in mirror's edge is beautiful. So futuristic and simplistic.
I just watched the video, and I can kinda see why I find it so appealing, but other things seem counter-intuitive. The buildings have a nice balance of order and chaos, but the colour scheme is all the same. The tallest buildings belong to corporations, but I still think they look majestic for some reason. My favourite things about the city, now that I think about it, are the public areas and shadowy, secretive areas. There's good squares, with people and artwork, and a good balance of big streets and small ones. I really like urban landscapes, for some reason. I live in the country, and I hate it. Nothing to marvel at.
ossi_ So true!
Wow, despite you forgot to mention a lot of important factors of attractive cities like green places this was one of the best videos i've seen on YT so far....
Thank you. Now I know what to build when building my city.
I have a couple of real problems with this video. Some of the most beautiful buildings have represented corporations or capitalism. The Empire State Building, Willis Tower, The Chrysler Building. Why shouldn't companies be allowed to have tall buildings? Also a 5 story limit for most buildings in an urban area is a little ridiculous. You used New York City as an example of a good city, should buildings not be the height of those in New York?
Pigeon Persona I don’t care who made the Chrysler building, corporations or not, it’s a beautiful building.
I'm from Hong Kong, and most buildings are about 15 to 30 floors tall. The tallest buildings are for financial companies and stuff, and yet people call our skyline one of the best. To be honest, this video is wrong in most places.
You got a point. However i think what the video tried to say was that skyscrapers, like the ones in NYC, work when they are in an area with each other. Some of the allure of Manhatten is being lost between the huge tall buildings sure. But i don't think the people in Brooklyn would appreciate one of them in their neighbourhood. And with good reason.
You can have tall buildings if the neighbourhood "allows it". It is after all, a financial district designed to solve certain logistical problems for a lot of businesses that need the airspace to work efficiently. Certainly the ESB and the Chrysler building are absolute masterpieces (Willis Tower not so much IMO) and they work because of the context of their surroundings.
If we are talking about residential buildings i find it much easier to defend the notion of sticking to 5-7 stories as a guideline. In those areas, the appeal of the squares and small streets and what ever he talked about, makes much more sense.
Good day:)
Mustafa Exactly, those buildings can hardly be called “pretty”. America lacks any real “pretty” cities, the only one I can think of being any old colonial ones, which are few and far between. We need more french quarter and less Manhattan but unfortunately that will never happen and the world refuses to accept we must sacrifice practically and comfort for the sake of beauty that will benefit the rest of society
if the buildings were *c0mmunISt* , would you have liked it more?
I really like Frankfurt.. there are actually a lot of people who are on Vacation in Frankfurt!
@@theventman9227 Sus
I watched this video to help me put together a minecraft city that is early in development. I never thought about the science behind what makes a city beautiful. Great and informative video.
honestly when the generation of minecraft players finally become arichtects the world will be a better one lmao
This is one of the best videos I've ever watched, and don't take anyone serious who says it's bad. Keep this up!
I was all excited when he said Phoenix AZ I was like yay my home city! Then he just dissed Phoenix and I was all silent. And then the guy kept going on and on about what makes a city bad and everything bad thing he said matches Phoenix no joke. Good videos though!
Phoenix is still very very terrible from an ergonomic and ecological stand point
Watching these for preparing to build my city on theotown, and these would be my source of inspiration for the track that i would pursue and that civil eng/architecture :)
Theotown is a really good game.Its like mobile Cities Skylines but pixalated.
Nice, a fellow theotown player
I do believe that cities need "Order and Variety". It just makes them more attractive
I was kinda sad until he mentioned Edinburgh. It definitely is one of the best cities in the world. The structures are mostly similar in height and sizes yet varies in looks. The important buildings and churches remain prominent and well preserved, with the Edinburgh castle visible all throughout the city. It's got cute alleyways and secret passages. No shortage of mid-sized squares and green places, plus a seaside. It's got narrow intimate roads and also big ones. It's not too big not too old. It's old but also new. Not too busy like london but not too silent like small towns. I love this city so much. I always feel both relaxed and excited when I visit it.
I have found it, This channel will help me fix this world.
The closeness to neighbors.. these authors never lived below or on top of noisy people..
did you ever speak to the noisy people? or were you too secluded and things were too private?
Frances Atty I’m a noisy guy... but I don’t like disturbing people. Talking to me won’t turn down my guitar, nor will it quieten my motorcycle (if I end up getting one)
While I dislike noisy neighbors, I think adapting to the noise to become a heavy sleeper is a good idea. And make all the doors are locked at night while you’re at it. And buy a gun. You’ll be good to go then.
@@jlupus8804 Yeah, I'm not sure if it was because I was a kid but I adapted to living right next to a busy road. Buses and lorries wizzing by seemed like nothing at all.
Before that, I lived in a house where only a few cars would slowly go by.
Frances i did speake to my fukin noisy neighbors, they didnt give a fuck. Maybe u nvr exprnc noisy neighbrs? Thats why its easy for u to say. Haha
Whats wrong with tall towers? height restrictions lead to housing shortages and sky-rocketing prices. Look at San Fransisco, they blame the tech industry for high rent but it's actually the city's restrictive building codes
Azitock no its greedy landlords who jack up rates. Im sick of greed
SaltCity Tutoring, supply and demand. Learn it. Everybody has a bit of greed.
SaltCity Tutoring no it's not "greedy landlords". It's the cities shitty big style of governing that increases taxes thus increasing the standard of living.
Azitock San Francisco is prone to Earthquakes, high rises are a huge threat to public safety in a place like SF. There are height restrictions in Tokyo as well because of earthquakes yet they keep rent affordable, it's really all about the market
The short answer is its complicated
In many cases speculators and out of state land owners can drive up property costs
San Fran is a city in the midst of a tech boom, so there's a huge population influx
steep hills and unstable terrain make building tall heavy towers hard, hence why small wooden buildings are so common
towers often cause a feeling of isolation and resulting depression among residents
San Fran residents tend to have more power due to higher per capita income in the city. And understandably will always oppose building huge buildings in their own neighborhoods
San Francisco is considered by many to be one of the most beautiful cities in the US and I don't think city officials want to change that, due to the huge hit they would take in tourism dollars.
*SAFETY WHERE FAMILIES CAN ROAM WITHOUT A WORRY IS IN FACT THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF A GREAT CITY*
If I were to found a new city, my foremost principal would be that a child should be able to safely travel it's streets. Cars and trucks have made our streets dangerous violent places, and that is unfortunate. It also robs children, the elderly, the disabled, really everyone of their freedom of movement.
"Too much order is harsh"
As an image of the Kowloon Walled City scrolls by
Man, Kowloon looked comfy as fuck
it felt nostalgic even though i was born after its demolition
Kowloon had absolutely no order. That's why it existed. I have no idea what this video is talking about.
Triads, drugs, and lawlessness. Comfy, I guess.
Cyberpunk as fuck chummer
PRobably a terrible place to live.
This video is pretty much saying Europe can build cities and the US can't
Not at all, we are huge fans for certain US cities (Portland for example) and hugely disappointed in many European cities: Frankfurt...
The School of Life I just think majority of Europe cities are nicer then US cities
It is about age of the city and the speed of the development. When you think of the European city you mainly have in mind some medieval part in the city centre, not the whole structure. I believe there is no European city that is considered as really beautiful that is as young as US cities. At some point of the history we just didn't keep up with the speed of growth, and we are just learning how to deal with it.
Becuz us americans abused freedom of everything and want the freedom to move out and sprawl tf out of america
I lived in Paris for a year, I was so depressed, specifically because I lived all my life in a sunny city " Marrakech, Morocco " and then moved to Nice, France - I loved it, but I'm still thinking about going back to Marrakech.
I would love the variety of all 3 actually, the beautiful nature of nice, the chaos and weather of Marrakech, as well as the skyscrapers like where I lived in Paris, La Défense.
However, I think this channel is biased and tries to build their own paradigm and tries to create a kind of a movement by shaping the masses' way of thinking and making it similar to their own by calling rich people greedy, and hating on big buildings just for that instead of motivating people to build wealth.
But since it's a game of winners and losers, and they think they belong to the losers, they want everyone to be the same as them. As long as you play by the rules, feel free to be as greedy as you want, the greed should have limits of not intentionally hurting the other. But if the other is collateral damage, or he actually lost at the game, he just needs to get better, adapt, and change, not cry and whine to others. Life is not fair, we get it, it was certainly not fair with me, and certainly a lot worse with others, so if there is anything that should be fixed, it should be about giving everyone the lowest possible opportunities to live, and then just let them fight in the game of winners and losers. Not making everyone the same and calling people that won " greedy ".
Kyoto, Japan is very beautiful and fits all the criteria in this video.
I agree. I lived in Japan for three years and travelled all over the country. Kyoto is a place that I still miss...
Yes I just looked up pictures of Kyoto and it is STUNNING
This is probably my favourite video on RUclips. Please make more videos about this topic so more people can see it.
The height problem is more complex: why would big corporations, today's powerful organisations, be less legitimate than old powerful organisations that made their big high buildings, Religions ? A religion is one thing, The "Church", the powerful organisation that controls it, was the big powerful organisation of the old time, thirsty for power ... same as modern companies of today.
The biggest houses in the city, the most sophisticated, were those of the rich and powerful... not always angels. But they built beautiful houses and palaces, and these are part of what makes our old cities beautiful to look at today.
If we can't help the fact there are always powerful people, religions, companies, or in the case of communist states, the state itself (ex: big buildings of ussr) ... instead of wishing to hide these (they still would exist), we might as well want these rich and powerful organisations to make their buildings nice and beautiful.
Skyscrapers are modern cathedrals. They ought to be beautiful. Cities reflect society, with humble people and powerful ones, nice guys and bad guys. Cities are the physical expression of the reality of society, that's all.
That's why, i don't think forbiding tall buildings is an answer. Regulating height, ok.
In my city, the highest structure is a 8 centuries old cathedral, symbol of the almighty power of church over society. it is kind of anachronic. i don't mind that a big company builds its big tower. they just have to make it look good.
@@messerlisa da fk u say?
Them: Attractive city.
Me: Good politics.
They have kings and queens Soo yeah we only have president we chose/vote
Paris center is nice, but then once you get out of that, you have huge skyscrapers and roads like in USA, residential areas with huge houses and driveways, straight blocks of houses, all aligned,
But the center is big. Actually it is not USA-like until you are in the suburbs, which are not part of the city of Paris.
From Oslo, Norway and here there is a new apartment complex called "Vannkunsten" close to the Oslofjord. The complex consists of several buildings with a water canal in the middle, Venezia style. The buildings themselves are adorned in grey chipher plates, and are shaped very much like classical houses with v shaped roofs. Right beside it is a square where you have a view out to the fjord. The area is filled with stores and playgrounds for kids and lots of people gather here. It's the best thing that has happened to the city since the opera House.