How to build easy-living cities.

My friends keep wondering about all those ugly places of the city where nobody wants to go. How did they get so ruined?
City planning is not an easy thing. Most of the actions are spontaneous and uncontrolled expansions of urban landscape. Nowadays we know much more about the way cities became what they are (the origins, first growth, densification, spreading, economic changes outcomes). The thing is that the city is always a consequence of the inhabitants way of living; we say "the city is the physical expression of a society".

By studying the past, we can learn one or two cool things about the cities coming
or improve what we already have

• Cities should be small and dense. Horizontal expansion is extremely expensive and not ecofriendly.
• Transportation should be reduced to the minimum. Working, shopping, and other activities should be practiced in the same area.
• Diversification. If we go to the same place at the same time, what happens? we jam there. Instead of one mega center that makes everybody uncomfortable, small evenly distributed local "subcenters" makes everyone happy.
• Stay away from white / blue collar ghettos. There's no fun in eating pizza every given day. Mix up within your community and get to know all kinds of people who doesn't have the same background as you do. A mixed socioeconomic status neighborhood delivers richer human interactions.
• No Pharaonic projects. Overscaled projects tend to fail, taking money and time away. Urban improvements are usually simple.
• Overlap functions. It's good to have transportations hubs, shopping and dwellings all together. This also improves human interaction, leading to social and economic wealth.
• Aesthetics makes the difference. If you like something, you want it. If the place where you live and work have a nice walking view, people will spend much more time there, enjoying the place, shopping or having a nice dinner out.

After all building a city is making a way of living. Be conscious of the community where you live, help others, embrace commitment to take good care of the facilities you enjoy day after day, dive in the realization of new projects, create job opportunities and wealth sources, respect things previously done, attempt to make the difference and realize that the city is every single time the tangible expression of what you do every day.