We all sense that something has gone terribly wrong with our communities. Hamlets and cities, slums and suburbs all lack a sense of cohesion. Not only is there no centre – there is no there there. Cities, towns, villages and communities that were designed hundreds of years ago are obviously based upon some basic purpose of living that eludes the designers of our own time. Victor Papanek
WHAT DID The Covid19 Lockdown TEACH US?
We need to stop building transport-based developments that lock us down in a pandemic. Our bubbles must be large enough to allow us to go to work, school, shops and play while protecting public health & safety. To do that, we need a completely different approach to how we design and build new communities. The worst thing we could do is to resume pre-Covid development patterns.
Introducing MarketTowns
In every era except our own, people inherently understood why we designed villages and towns the way we do. The economic foundation was not an end in itself, but a means to enable the people to enjoy a good life, the social pursuits of conviviality, citizenship and artistic, intellectual and spiritual growth.
Today New Zealand is facing the effects of global population growth. Unaffordable housing, climate change, gridlock in Auckland transport, the list goes on.
Instead of viewing it as a crisis, view it as an opportunity to build new towns based on timeless development patterns that can thrive based on a technology rather than transport economy. It’s called the Market Town.