Future Cities Conference 2023 | Peter Sloterdijk | The Future of Too Big Cities
Summary
TLDRThe transcript explores the concept of urbanism through the lens of immunity and impossibility, drawing on philosophical quotes and historical examples. It discusses the city as an immune system, the impact of modernity on the environment, and the challenges of urban life. The speaker reflects on the future of cities, suggesting a need for deglobalization and a reevaluation of our relationship with urban spaces to maintain life quality and face the looming challenges with optimism.
Takeaways
- 🌟 The speaker feels honored to be among eminent thinkers and introduces the concept of transitioning from improbability to impossibility in urbanism.
- 🏙️ Ancient thinker Epicurus' quote about death and cities without walls is used to discuss the inherent vulnerabilities in urban systems.
- 🏠 Aristotle's view on architecture is referenced to highlight the idea that cities should be built as nature would, but nature does not create cities, which are spaces where improbability meets impossibility.
- 🧗♂️ Richard Dawkins' concept of evolution as climbing Mount Improbable is discussed, emphasizing the dynamic and ever-changing nature of challenges in urban development.
- 🌲 The modern activity of 'burning the subterranean forest' is seen as a fatal discovery leading to the end of the current urban era.
- 🔑 Key terms from the lecture such as 'immune system', 'impossibility', 'immersion', and 'embedding' are introduced for further exploration.
- 🏛️ Paul Valéry's essay on tragical urbanism and the failure of cities to provide immunity to their inhabitants, particularly during the Black Death in Florence, is highlighted.
- 🎨 The importance of the artificial sublime in modern aesthetics is discussed, drawing parallels between architecture and the total artwork.
- 🛋️ The 20th century saw a shift in focus from collective to individual immersion in living spaces, with interior design becoming a significant industry.
- 🌐 The challenges of big cities, including overpopulation and the deterioration of their immune system qualities, are outlined, suggesting a need for intelligent deglobalization and deurbanization.
- 🔄 The conclusion posits an optimistic view of human capability to address urban challenges, predicting a reduction in the heights of 'Mount Improbable', allowing for continued progress within the big city culture.
Q & A
What is the central theme of the lecture?
-The central theme of the lecture is the exploration of the concepts of unprobability and impossibility in the context of urbanism, architecture, and the human condition, particularly focusing on how cities and human constructs address or fail to address challenges such as death, natural growth, and the evolution of societies.
How does the speaker introduce the idea of 'tragic urbanism'?
-The speaker introduces 'tragic urbanism' by referencing the ancient thinker Epicurus, who noted that while humans can take preventive actions against many things, death is inevitable. This concept is extended to cities, which, despite being designed as protective entities, ultimately cannot prevent the inevitable, thus embodying a form of tragic urbanism.
What is the significance of the quote by Aristotle regarding architecture?
-Aristotle's quote emphasizes the idea that a good architect should build in harmony with nature. The speaker uses this to illustrate the concept that if cities were to grow as nature intended, they would be in perfect harmony with their inhabitants' needs. However, the reality is that cities often become places where the improbable becomes almost impossible, thus failing to meet Aristotle's ideal.
What does Richard Dawkins' concept of evolution contribute to the lecture's theme?
-Richard Dawkins' concept of evolution, described as climbing Mount Improbable, adds to the lecture's theme by illustrating the dynamic and ever-changing nature of challenges faced by societies and cities. The speaker uses this metaphor to discuss how cities and human constructs are continually evolving and adapting, but sometimes face insurmountable odds that were once considered merely improbable.
How does the speaker relate the concept of an 'immune system' to cities and human constructs?
-The speaker relates the concept of an 'immune system' to cities by suggesting that a well-constructed city should anticipate and protect against potential damages, much like how an immune system prepares the body to fend off infections. However, when cities fail to deliver this protection, they lose their function as a collective immune system for their inhabitants.
What is the significance of the term 'embedding' in the context of the lecture?
-The term 'embedding' in the context of the lecture refers to the idea of being fully integrated or immersed within an environment. The speaker discusses how both nature and human-made structures aim to create a sense of embedding, providing a sense of belonging and security. However, when these structures fail to provide this sense of immersion, they contribute to the challenges faced by modern urban societies.
How does the speaker view the future of big cities?
-The speaker views the future of big cities as facing significant challenges due to their inability to manage the influx of inhabitants and the subsequent deterioration of their immune system qualities. The speaker suggests that cities will need to rethink their role and find intelligent methods of deglobalization, disembedding, and deurbanization to maintain life quality.
What is the concept of 'deurbanization' as discussed in the lecture?
-The concept of 'deurbanization' discussed in the lecture refers to the trend of people moving away from large cities to smaller, commuter cities or rural areas. This is seen as a response to the challenges faced by big cities and a desire for a more balanced lifestyle that still offers the advantages of urban living without the associated disadvantages.
How does the speaker connect the idea of 'burning the subterranean forest' to modernity?
-The speaker connects the idea of 'burning the subterranean forest' to modernity by using it as a metaphor for the extensive use of fossil fuels and the resulting environmental impact. This concept is seen as a defining characteristic of modernity, representing a shift from sustainable practices to ones that have long-term, potentially catastrophic consequences.
What role does the speaker believe leadership plays in addressing urban challenges?
-The speaker believes that leadership plays a crucial role in addressing urban challenges by setting goals and developing methods to transform seemingly impossible scenarios into more manageable probabilities. Effective leadership is seen as necessary for guiding cities and societies through complex issues and towards sustainable solutions.
How does the speaker use the term 'Mount Improbable' to describe the challenges faced by societies?
-The speaker uses the term 'Mount Improbable' to describe the challenges faced by societies as dynamic and ever-changing, yet not entirely insurmountable. The height of this metaphorical mountain represents the level of difficulty or improbability of addressing certain issues. The speaker suggests that with time, effort, and intelligent approaches, these challenges can be made more reachable and manageable.
Outlines
🌟 Introduction and Themes of Urbanism
The speaker begins by expressing honor and pleasure at being among distinguished thinkers. They introduce the theme of their talk, which is the transition from unprobability to impossibility. The speaker uses three quotations to set the stage for their discussion. The first quote from Epicurus discusses human inability to prevent death, likening it to living in a city without walls. The second quote from Aristotle emphasizes the importance of building houses in harmony with nature, and the third from Richard Dawkins uses the metaphor of climbing Mount Improbable to describe evolution. The speaker then transitions into a discussion about the tragic nature of cities and their rapid growth over the past 250 years, highlighting the unsustainable practice of burning the 'subterranean forest'.
🏙️ Urban Challenges and the Immune System Metaphor
The speaker delves deeper into the concept of cities as immune systems, suggesting that cities should be designed to naturally accommodate their inhabitants, much like how nature would grow houses. They argue that modern cities, however, are places where the improbable becomes almost impossible. The speaker discusses the idea of 'embedding' or immersion in the city environment and contrasts it with the concept of a city's ability to provide a collective immune system for its inhabitants. They reference the work of Paul Valéry, who wrote about the art of building temples that create a sense of completeness and grandeur, emphasizing the importance of artificial sublime in modern aesthetics.
🏛️ The Role of Art and Aesthetics in Urban Spaces
The speaker explores the impact of art and aesthetics on urban spaces, using the example of a temple to illustrate how human-made environments can be both sublime and artificial. They discuss the concept of being 'enslaved' by the environment, suggesting that this is not necessarily negative but rather a form of aesthetic engagement. The speaker also touches on the idea of 'embedding' in relation to music and how it can create a sense of being enclosed and transformed by the environment. They argue that the design of immersive environments has become a key aspect of modern living, with interior design and architecture playing a crucial role in shaping our experiences of space.
🎥 Reflections on Mass Culture and Design
The speaker reflects on the early 20th century's mass culture and its impact on urban design. They discuss the evolution of movies as a medium that provided immersive experiences, and how design has shifted towards creating integral experiences of the environment. The speaker notes the influence of totalitarian aesthetics on urban spaces and the depoliticization of the concept of embedding after World War II. They also mention the rise of interior design as a therapeutic maxim and the development of an entire industry around it, suggesting that the message of embedding has been commercialized and individualized.
🌐 The Future of Cities and the Immune System
The speaker discusses the future of cities, focusing on the concept of the immune system as it relates to urban environments. They argue that modern houses and complexes should embody the qualities of an immune system, protecting inhabitants from various 'diseases'. The speaker suggests that the architecture of modernism should reflect the debate on the right definition of immune space. They conclude by addressing the contradictions inherent in big city living, noting that cities attract more people than they can manage, thus deteriorating their immune system qualities. The speaker advocates for intelligent methods of deglobalization and deurbanization to save life quality.
📚 Concluding Thoughts and Q&A
The speaker concludes their talk by reiterating the dynamic trust in humanity's ability to climb Mount Improbable and the optimism that we will not face absolutely unsolvable problems. They express the belief that the height of impossibility will diminish as human efforts reach the possible peak. The speaker then engages in a Q&A session, where they discuss the concepts of the impossible and the improbable, and the need to redefine these terms for the future of the city. They also touch on the topic of deurbanization, suggesting that it is a natural progression as cities become unsustainable, and that the 21st century will be characterized by large-scale deagrarianization and migration within nation states.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Tragical Urbanism
💡Immune System
💡Embedding
💡Improbability
💡Impossibility
💡Aesthetics
💡Suburbanization
💡Deglobalization
💡Community
💡Modernity
Highlights
The concept of cities as immune systems and their role in protecting inhabitants from various adversities, including death.
The idea of tragical urbanism, drawing parallels between the inevitability of death and the vulnerabilities of city living.
The architectural philosophy of building structures, including cities, in harmony with nature's principles.
The metaphor of climbing Mount Improbable, representing the dynamic challenge of evolving and adapting within urban environments.
The historical perspective on the rapid growth of cities and their potential future decline.
The impact of modernity and the burning of the 'subterranean forest', symbolizing the exploitation of natural resources.
The discussion on the role of architects and urban planners in creating cities that align with the concept of an immune system.
The exploration of the term 'impossibility' in the context of urban development and the challenges faced by cities.
The importance of rethinking and relearning in the face of urban challenges and the potential for deurbanization.
The philosophical and aesthetic considerations of living within human-made environments and their impact on society.
The historical account of the plague in Florence and the failure of the city to act as an effective immune system.
The notion of embedding in sociological context and its relation to the quality of living in cities.
The influence of mass culture and the evolution of interior design as a means of personal and collective immersion.
The potential future of urban living, including the possibility of deglobalization and the redefinition of community and immunity.
The optimistic view that human efforts can reach the peak of 'improbability' and diminish the heights of 'impossibility'.
The call for a reevaluation of the relationship between immunity and community in the context of modern residential and business practices.
The reflection on the role of leadership in transforming perceived impossibilities into probabilities through goal setting and action.
Transcripts
[Music]
[Music]
the only thing I can add to this is that
I'm really
feel honored and I feel also real
pleasure to to to be here among eminent
thinkers in this
field
um I have chosen
a somewhat strange title for my tesis
here I will talk about the movement from
unpr
probability to
impossibility and let me start with
three
quotations more or less well
known the first one goes
back to the ancient thinker
epicuros uh to him there is a sentence
attributed that would lead us directly
into a field that you would call A
tragical
urbanism because what he says is that
that human beings are able to take
preventive actions against most things
in the world but with regard to death we
all are living in a city Without
Walls so if a city is an IM immune
system in the most important case uh uh
in which immunity is required it does
not
work so we have to to keep that in mind
if I introduce you to the basic
vocabulary uh of the next
minutes which does not mean that I
necessarily do the work I deliver the
concepts and I would suggest you make
your own
conference uh two of these uh Concepts
have already been uh
named unpr
probability
and
impossibility the term of
immunity or IM immune
systems is already
here and the second quotation I I would
like to uh put forward poverty uh under
pretext of an
introduction uh goes back to a famous
saying of
Aristotle uh he said an a good
architect has to build houses in such a
way as nature would create them if
nature or
physic would make
grow houses
so you just have to shake a little bit
the tree of houses and houses will fall
down if they fulfill the the perfect
definition of what a house is meant to
to be it is it is it is meant to be a
place of
immersion where you can dive into into
into this the secrecy and the Sheltering
qualities of of of that place
especially during during night time time
times uh and to Pro
protect a a a a
given Unity of Co cohabitation which is
usly a
family and now imagine what arot would
have said with regard to
cities he would address almost the same
sentence with with regard to to
urbanists or city Architects build
cities in such a way as nature would
have built them if nature would make
grow cities but nature is not U silly
enough to
create cities because cities are are
places where uh the
improbable old almost reaches the height
of the
impossible and my third quotation will
be from Richard Dawkins a general
formula for what he calls Evolution and
he has found a very nice very po popular
and very poetic description it was to
participate in evolution means to climb
Mount
improbable and the strange thing is now
that this mountain probably is is not a
given
Mountain because it grows while you are
climbing this is it is a perverse
mountain or a paradox Mountain uh the
height of which depends on the energy of
the
climber so is a
cusion between clim fishing climbing and
and growing peaks of improb
probability and that is uh what I meant
if I call uh my
lecture from improbability to impos
impossibility because we are all well
conscious of the fact that there is a
that something tragical and and
something unable about the con
construction of of big cities they did
not
exist until 250 years and they will
probably not exist from now on in in
years so when the the peak period span
of time of our main activity in our
lifetime will be gone and our main
activity in our life lifetime is called
burning the sub Subterranean
Forest that's what modern modernity
finally is is is all about
yeah we have made this this fatal
Discovery said One log of of of
wood uh canot only be burnt
once as our forefathers and ancestors
believed we have
discovered uh
that dangerous secret how to burn one
piece of wood millions of
times and this Panic activity is very
Ence of modern times and we and we
already know very well that we are
living in the end game phase of of this
uh game called burning the subterranian
forest
um
now it's that's your task you may you
have the key the key
terms and you produce your
conference immune system
immunity
impossibility IM immersion
or embedding
procedes and what is the result in the
me in while you
uh elaborating your conference uh I
deliver one version uh one possible
version of uh of the task I gave I gave
you and one possible answer to the
question has been delivered by Paul
Valerie in his uh wellknown
uh
essay uh written in the uh early uh 20s
of the last last century o
Pinos was the
architect so in in every text book for
AR architectur students this should be
on one of the first articles you read
just as uh when when it comes to the
question of of tragical urbanism the
introduction of jaani Voos the
camaron should should be read and ReRe
because this is uh the description of
what can happen if a big city is no
longer able to fulfill its function as a
a collective immune system for its
inhabitants and he described what
happened in his natal City Florance when
the plague arrived in 13
48 in in a couple of few months 100,000
people
died due to to the C's
incapacity to deliver what it should
deliver to to its citizens that is a
higher level of immunity but what
happens is exactly the contrary nowhere
life is that
endangered when the the city as a
spatialite immune system does no longer
work but let me just add one remark
about the aristot Alan task uh of of
city building it is a virtual task he
never really explained how nature would
have done
it but from the constructive point of
view one thing is clear the nature if
she really would uh build cities she
would uh seek for the uh per perfect uh
equivalent Al a balance between
immersive qualities of living in the
city that's something that is also
discussed under the term of embedding in
in modern sociological context and on
the other side of of immunity where
immunity uh can can be delivered at the
same time as
a so effectful form of uh IM emusion
structure then the uh nature as
architect of the city would would be
satisfied but let me add one uh
definition for what immune system in a
general in general meaning
implies we all know that immune systems
are called as they are called since the
late 19th century when German and French
biologists
borrowed uh from Roman laws the concept
of imun immunity the term immun immune
system is is not a biological
expression uh it is a chical term uh
that which is Bor borrowed from from
Roman law and Roman law is based on the
on the on the inside that all human uh
life is under the risk of being damaged
and everything that is
can be done to prevent damage in the
future belongs to the system of of
immunities that's also one of the
reasons why Roman law only has one uh
great problem H how
to uh
restore injuries after after after
damages yeah we have you have uh inj
injuries and reparations yeah
and an immune system is an in
Incorporated structure that anticipates
F damage in the
future same thing if you're
vaccinated from the moment of the
vaccination on your body is
prepared to encounter the in Invasions
of certain
microbes but at the very moment you you
you uh build a house you and your family
are are
prepared uh to um silent night
night because the house is
such anticipate the
disturbance uh of of of of your of your
nightly
life and everything that uh incarnates
the expectation of the future damage can
can be called an immune system that that
is very important and that also belongs
to the definition of this of the city a
well constructed city has to be prepared
for certain typ typical
damages and has to
deliver uh that kind of uh immersion
systems that people really uh do
require
and Paul Valerie writes the following
sentences it ceases not to Spur me
to develop a couple of ideas on the art
a painting my dear
fos
Socrates addresses to his favorite
student de fos covers a mere surface
such as a panel or a wall but a temple
along with its precincts or again the
interior of this temples forms for us a
sort of complete greatness whichin which
we live we are we move we live inside
the work of man we are CAU and mastered
within the proportions he has chosen we
cannot Escape
it and this reflection places the
emphasis is on two different elements
the first is it insists that in the
present case the surroundings are
Sublime this we are speaking of of a of
a
temple and the second is stresses that
the surroundings are
artificial and needless to say I do not
mean the dynamic Sublime in the Canon
sense of the word but say artificial
Sublime through the omnip presence of
which a human work can be experienced as
a Sublime
surrounding Al so valer Socrates leaps
with one sentence straight to the heart
of modern
Aesthetics because the letter and uh it
squares directly to the Enigma of the
total artwork because the letter in
keeping with the aong guard's Ambitions
GRS the environments as a whole and the
beholder can no longer absorb it from
the Bourgeois vantage point of standing
opposite it in view of the temple in
which I stand being in the world
precisely means being in the work of
another and indeed it even means being
consumed by the artistic greatness and
is it is a coincidence that Socrates
makes use of the expressions that are
reminiscent of the speech of the former
Tent Maker Apostle Paul you remember
this this famous speech on the Aro Park
where he's talking about a God in whom
we live move and
are in Lutheran
translation the words are a God in M Le
on I do not know if the swingly and
traditional laws
Lutheran qu
quotations uh but the the the qualiity
almost Ho Holy quality of of immersion
is very well evoked
here and and Paul made
here a kind act of pirate
hermeneutics when he talked from the
from this altar of the unknown God
uh in essence and pretended that this
altar was already prepared for the
arrival of Christ
yeah and Val knows very well what he's
what he is
quoting and the same cancer what we said
of second uh AR name namely music then
being inside the work of man as fishes
are in the see being entirely immersed
in it living in it and belonging to it
did you not live in a mobile edifice
incessantly renewed and reconstructed
within itself and entirely dedicated to
the
transformations of a soul none other
than the soul of the extensional itself
and did not those moments and their
ornaments and those dances without
dancers and those statues bodyless and
featureless seem to surround you slave
you as you were of the general presence
of Music were you not enclosed along
with it now forcibly locked up like a p
in her chamber of
vapors and the explication of dwelling
by the theory of the surrounding art
World thus leads directly to an
elaboration of an Aesthetics
totalitarianism or the voluntary
submission to the man-made
environment and in both the reference to
the Aesthetics of the sublime comes
immediately to Bear there are also two
arts in which enclose man in
man one in stone and in air and each of
them fills our knowledge and our space
with artificial
truth and modernity what is it in this
respect other than an experiment
conducted to prove that it is but one
step from the sublime to the uh everyday
experience to banality then at the same
time when Valerie was jotting down these
observations the movie the main medium
of the nation mass culture that was to
unfold as an overwhelming medium was
still in its infancy we right here
1921 but it was purposefully working to
provide the arrangement for Mass
consumable immersive Daydream
experiences it was working to enslave
the eye and transform the organ of
distanced observation into one of
immersion in a quasi tactile
mure and at the same time in the bow
house in VMA people had started under
the banner of design to negotiate an
integral manner of accessing the
environment in which the everyday uh
life is lived and not only music as is a
do domic demonic domain as Thomas man
had remarked but spatial design also
refers like architecture to that trivial
uncanniness of permanent or occasional
belonging to an environment thoroughly
show by man and these Arts explicate the
dwelling at places by means of immersion
plans that are nothing other than
enslavement proposals for the consumers
of the total situation and through them
habitation is seen as a welcome
subjection to the
ambient and to the extent to which
apartments are installations or
assembled immersion plants they explain
existence as a threedimensional
task installations like towns and
apartments are the aesthetic explication
of
embedding and other
things participate in the two basic
value of aesthetic judgment one say of
embeddings in the pleasant and Bal that
they are beautiful or homely and
embedding in the awful and The Uncanny
that they are sublime or
uncomfortable and in the course of the
20th century these explications of
dwelling became productive to the extent
that the design of
immersion Alia interior design was
limited to The Living Spaces of
individuals and the few families and
cooperatives but the immeasurable and
constantly burgeoning volume volum of
popular literature on interior
decorations on living with style on
modernizing Old buildings on luxury
kitchens and bathrooms on air
conditioning on the culture of lightning
furniture and the design of Holiday
Homes indicates across how broad a front
the message of embedding in a self
chosen micro Mur as a
actual therapeutic maxim of the second
half of the 20th century found in
audience and an entire interior industry
is at hand to trigger such needs and
differentiate such standards and telling
this awareness of embedding was suddenly
depoliticized post
1945 and withdrew from the sublime
collectivist thees as if people no
longer wanted to hear that they are Arts
that enclose man within
man it is as if the collective memory
has
preserved the intuitive Insight that the
greater the
entities comprised through immersion in
the Common Ground the more powerful the
totalitarian
Temptation and even if individual arches
continue to experiment with dwelling in
the sublime by surrounding themselves
with with stability and horror their
exercises now remain limited to a
private domain or the best to a
subculture if one day
someday someone is able to
reconstruct how the Demons of the the
20th century were
unlashed then the stress will be put on
the efforts of the totalitarian leaders
to expand the embedding situations of
Apartments to
cover the entire situations of the
people and the collective and classical
totalitarianism was a synthesis of
apartment and gazam
imposed from above and the state usurped
by a click imposes itself as a total
installation and demands of the citizens
their unreserved
immersion and in the East the party
functioned as a transitional quantity
for these ambes of the whole while in
Germany it was the army that performed
the task they gave birth to the super
flat shes that were staged as Nazi or
socialist
Collective but after this this solution
the customary form of residential
totalitarianism join forces with liberal
mass culture and it is now to be seen in
the trend of blanket do it yourself
stores set Force anyone doing their own
living space to choose from the same
color ranges of tiles and shelves and
switches and mattresses and the do it
yourself stor are the main suppliers of
Western post
totalitarianism and with a clear message
do not live with the whole outfit your
own interior alone with a few others but
remain
recognizable and behave
similarly and the fact fact that you are
then surrounded Everywhere by furniture
that is as good as
interchangeable seems to be the Lesser
evil for those
involved I will not go on to deliver the
dynamic definition of the apartment as a
spatial IM immune system I think uh it
can be
understood U Already now but let me let
me uh go go
down
uh to
my
conclusions if
houses of the modern times are formed in
which the immunizing quality of housing
complexes are
explicated then should we not expect
that the architecture of modernism
manifests the debate of the right
definition of immune space do houses in
our age not have to morph into material
symbols of the battle between isolation
interests and demands for integration of
the apartments of our age then not the
evidence of a civilizing project that
places the reformatting of humid of
immunity and integral spaces on the
and all we can be sure of is that the
linkage of immunity and
Community needs to be
rethought since
residential and business relations seek
to ensure the liberation of single
persons living alone and just as life in
the age of naked life could be defined
as a successful face the success
uccessful face of a immune system of a
biochemical immune system so the
existence of man now describes the
successful phase of a single person
household yeah but what we call people
or
societies they also have to be defined
as success successful forms of of urban
life
so I come to my uh conclusions that and
they
uh have to do with the inner
contradiction of big city dwellings big
cities and Wealthy
Nations share one problem they attract
more arrivals than they virtually can
manage and in doing so they deterior
iate their immune system
qualities and they will have to learn to
play a sensible role in the drama of the
future to save life quality by
intelligent meths of deglobalization
of
disembedding and de de deurbanization
I think that the impossibility will take
the lead with regard to the
improbability but
nevertheless uh we will remain within
the big city culture
because the trust of climbing Mount
improbably is a dynamic TR trust that
and that
means uh
the
height of the
impossible
will be
diminished as much as the highest peak
of
improbability will be will
require so and this is as strange as it
might sound an optimistic argument that
we shall not be confronted with with
absolutely
uh
unsolvable problems because the the
height of the impro
probability uh will will almost in in
the reach of of human efforts uh to to
reach the
possible Peak so uh there are still good
reason uh in our ability to climb Mount
improbable under the condition that that
mount improbable as such will no longer
reach s such Heights of impossibility
that we believe to see right now yeah
but take 100 years more time for
planning and you will see that that
these
Peaks uh will be flattening and see
capacity of
climbing will be at the height of the
necessary in the meantime you are ready
with your own conference
uh and you uh you're free to make a
contribution by a written
essay uh address to the
organizer thank
you
don't you can stay here you can stay
here for a minute yeah you got to stay
right here for just a second
so um
Sasha you need a you need a handheld or
something here we got a handheld for you
does this work no you have to use this
one he'll he'll he'll make it work for
you so we have time to take one or two
questions if you're
capable I'm still trying to think of the
impossible and the
improbable and which is which and where
I'm climbing and where I'm
sliding because I'm not sure where I'm
heading with that but I'm going to let
Sasha have a comment on this one because
you you can deal with this one
I'm little bit out of my
league thank you thank you so much Peter
slik We Are
Climbing at the moment the
impossible and I don't know if we if we
know where we are going but we try to
give some hints to develop some
methods maybe
methodologies and aristoteles was clear
at the
time and nature is stronger than we
are and say
this I'm on my way to climb to
Impossible with the with the team
anyhow thank you so much for your
contribution and we are really proud
that you have been
here and I know it was not so easy even
the travel from what was it Berlin to
Zurich can be also kind of impossible as
I understood yesterday
yeah so anyhow we're coming to an end of
uh this first
day and
uh I'm struck a little bit fatigued you
can say on the other side I think you
feel the
same
and yeah is it is it positive what we're
doing is it negative where are we going
through
still so many questions open at the
moment and I hope our younger generation
tomorrow will give us some insights huh
tomorrow's day open some
windows
and they climb the impossible they do
it in that
sense my battery is
empty but just for the moment I'm
recharging quickly thank you so much for
attending and we're not done yet we're
not done yet we're not done yet sorry
you you do that I'm going to do that
really fast okay faster than I do nope
I'll be slower than you but you can hang
out for a second so um I also want to
thank you very much for the mountain
problem Mountain possible and a few
things which I would like to reflect
very quickly which was on the day which
I heard beginning with our leaders and
hear a few words respect rethinking
relearning also for me just this last
one rethinking relearning about
impossible what's improbable and how we
have to for ourselves Define what we
think's improbable and what's impossible
when we talk about the future of the
city and this is what I think when I
think of the work you were doing as
mayor I'm sure many thought it was
impossible became improbable as you set
those goals with leadership and I think
that's for me was also a really
important lesson to take away which is
also the
leadership and the leadership we have
here in the room and the leadership but
it's intellectual emotional
political the leadership and the
thoughtful leadership I would have a
question oh no for you one one I gave
him a moment to think that's always
dangerous yes I have a I have a little
questions because I
heard a new topic
deurbanization
I in most situations when it comes to
question of
modernization modern cities and
especially big cities uh I I quote a
book that
appeared a decade ago approximatively
from an I think an American Australian
author whose name is dog Sanders you
might know it
the name of the title of the book is a
rival City and it's the best description
of of the modern the modern tragedy of
of the city because uh do
Sanders uh was successful in a point
when OS Spangler failed bangler came up
with the promise to be
able uh to write the history of the
future in
advance uh which was obviously a failure
because he uh uh because he was not able
to uh to find the distinction between
gen modernization by technology in
general and the end game of the fan
culture he he he committed a huge
confusion and took something
which is a general process on on a
earthwide scale just for the the last
days of the of the fan soul that was a
major error and that is why
u historiography in in advance remained
on uh
uncapable but D Sanders did something
much more plausible he described the the
Europe European Evolution between 1800
and
1950 and what he
observed was simply the deag rization of
the western
civilization in gtis times 1800 let's
say when when when Gerty was
51 uh this a nice date of
reference when Gerty was 51
82
83% of German population were still
living in a
agrarian uh conditions uh and very often
directly uh from
agriculture 1950 in Germany there was
still
5% left in the in this original
conditions and his prognosis was very
clear that what happened in in the
western
civilization through the possibilities
opened up by our beginning of burning
the Subterranean
Forest uh that is something that is
repeating itself with a fatal or
irresistible Force every everywhere else
in the world and so the the the huge
political theme of
migration is is mitigated for us by the
fact that most migrations do not
happen uh Beyond
borders between nation states but
within Modern Nation States the biggest
migration is in in
China the second uh huge migration is is
in India in in in
Indonesia which is a a
fantastically artificial Construction
yeah uh it was by the way the pattern uh
to uh that helped Benedict Anderson to
to to forge uh his concept uh as as as
as of the nation as a as a fictional
entity because he has that before his
eyes 300 different people all of a
sudden integrated in in one common
political project yeah
1900 4
45 under the guidance uh of an
artificial religion a little bit of
humanism a little bit socialism a little
bit of of Buddhism and and and and and
and
Hinduism right it it it was a perfect KU
you uh but who knows if it will still
work in in 20 years in 50 years and and
so on this uh I quote the case of
Indonesia because it's also one of these
uh in
migration countries which help us to
reduce the dimensions uh of migration as
internal phenomenon as long as the most
biggest part of migrations happens
inside nation states know uh our uh
Asylum system uh
will not be over that much over
stretched that it it would would happen
if all these migrations were
transnational Al so dark Sanders uh made
this
prognosis uh that the the whole 21st
century will will belong to a dynamics
of of that
kind and we shall observe de
aggravations on a on a large large scale
and we shall see uh the the fact that
modern cities which are cities without
City walls will be unable uh to stop
their own pool
function that that is uh the second
chapter of the tragic Urban urbanism we
we are not only uh um
living in cities without a
wall against death but also against
these kind of migrations caused by Inner
de
agiz and in that context uh this
U um a little bit scandalous sound
scandalously sounding word of
deurbanization
U is is to to be
defined in in the western world we are
living already in a in a in a cycle of
what you could call the second
green the first green was aarian world
now we live in a where many uh City
dwellers
decide uh to turn their backs to to
cities uh and to to live in uh uh
commuter cities that means in a in a one
hours or two hours distance from the
megal from the megalopolis that's what I
call the second Queen outside you find
in the meantime you have you find the
the
same uh
advantages uh you have as a as a city
city
dweller uh but no longer the
disadvantage that's what I I meant uh
when I uh use the term of deag
rization yeah but let let us assume that
Marco poloo came to PO
bot yeah after his
return uh to Venice he would have
pretended that not only he had seen the
cities of several million
inhabitants that's why the the the
people in Venice called him Mesa million
yeah he he would have come back as a
Mion from from
bot but but also as someone who uh
reported something from the from the uh
peak of
impossibility turned into into simple
improbability and maybe a May is a
difference
thank
you so with that Peter Sasha thank you
so very much for sharing your thoughts
with us and I hope you'll be able to
stand out with us and have a glass of
wine yeah at the Swiss AO all right we
heard that excellent so let us thank
Peter and for really
again
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