MIT OpenCourseWarehttp://ocw.mit.edu 11.941 Learning by Comparison: First World/Third World Cities Fall 2008 For information about citing these materials or our Terms of Use, visit: http://ocw.mit.edu/terms.HUMANIZING THE CITY: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF FESTIVAL AND THE ADAPTATION OF PUBLIC SPACE JOSHUA C. FIALA 11.941: Learning by Comparison: First World / Third World Cities Professor Aseem Inam December 12, 2008HUMANIZING THE CITY: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF FESTIVAL AND THE ADAPTATION OF PUBLIC SPACE 1.0 ABSTRACT Humanizing the city is a worthwhile endeavor because it is a process by which places can be developed in such a way to give priority to humans. Prioritizing the human in this study focuses on the city as a setting for social interaction, therefore humanizing the city endeavors to improve the sociability of public space. Festivals pro-vide a unique opportunity to study the social nature of city space as they are temporal moments when the culture and socialization of humans is exaggerated, potentially of-fering lessons for improving the social nature of space. In this comparative analysis of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in Manhattan and the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, the two festivals were examined for ele-ments to improve the sociability of the city, thus humanizing it. The analysis examined the elements of these festivals that were permissive of different and more social behav-ior in public space including enhancing connections, improving freedom of movement and accessibility, tolerating a varied use of space and the increasing vitality and grain of activity. Both festivals analyzed improve socialization of their respective cities across these metrics. However, due to the varied nature of each event and their respective contexts and cultures, each festival emphasizes some of the above elements more than others. The analysis discovers that festivals are a humanizing force in the city and do offer lessons as to how a city could be humanized by enhancing the social nature of space. The analysis also uncovers the nuanced nature of the festival as a dynamic humanizing event that adjusts to its surroundings to socialize space as needed. The comparison also highlights weaknesses of each festival’s sociability, a passive audience and rigid event structure in Manhattan and a potentially anti-social religious exclusivity in Mumbai. However, the strengths of each provide generalizable and arguably universal insights as to humanizing the city: focusing the grain of activity and movement on the human scale, providing civic moments in which common experiences can be shared by strang-ers, and creating the environment necessary to support a truly diverse and micro-scaled mix of activity and function in public spaces. 012.0 ARGUMENT FRAMING THE ANALYSIS 2.1 HUMAN To be human is to be many things. However, beyond the genetic, physiological and philosophical definitions, humanity is primarily reflected in our nature as social creatures. In Maslow’s Hierarchy of human needs, the social needs of humans are third after basic shelter and health, and then security and safety. The dominant construct for humans to engage as social creatures and to operate in and define vast hierarchies of social structures is the city. The city allows social exchange between individuals and groups, allows social norms to be formed, common interests and identities to be forged and human values to be formulated and tested. 2.2 A HUMAN CITY What makes a city human? Or, what makes one city more or less human than another? Those elements of a city that may contribute to its greatness or efficient operation do not ensure that it is fit for human inhabitation and sociability. A discussion of the design and development of any city may be necessarily simplistic since many forces are at work in a city. Even identifying or understanding a dominant or explicit force is a difficult task. However, attempting to understand why so many of the cities created by humans are often difficult places for humans to inhabit is a valid cause for some simplification. Many forces act upon the design and development of cities; these forces include value systems in the city including efficiency, profit, aesthetics and sociability (humanity). For instance, the city moves goods and people efficiently and quickly through its systems 02of mobility. The city provides an economic and trading center capitalizing on its centrality and focus within a region. The city is able to capture the imagination of its inhabitants with great buildings and boulevards. However, to be human is not to be mobile, profitable, or aesthetic. To be human is to be social, so the city must align its priorities to provide for humans as social beings. A human value system in the city is one that prioritizes design and development that enhances socialization and human connection in the city. A human city does not limit human contact and connectedness -- many modern cities do not pass this simple test. 2.3 HUMANIZING FESTIVAL There are moments in a city that create a setting for more social interaction between humans. The temporal event of a festival is one of these moments when the force of humanity in the form of human social interaction and cultural expression overwhelm all other value systems in the city. This festive moment provides a unique opportunity to study a human value system prioritizing sociability and human connectivity acting in and upon the city. Examining the effect of festivals on public space and understanding how the city adapts to accommodate an event that is focused on the human can lead us to a better understanding of how to design and develop cities for the explicit use of humans. Interestingly, festivals as human events themselves can enhance sociability in the city; however the interest in this study is not the actual event or spectacle of celebration. In this analysis, the festival is seen as an experimental moment in the city, one that may inform our perceptions of the city to better understand what could possibly contribute to making a place more human. 03FIGURE 1: ss of at forms Ganesh festival. sh Fiala. The mahumanity thduring the ChaturthiImage courtesy of Jo3.0 COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS 3.1