Pastor Ken
During my recent trip to Japan, I visited two castles, both of which were the tallest structures in the surrounding plains. One of them was Osaka Castle, of Toyotomi Hideyoshi (16th century), surrounded by a moat, walls, and various fortifications. The main building, standing on a high platform, has six floors. Due to the large number of visitors, I didn’t wait in line to climb to the top.
When traveling, I always aim to visit the tallest structure on the first day to get a bird’s-eye view of the city. It gives me a sense of the city’s layout. As I remember, I’ve visited landmarks like the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Sears Tower in Chicago, the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, the Empire State Building in New York, and the Sagrada Família in Barcelona. There were also mountain tops, observation decks of cable car terminals at the summits, and castles. Castles in the past were built on high ground, not only for defense, but also to allow rulers to see their domain in a tangible way.
“Climbing high to see far” is a law of physics. Looking down from a height often reveals that the construction of a city follows a certain pattern. In some cities, streets intersect at 90-degree angles, forming a neat grid. Other cities have a central point from which roads radiate outward like a spider’s web. Certain cities clearly distinguish between commercial, industrial, and residential areas, while others have numerous parks with densely planted trees. In older places, there’s usually a river running through the city center. If a city is near a river running into the sea, you can appreciate the fertile land and the bustling commercial activity in the delta area
The discipline of city/urban planning has been gradually developed in universities since the early 20th century. By this century, city planning is no longer limited to studying land management and public policies but is actively applied to the creation of cities. A few countries, including Egypt and Indonesia, faced overpopulated capitals. Unable to solve housing and transportation problems no matter what they tried, the government made a bold move and built a new city from scratch. After completing the infrastructure and buildings, they relocated their capitals. Seeing how places like Las Vegas and Dubai have developed into bustling cities in the desert over just a few decades, “city-building” is feasible.
The question is whether the pace of population migration can keep up with the speed of city construction. Roads and buildings are not difficult to complete, given sufficient funding and the right climate. But population migration and community-building involve many factors, as the quality of living is more than just physical space. That’s why some “ghost cities” have emerged around the world, where they were designed to house hundreds of thousands of people, but in reality, less than one-tenth of the projected population moved in. This is something city planners cannot foresee.
Looking down from a height allows us to appreciate the surrounding scenery and assess the city’s development. However, this is a macro view. As tourists, we must remember that it only shows one side, and we cannot judge the city’s developments from it alone. To truly know a city, we must also consider the micro view. For example, we need to live there and interact with the local people. Only after that, we’re qualified to judge whether a city is good or bad.
