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| Sunil Sharma |
Dull, inert cities, it is true, do contain the seeds of their own destruction and little else. But lively, diverse, intense cities contain the seeds of their own regeneration, with energy enough to carry over for problems and needs outside themselves.
― Jane Jacobs
Are cities dying?
Or, already dead?
A planned centre of commerce and convenience with facilities and allied comforts and luxuries, the contemporary city, everywhere is showing the classic symptoms of a deep rot, decay and terminal illness.
The signs of the universal malaise are self-evident: high-levels of pollution; unbreathable air; smog and its attendant effects on living and movement; traffic congestions of long durations; flash flooding; reduced tree cover and soil erosion; depleted water tables; increasing respiratory ailments, these combine together to make the megapolis, a smaller city or town or even a village on the periphery, a complete hell.
This is the standard narrative of the urban development and growth for you. Cities are divided into various sections and zones. Towers and slums mark the story of such a lop-sided development; an uneasy co-existence between the elites and the poor, and the tensions between gated and non-gated communities can be a problem for the citizens and planners alike.
Every city in the world battles with common devils---over population; poor transport and medical infra; lack of potable water; shrinking green and other open spaces, and, the growth of extended suburbs that serve the working classes who cannot afford a decent house in overheated real-estate market.
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| The Dying City (Robert Maddox-Harle) |
Living is non-living, as T.S. Eliot famously declares:
Unreal City,
Under the brown fog of a winter dawn,
A crowd flowed over London Bridge, so many,
I had not thought death had undone so many.
Sighs, short and infrequent, were exhaled,
And each man fixed his eyes before his feet.
When every city turns into Detroit, you can imagine the silent suffering of the helpless folks. Noted author Jane Jacobs diagnoses the problem so well: “Detroit is largely composed, today, of seemingly endless square miles of low-density failure.”
This month’s call was themed around eminent Australian artist Robert Maddox-Harle’s powerful oil painting “The Dying City”. It captures the angst of a philosophical painter-poet so well, the angst of living in an urban desert, a dystopia happening around us.
Talking of the motivation behind the painting, Rob confesses:
This artwork started life as an oil painting which I painted in 1972. I digitised
the piece about 10 years ago and made an archival quality gicl├йe print.
The image shows a life-less, grey-blue modern city – devoid of all plants, animals and humans – a cold
dystopian impression of most soul-less cities. The reference to Monsanto is not especially to do with their
glyphosate chemical but their genetic modification of food seeds which they then patent. This neoliberal,
extreme example of American capitalism spells doom and death to the diversity of life on our planet.
Further the dying has spread to the moon which is in an advanced state of decay.
The select responses explore the nuances and realities as conveyed by the painting.
Like the rest of the edition, these add further value to this month’s Setu.
Our thanks to Rob and all the featured writers for their support.
Please enjoy!
Sunil Sharma,
Managing Editor, Setu (E)
Such a thought-provoking,well-drafted profound piece!
ReplyDeleteThanks.
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