Paradigm Shift

On the growth of cities and our attempts to rank them; at this year's PICNIC conference, Reinier de Graaf discusses the "livability" rankings of global cities, and the blatant shortcomings and blindspots in the criteria used to construct these increasingly popular indices. In a world no longer defined by a dominant West, livability rankings represent the frustrations of aging nations, a final futile attempt to assert superiority over urban conditions they no longer understand or control. Citing a booming Lagos, a decaying Detroit, and the increasingly heterogenous cities of Essen and Birmingham, de Graaf discusses the 21st century evolution of the city, and the new modes of planning and analysis that are needed.