MUDGE’S Musings

I’ve always been a city guy, happier (even in its suburbs) than when away in some rural village, or bucolic resort. In fact, some would call my suburban home town more of a city than a suburb, and that’s just the way I love it.

And, I’ve always been secure in the knowledge that, no matter at what altitude and attitude I find myself on this breathtaking roller-coaster that is my life, I can count on my city to, eventually, provide me a livelihood. There’s just too much going on not to.

And during some extended times of un- or underemployment it was a matter of adjusting my own assumptions — the city was creating jobs every second, and I finally came to understand that I had to recreate myself to match up to one.

So, even while my faith in my home town has never wavered, even while one emotional center of gravity has shifted 2,000 miles west, it’s fun to encounter some more objective analysis about why my city makes me stay, no matter what.

And that brings me to the following story, first encountered in hard copy form (which means I’m probably 2 months late — an Internet eternity — in discovering it). I call special attention to the following tidbit:

Worldwide, the pace of urbanization is only accelerating. This year, for the first time, more of the earth’s population will live in cities than in rural areas–a cool 3.2 billion, according to United Nations estimates.

Take a look at the top of the story here:

Fast Cities 2007

From Chicago to Shanghai, urban centers that are shaping our future.

From: Issue 117 | July 2007 | Page 90 | By: Andrew Park

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You’re smart, young, newly graduated from a university with the whole world before you. You could settle in a small town with well-tended lawns, pancake suppers, and life on a human scale. Or you could truck it to the big city, with all its din and dog-eat-dog lunacy. Your choice?Fuhgedaboudit: There is no choice. For all the challenges cities face–congestion, crime, crumbling infrastructure, environmental decay, plus occasional issues with basic civility–they are still where jobs and youth gather, where energy begets even greater energy, where talent masses and collides. Worldwide, the pace of urbanization is only accelerating. This year, for the first time, more of the earth’s population will live in cities than in rural areas–a cool 3.2 billion, according to United Nations estimates. “In a world where we can now work anywhere, we’re tending to concentrate in fewer and fewer places,” says Carol Colletta, president of CEOs for Cities, an advocacy group. “Smart people are choosing to live near smart people.”

Of course, not all “urban agglomerations,” in the parlance of demographers, are created equal. Rapid growth has a way of laying bare the gap between cities that merely get bigger and those that actually flourish. For every Karachi, which is on pace to double its population every 20 years but mired in poverty and violence, there’s a Shanghai, the emerging creative engine for an entire continent. For every Havana, which looks pretty much the same as it did 40 years ago (except worse), there’s a Curitiba, which has spent 40 years mapping its extremely livable future. For every St. Louis, a spot as bland as a flat Bud Light, there’s a hip joint like Fort Collins, Colorado, a high-tech hub that’s also the microbrew capital of America.

In other words, there are winners in this battle for the future. We call them Fast Cities. They are cauldrons of creativity where the most important ideas and the organizations of tomorrow are centered. They attract the best and brightest. They are great places to work and live.

I’m not sure that people who know me would describe me as “fast,” but I live in one of Fast Company’s Fast Cities, so I must be, right?

The rest of this introductory article is linked just below; take a look, and explore their expanded lists. I was fascinated; hope you’ll be too.

[Per L-HC’s reformed process, please click the link below for the complete article — but then please come on back!]

Fast Cities 2007 | Printer-friendly version

I know lots of people who’ve toured China. They talk about the Great Wall, the Yellow River cruise, the Forbidden city, etc. But I’ve long said that the only part of immense China that remotely interests me is Shanghai — the Chinese Chicago. Of course, it is or will be soon more accurate to describe Chicago as the North American Shanghai!

Now, admit it, who among my reader have ever heard of Curitiba, Brazil, or even Chandigarh, India (everyone’s heard of Bengaluru — formerly Bangalore — but Chandigarh?)?

I still recall a stint during one of the low-altitude aspects of afore mentioned roller-coaster when I was a temp secretary in a corporate HR office, putting together a diversity presentation. BTW, that experience helped me understand that in corporate America, “temp” is a contraction of “contempt,” which of course is how temps are treated, mostly.

But I digress. The point I was going for is that as part of the diversity training, it was presented that in a list of the 10 most populous cities in the world, New York doesn’t make the cut. Cities mostly in Central Asia that I still haven’t really heard of since made the top 10 — I wonder if 12 more years of our global roller-coaster have changed that.

And after a little research, here’s an update. Seems that the diversity propaganda I helped spread might have bent the facts a bit to prove a point, because there’s NYC a strong No. 4, and not one of those dusty Central Asian megalapoli made the list.

It all depends on how the metropolitan areas are defined, I’m sure, but I’m glad to see that my town, Chicago (had you guessed?) made the top 27(!) in this list I found courtesy of that other search engine, Ask.com.

But of course, (she keeps telling me) size isn’t everything…

Anyway, I’m happy to live in a Fast City — no question that it has helped keep me gainfully employed (at least mostly), intrigued, inspired and manifestly not bored (and I hope not boring!) for almost six decades.

But, I’d sure like to see Shanghai. And, maybe Curitiba…

It’s it for now, thanks.

–MUDGE

Technorati Tags: Fast Company, Fast Cities, urbanization, temp work, 10 largest cities, Chicago, Shanghai, Curitiba, Chandigarh