An Inhumane Humanity

SPI 3712 - Anthropology of Urban Space BSc in Built Environment Studies University of Malta

AN

INHUMANE

HUMANITY

Daniel Xuereb

Ta b l e o f C o n t e n t s

preface

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A society of expenditure

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1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Free yet isolated Interdependent yet fragile Mobile yet fighting time Safe for the few yet unsafe for the many Advanced yet inhumane

(bi)topia

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Concealing the inhumane Revealing the social dimension Overcoming the expenditures 14

conclusions references

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Preface

Within all the achievements of modern man, today’s urban settlement is not described as utopian. This is not to say that the utopia may ever be achieved, however it is most certain that current life within the city is far from it.

How can the utopian idealisations still not be reached when they were conceptualised in a time when the current technology was inconceivable? This text shall give an account of the reasons why this has not yet been achieved. The first chapter shall describe the pitfalls of contemporary urbanity which have arisen as a consequence of the infrastructural advancements which man has achieved in his search of the utopia. Following this discussion, the second chapter shall go on to give an account of how this urban utopia may be achieved with respect to the limits mentioned.

As expressed by Henri Lefebvre within ‘La Révolution Urbaine’, the proper functioning of the urban is not solely in the spatial arrangement of its architecture, urbanism is a social practice.

(Lefebvre, 1970)

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A society of expenditure The nature of the modern man has seen the longing for security and stability throughout his journey towards urban development. The evolution of city dwellers has reached its culmination in the present day urbanites who form a society of expenditure.

It is not the purpose of this text to focus on physical expenditure and the quantification of a world governed by money. Rather, the provision of comfort to the bourgeois at the expense of limitations to the totality of the city dwellers. The subject of this first chapter shall be the analysis of these limits which have arisen in modern day Europe as a result of the search of the utopian city. In attempt to portray a comprehensive view of relevant anthropological theories, these shall be summarized in the following ‘5 expenditures of modern day urbanity’.

1- Free yet Isolated

A free capitalist society built for the gain of the individual, has led to the longing to become indifferent.

The metropolitan man, as described by Georg Simmel, strives not for the search of the truth.

Within a society which rewards the individual for the sake of individuality itself, dissimilarity prevails. The same freedom has given the minorities a right to occupy the city, a place for the different. Simmel argues that the granted freedom within the Metropolis and man’s search for comfort does not reflect a sense of community. Life surrounded by individuals who share the built environment yet not the social traits which bind them. (Simmel, 1903) Democratic societies bring with them freedom on all accounts, ranging from that of expression to speech. The Age of Information is only possible within such a society of transparency (compared to the lack of information in communist states such as China). It is this difference, at the expense of privacy, which creates an over stimulating environment for the European city dweller. The reaction to this situation is at the center to Lieven De Couter’s capsularization of society. Man feels the need to shield himself from what the world has become, resorting to the creation of an opposing heterotopia within which he finds comfort. A city of free people, who within this granted freedom, seek isolation away from those they share the very same freedom with. (De Couter, 2004)

2- Interdependent yet Fragile

Specialisation is at the heart of modern capitalist society. Analysing the timeline, division of labour has itself progressed since the early factories in the 19th century. Today, a higher standard of such specialization has seen professions further fragmented into their multiples.

What repercussions does this have on the political and social aspects of public life?

On this note, the work of French sociologist Émile Durkheim creates a distinction on how citizens are bound together in contemporary urban life as opposed to the pre-modern industrial.

Modern society is held together by what he terms as organic solidarity, the social cohesiveness through a complex system of interdependent individuals. Thus this brings about the realisation that within the dense urban settlement, the citizen is dependent on individuals with whom he shares little to no common traits. The fragility of such a complicated network of relations takes up the form of the body, where if one organ stops functioning, the entire system collapses.

(Durkheim, 1997)

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3- Mobile yet against Time

Within the metropolis, time becomes the obsession of the city dweller. Technological advancements have created an endless competition between movement and time. For movement between the two points is not measured by the enjoyment of the journey but rather through the duration of the travel.

How does the movement within and between urban settlements differ from the past? The way of the wayfarer, as identified by Tim Ingold, is a trait lost to the man from the city. In this sense the wayfarer becomes the traveller, not travelling for the sake of the travel itself bur rather in arriving at a destination. Movement through the city becomes the objective route throughout the grid of faceless facades. The traveller identifies direction through the name of the street or station rather than the ‘imageability’ of Lynchian features which guide the journey.

Reflecting Ingold and Lynch’s ideas in today’s world, the use of navigation systems such as ‘Google Maps’ have transformed the journey through the city into a top-down experience of which would make Le Corbusier proud. (Ingold, 2007) Time spent in transit is unfortunately seen as time wasted by most. De Couter relates this approach to travel with the aforementioned fragmentation of a discontinuous space. The traveller feels the need to shield himself from the journey. From the text within a book to the music from a set of earphones, the traveller will create a virtual capsule for the rare moment when he is exposed to the world outside of his heterotopia. (De Couter, 2004)

4- Safe for the few yet Unsafe for the many

A network of interlinked capsules bring about the question of what happens to those who occupy this space between these capsules. Where the heterotopia continues to differ from the real world which surrounds it, does this world move in the opposing direction?

Gated communities have become the norm in seeking safety and security. The moving society, which De Cauter describes, fuels the compartmentalization into such enclaves. However as the heterotopias continue to flourish, an opposite reaction will take place on the world they differ from. Seeking a place of your own inherently leads to the world itself becoming less of a place and more of an in-between space. These spaces come to lack all senses of meaning and identity, a non-place as termed by anthropologist Marc Augé. Their primary use is now as the space of flows between the enclaves which make up the city, the network which links the capsules together. (Augé, 2010) On this note, the contrast between ‘us’ and ‘them’ is brought about as the bourgeoisie seek refuge away from the commons. David Harvey’s remarks on ‘The Eyes of the Poor’ by Baudelaire sparks the realization of which side of the gate one finds themselves within the public sphere. How does the physical form of the enclaves which we are creating serve the politics of social interaction, when it furthers the separation between the classes? The creation of privately owned ‘public spaces’ inherently falsifies the porosity between the public-private boundary, for it is not the real external public space which is related. This may be seen as a reaction to Baudelaire’s description on confrontation between different people. Rather than sending them away, or feeling shame for their supremacy, the modern reaction is to inherently create their own ‘public’ space, free of confrontation and conflict. (Harvey, 2006) In the watch within public

segregation of the residential units from the outer life of the city, the eyes on the street over the cul-de-sac spaces. Jane Jacobs and Oscar Newman’s theories on safety the city have been applied to only part of the city, rejecting the security of the real spaces it shields itself from.

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5- Advanced yet Inhumane

The fifth limitation of contemporary urban life lies in the advancements which we have reached as a civilisation and the inhumanity that has come with it. This may be seen as the overarching theme of expenditure which has resulted in these pitfalls of life in the modern day city.

Enslavement to technological advancements is depicted in Fritz Lang’s ‘Metropolis’, the epitome of the Corbusier approach to life within the city. The film creates a metaphorical link between the slaves to the machine in comparison to the modern day enslavement to the city. Released in 1927, how is it still relevant today and what can it reveal about the limits of contemporary urbanity? Lang’s idea of the enslavement to the machine, re-applied in the Information Age, remains relevant. We have become slaves to the Internet and the virtual capsule which comes with it. De Couter’s ideas hence reappear in the need to detach from the physical world of human confrontation, into the complex system of virtual heterotopias in which we prefer to live. In the city monitored through CCTV and strict regulations, life itself loses its humanity.

The pitfalls of progress have been highlighted, the limits of urban life in modern day Europe as a result of a society of expenditure. The following series of photographs act as documentation to a practical analysis of the 5 expenditures within Tigne Point, a representation of modern urbanity within Malta. How shall the current generation react to this situation of inhumanity within the city? This shall be discussed in the next chapter.

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1. Free yet Isolated - the bourgeois shield themselves from what the world has become, preferring to pay for the use of the private lido rather than enjoy the coast line in front of them.

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2. Interdependent yet Fragile – the community becomes a body, the people rely upon the garbage man to enjoy the piazza while simultaneously the garbage man relies on the people to litter for him to make a living.

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3. Mobile yet fighting Time – the way of the wayfarer on top of the bridge utilised solely by the tourists and teenagers, the way of the traveller within the capsulising vehicle is the preferred choice.

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4. Safe for the few yet Unsafe for the many – the gated community providing false ‘public’ space to the authorized few, the introverted Tigne Point has led to the danger outside of it.

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5. Advanced yet Inhumane – within all the advancements of the urban settlement, man has become a slave to what he has achieved.

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(bi)topia An inhumane humanity serves the technological advancements in spite of the pitfalls they produce. These expenses were highlighted in the first chapter of this text, but what will be society’s reaction to this realisation? I start off with an extraction from H.G. Wells’ 1897 science fiction novel ‘War of the Worlds’, for it provides an insight into the mind of the common man, desperate to escape from the inhumanity which the world now holds: A Brave New World “Take a look around you at the world we’ve come to know Does it seem to be much more than a crazy circus show Maybe from the madness, something beautiful will grow In a brave new world, with just a handful of men, We’ll start... we’ll start all over again!

All over again! All over again! All over again!” (Wells, 1897) A scene attempting to escape an extra-terrestrial invasion may be reinterpreted within the context of contemporary urban life, which itself has become almost extra-terrestrial and inhumane. The artilleryman proposes the construction of a new brave world underground, right beneath the one taken away from him. The purpose of this extraction is not in attempt to replicate the somewhat absurd statements of a man desperately digging into the ground with a pick axe. Rather it is the possibilities he puts forward, a utopia consisting of two opposing heterotopias, a double faceted (bi)topia.

Concealing the inhumane

The humanity of a city ruined by its infrastructure leads to the debate on whether this very same infrastructure is to be removed. A rather radical approach which may be seen in the practice of the Amish, a rejection of technological advancements. This is not the approach to be taken in a utopian society which seeks the maximisation of its potential.

Rather than rejection, the concealing of this infrastructure allows human life to flourish. This approach is already being seen through the complex systems of underground transportation within many of the European cities. What have we learnt from this and how can it be pushed further? Streets built for the purpose of vehicular movement should not be the way of the utopian city, yet vehicular transport is of essence in a society running against time. In creating a separate hidden realm for the infrastructure, the utopia is liberated from its previous attachment to the machine. The city is hence split into the upper humanistic society, feeding off the benefits of a concealed infrastructure beneath.

On what principles is this city to be built? It may have been thought to be somewhat contradictory to simultaneously apply two opposing approaches to designing cities. In burying the idea of the metropolis beneath, the humanitarian utopia may rise. The school of thought led by the ideas of Jacobs, Gehl and all those who followed in their fight against the inhumane city, flourish in the utopia ‘rid’ of it’s infrastructure. With this, the strategic approach utilised by Corbusier and Moses is retained in the organisation of the sunken heterotopia.

Both contrasting approaches to the design of cities are applied, 2 alternate heterotopias.

The benefits of each approach are limited to the urban sphere in which they are most relevant. How does this address the pitfalls of expenditure? The expense of humanity is paid only in the opposing realm of infrastructure. The technological advancements are controlled to allow the social dimension of life to flourish above.

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Revealing the social dimension

The separation of infrastructure and habitation alters the relationship with the politics of the public sphere. In the current state of the city, who has the right to occupy the public space?

In reference to David Harvey’s argument on whether the boulevard should be occupied solely by the bourgeois seems to have lost its relevance in today’s situation. The current debate shifts the counterparts of the argument onto the whether the public space should be giving priority to man or machine. This (bi)topia hence creates two public spheres in which each is given its own priority. Interestingly, the fight of man over machine has merged the social classes into a singular parameter.

The built environment above the infrastructure revolves around the occupancy of man. The design of street layouts and building forms are beyond the purpose of this proposal. However, what can be said of the meaning of the street and the grid it is laid out on? Within the machine age (1800-1945) it was the machine itself which was given the right of occupancy.

Following the shift into the Information Age, should it now follow that those who hold this information have this right. The (bi)topia proposes streets not designed around the flow of cars and transportation, but rather the flow of people and the relationships which bind them.

Overcoming the expenditures

As described in the previous chapter, the search of a utopia has been accompanied by the pitfalls of a society of expenditure. The (bi)topia faces the challenge of balancing out modern day advancements, negating these expenditures while allowing futuristic societies to reach their potential. In reference to Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs, the advancements allow the fulfilment of the basic physiological needs which form a strong basis for the achievement of self-actualization in the humanitarian city. (Maslow, 1943) On the first expenditure, what can be said on man’s relationship with the city environment and his choice to turn his back on it? The individuality of the modern day democratic society is not something to be opposed, rather the relationship between the individuals. In freeing the upper realm from much of its infrastructure, the focus shifts onto creating a built environment which attracts all individuals. Thus in spite of their dissimilarities, it is the city which binds them. Similarly on the second expenditure, the improved interdependence of a community brings about a fragility of this dependence. However this is not something to be avoided, it acts as the fuel which allows people from all walks of life to be brought together in need of the services each individual provides.

As the city splits it’s infrastructure from its humanity, the third expenditure is limited to the embedded transportation network. Man is given a choice between the efficiency of the traveller within the underground transit, or the experience of the wayfarer through the humanised streets above. In doing so, the fourth expenditure is simultaneously addressed. Giving the incentive for man to once again take control of the streets, he is now present within the public space.

The introverted enclaves shift their focus back onto the reclaimed street life, a space which is now safe for the many. The fifth and final expenditure has been the subject of this chapter, how can we advance while retaining our humanity? The (bi)topia aims to act as a brief theory which opens up the idea of humane futurism.

The ideas put forward in this chapter describe an alternate vision for the utopian dream, that of two opposing heterotopias. It is not the potential of technological advancements which is being predicted in this text, but rather the safeguarding of our humanity along this journey towards the utopia.

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Conclusions

The continuous search for the utopia has proved to be an infinite study. Ultimately, the ideologies adopted are accepted based on their relevance in the situation which they are to be adopted. A universal approach which does not take into account internal parameters of location, politics and time is impractical in its implementation. Hence in conclusion I shall give an account of the current situation Malta finds itself in.

Are the Maltese an exception to the inhumane humanity? This is highly unlikely. Identifying the expenditures of modern society, as seen through the study of Tigne Point, leads to the realisation that although not holding the form of a typical European city, it is failing like one.

In the state of boom which the island currently finds itself in, development has been at the centre of debates between politicians, urban planners and the general public alike. Within this multi-faceted argument on cultural heritage, transportation and financial surplus, what of the humanity?

Apart from the factors effecting the economic and historical environment, we overlook the limitations that these decisions will have on us as a society. An inhumane humanity negates society’s potential.

word count - 2971

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References

Lefebvre, H. (1970). ‘La révolution urbaine’. Paris: Gallimard.

Simmel, G. (1903). ‘The Metropolis and Mental Life’. Metropolis, 1903.

De Cauter, L. (2004). ‘The Capsule and the Network. Preliminary Notes for a General Theory’ in Capsular Civilisation: On the City in the Age of Fear, Rotterdam: NAi Publishers.

Durkheim, E. (1997). ‘The Division of Labour in Society’. Trans. W. D. Halls, intro. Lewis A. Coser. New York: Free Press.

Ingold, T. (2007). ‘Up, Across and Along’ in ‘Lines, A brief history’, Routledge, p.72-103.

Augé, M. (2010). ‘Non-places. Performance and the Contemporary City.’

Harvey, D. (2006). ‘The Political Economy of Public Space’. Retrieved from http:// davidharvey.org/media/public.pdf Baudelaire, C., & Roser, D. (1946). Le Spleen de Paris. Tübingen: Wunderlich.

Lang, F. (Director). (1927). ‘Metropolis’.

Wells, H. G., & Goble, W. (1898). ‘The war of the worlds’. New York: Harper & Brothers.

Maslow, A. H. (1943). A Theory of Human Motivation. Psychological Review.

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