Emergent Urbanism

Citizen urbanism is an emergent process.

I have created the term “citizen urbanist” to describe the people I’m trying to reach on my Instagram and through this newsletter. I’m trying to find those ordinary people who notice things about how their city is designed, who like to watch videos explaining Urban Design, who don’t have a degree in planning, who have families, hobbies, jobs, yards to tend but who can’t help but notice their place and wondering how it could become more beautiful, more safe, more human.

They notice problems and they want to do something about them, but they don’t know exactly where to start.

I understand the urban citizen because I am one, or at least I’m trying to be. I know very well the feeling of stuck-ness that can strike when you notice something dangerous, unproductive, or flat-out ugly in your city. You know there’s a human cost to these choices, there’s human impact and so you feel a subtle pressure to try and fix it, but what steps do you take?

For a long time, I assumed the answer to that question was to figure out the answers to all the problems. I assumed the answer was to read a lot of books, listen to the podcasts, watch the videos and figure out singlehandedly the solutions to the suburban malaise before me.

Well, if the past five years are any testimony, this strategy failed. I ended up mostly just feeling more stuck and more embarrassed that I hadn’t done anything yet.

This year, I experienced a reframe: what if instead of approaching citizen urbanism as a matter of knowing and fixing, I framed it as an experience of discovery? What if I focused less on trying to know all the answers and more on discovering what I learned as I got started? What if my ignorance was my advantage and the impetus to getting involved rather than a barrier? What if the right answer, the right solution to various problems would reveal themselves as I got going?

I call this an emergent approach to meaningful participation in our communities. You start with what you have noticed and find one person to talk to about it. That could be a neighbor, a pastor, a council member, a business owner. That conversation reveals something and you find another person to talk to. Slowly you build your reservoir of knowledge, slowly you find other steps you can take.

I find this to be a less stressful, lower-stakes way of getting involved. It’s a lot like setting out on an adventure to some new, unknown land: you don’t know exactly what you’re getting into but you trust that you’ll meet someone along the way who can guide you to the next right step.

What's something you've noticed around town? Who is one person you could share your observation with just to hear what they have to say?