Livable Proximity: Ideas for the City that Cares

Abstract

The subtitle defines the focus of the book: “Ideas for the city that cares.” The text alternates between discussions of concepts connected to the humane side of city life and reports on initiatives enacted in different parts of the world today. It is in this sense a book about hope, a down-to-earth hope, one that introduces a richer way of looking at the advantages of “the 15-minute city.” Livable Proximity’s arguments are supported by a long list of references that offer rich possibilities for extending the presented ideas. The introduction outlines the program of the book: the idea of a city in which “functional proximity corresponds to relational proximity” (1). This is a city that offers more opportunities to see, support, and take care of each other and the environment; a city that fosters collaboration. Urban design has been recently focused mainly on the practical issues related to proximity, what Manzini calls “functional proximity.” But there is more to this. Proximity allows other possibilities to emerge, possibilities that need not be planned but that arise as a spontaneous side effect of being more “in touch” with other people beyond the world of work and immediate family. He argues that there is a need to “re-establish the social fabric and (re)construct communities” (3). Manzini does not propose a return to a lost past—an impossible enterprise—but to subscribe to the principle that global change cannot and does not start being global: it has to start small. As he had discussed before, initiatives should be small, local, open, and connected.1 I discovered the importance of the principle of starting small one day while driving through Italy. Passing by a small town, I saw a sign that said: “Nuclear power free community.” My first thought was, “So what, if the next community has a nuclear power plant?” But soon I realized that federal governments and even regional governments are too distant from the people; they are practically unreachable and unchangeable in a direct way. The only hope is in activating small communities to move positive ideas forward. But communities need two things to do this: the awareness that something must be done to develop a more humane way of living, and information and models that could help them learn how to do it. Manzini’s book works on both fronts. It does not dwell too much on defending the need to act against the social and natural degradation of human and other forms of life, as it has happened and still happens, but discusses how proximity (in its many forms) can contribute positively to different aspects of what we identify as quality in life. He proposes to go beyond facilitating services and satisfying daily needs into the creation of caring communities, not only in the sense of healthcare but more broadly regarding a collaborating and caring culture. This culture to be based “on a renewed idea of care: care for people, places, and the environment” (20). In addition to the discussion of general concepts, Livable Proximity is a contribution to awareness about existing initiatives, in part as a strategy to create connections among them. Mutual knowledge, connectivity, and communication allow for dissemination and the multiplication of efforts directed at making human life richer and more integrated in the fabric of nature. Proximity affects all aspects of life, from casual conversations with neighbors, friends, and colleagues to a sense of belonging, a richer community experience, and finally, a city that cares. Manzini hopes his book will contribute “to articulating and examining the theme of proximity in depth, showing how it touches various aspects and different dimensions of cities and the experience of citizens within them” (3). It is a fair hope, and I think that the book does the job. I believe that Manzini’s discussions and definitions help achieve this goal, but I find that the examples are what helps most in creating a sense of hope, a sense that these are not just utopian platitudes but actual possibilities. Examples include initiatives developed in Barcelona and Milan, with which Manzini has direct experience, from the planning of large-scale ideas to the execution of small-scale projects. It also touches on other international projects,