The City: A Dictionary of Quotable Thoughts on Cities and Urban Life (2nd edition)

摘要

I love the English countryside. I always go there for my holidays, or even for the briefest picnic outing, but imagine having to live out there in the sticks. As Dr Johnson pointed out, while being taken on a tour of the Outer Hebrides, "By seeing London I have seen as much of life as the world can show". I live in London -residing elsewhere is merely a form of existing. The Greek founders of modern society knew as well as their Chinese coevals that civilization means living in cities. Humans are social animals - all the archaeological and anthropological evidence suggests that the basic human unit is the tribe of around 150 people. Anything less than that is likely to cause anomie and economic decline. Life over and above a basic hand-to-mouth existence, however, requires the agglomeration of such tribes into larger civilized units. Tribes may have rudimentary bards if they are lucky, but writing and record-keeping come from cities.