Urbanized (2011)

Urbanized: Directed by Gary Hustwit. With Rem Koolhaas, Norman Foster, Alejandro Aravena, Jan Gehl. A documentary about the design of cities, which looks at the issues and strategies behind urban design and features some of the world’s foremost architects, planners, policymakers, builders, and thinkers.

“Should be an absolute must see for anyone in local politics. The first comment from anyone in the audience after the premiere was: u0026quot;I hope our god-damned mayor was here to see thisu0026quot;u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eHe should have been – together with his entire city council.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWhat really took my breath away was how you can build a transportation system to address the needs of tens of thousands of cyclists or several hundred motorists and watching the mayor of Bogota Columbia explaining his priorities while giving an interview riding a bike in the heart of his city – amazing.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAnother key element involved how small, close knit communities were destroyed at the dawn of the automotive era to make way for freeways between city cores and suburban sprawls where cars were necessary to travel the great distances between destinations largely because of the huge parking lots required at every place you wanted to go.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003ePlan first build later.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eExcellent film – I hope new cities in Asia can learn from our western mistakes”