I. Globalisation: the sense of cosmopolitanism
Due to migration, free flow of labour and capital, the internet and the new social media, and the exchange of customs, more and more people experience a sense of cosmopolitanism. The extreme manifestation of this trend is the "Davos Man," somebody who has transcended all national allegiances and views himself as a "citizen of the world"
The desire to experience a sense of uniqueness and particularity seems deeply rooted in human nature. With the decline of national attachments, the best place to look for a supplement (or a replacement) might be "down" to the city rather than "up" to the world.
When urbanization is combined with the seemingly inexorable force of capitalism, it has the effect of transforming a variety of cultures into a single culture of consumerism.
Cities, we think, allow for a combination of both cosmopolitanism and a sense of community rooted in particularity. Indeed, we see that city-zens often take pride in their cities and the values they represent and seek to nourish their distinctive civic cultures and ways of life.
* nationalist demagogues
We want to suggest that civicism, with its combination of local pride and openness to the world and the universal, provides the psychological underpinnings for people to be more moderate nationalists. Cities with an ethos can also accomplish desirable political goals that are harder to accomplish at the level of the state.
* There are also good economic reasons to promote the ethos of a city. Cities that develop a clear identity can help to revive moribund economies.
* Ethos is defined as the characteristic spirit, the prevalent tone of sentiment, of a people or community.
II. Cities and architecture
Cities reflect as well as shape their inhabitants' values and outlooks in various ways. The design and architecture of their buildings reflect different social and cultural values. Cities built for walking and bicycling versus those built for cars encourage and promote different values about sustainability.
Stalinist and fascist architecture often has the effect of dwarfing the individual, making it easier for the state to make people believe that they should submit to the state and its "great leader".
Globalism has the effect of homogenizing culture, transforming a variety of cultures into a single culture of consumerism, the result of which is a feeling of sameness and lessening of pluralism and diversity in cultural ideas and alternatives.
New York.
New York became the capital of finance and culture as a result of its history of attracting different kinds of ambitious immigrants, who innovate and create by constant questioning of established ways of life. The dark side of ambition, however, is an extreme form of individualism that is almost unique among great cities. Paradoxically, however, there is a strong sense of "civicism" in New York that allows the city to survive the repeated challenges to decent community life.
Jerusalem.
Jerusalem is conceived by many: nearly 50 percent religious Jews, 25 percent secular Jews, and 25 percent Arabs. Many Jerusalemites say cynically that Jerusalem is the only city in the world where the right to vote is granted to the dead. A third of Jerusalem's population lives below the poverty line (the situation for Jerusalem's Arabs is worse; nearly two-thirds live below poverty line).
"Humans who have a heart have God within them."
"Athens represents reason, whereas Jerusalem represents biblical revelation."
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