This same theme keeps coming up in my reading. The way we build our cities, to primarily benefit banks and developers, not people and communities, is failing us all. This video from Andrew Millison looks at the subject in more detail and offers an interesting approach to fixing the problem.

“America has the fewest community gathering places of all first world nations. In the neighbourhoods of the United States, we live in a development mechanism propelled by the interests of developers and bankers to make money off of us for creating housing. It’s very different than a village that is created by villagers as a way of helping people to help themselves to meet their own needs.”

Architect Mark Lakeman pulls apart the key elements of a village and overlays them onto a modern suburb. Outlining the main elements of a village and how they could be brought back into our Suburbs. Creating spaces that are not monotonous. Spaces that invite us to want go outside and move around. The kinds of things that would bring people together as a village, like a community market, a tool sharing library sacred spaces, greenhouses, a sitting bench within 50 feet of where everyone lives.

Mark talks about many different things that most of us just take for granted and never normally think about or talk about. As well as talking about how changes can be made. “In the USA, we’re told that we don’t have any power in the public right-of-way. I can assure you in Portlan, Oregon, that is no longer the case. We now have the ability to transform street intersections into public squares for free. Beginning by painting the streets, we can install benches and kiosks for free on our own.”

He provides examples of these transformed street intersections, and they look wonderful.

“The point of this game is about people coming into their agency and realizing that anything is possible and what we thought was boring and mundane is actually potentially a context or a palette for rediscovering the ancient Village that still lives inside of all of us”

You can watch the video here.

There are lots of links below the video you can visit, including the City Repair Project, which is worth checking out for some inspiration on how to transform your neighborhood.

This, to me, is the Solar Punk Spirit. It’s not a vision of Utopia. It’s a bit rough round the edges. It’s not going to work everywhere or be for everyone, but it will provide a better way of living for millions, if they want it, and it would be much more sustainable.

If you like this video, you also might like to check out this book Retro Suburbia.