New York is the perfect model of a city, not the model of a perfect city.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- New York exemplifies a functioning city but falls short of being an ideal one.
- In plain terms
- New York works well as a city but is not perfect.
- What can you take from it?
- Functionality does not equal perfection in urban design.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- What makes a city perfect?
- Is New York a model or a warning?
Another view
Perfection might be an unattainable goal for any city.
More from Lewis Mumford
Forget the damned motor car and build the cities for lovers and friends.
Permalink to quote #40 Western society has accepted as unquestionable a technological imperative that is quite as arbitrary as the most primitive taboo: not merely the duty to foster…
Permalink to quote #42 There is no necessary connection between the important events of a life and the records of it that have been preserved in memory, in documents, in memorials, o…
Permalink to quote #39
Related quotes
To look at the cross-section of any plan of a big city is to look at something like the section of a fibrous tumor.
Frank Lloyd WrightFrank Lloyd Wright quote #20 Our cities must not be abandoned. They're worth fighting for, not just by those who live in them, but by industry, commerce, unions, everyone. What we need is …
Harvey MilkHarvey Milk quote #7 New York: Prison towers and modern posters for soap and whiskey. Pittsburgh: Abandon it.
Frank Lloyd WrightFrank Lloyd Wright quote #10