The Perceived Nature Of Contemporary Urban Life Essay

The Perceived Nature of Contemporary Urban Life Many writers are wondering whether the increased scale and proportion of the cities are exceeding human capabil- ities to live under conditions of security and mutual sup- port and concern. Some feel the sheer scale of urban life is forcing individual identity to yield to anonymity, indifference, and narrow self-interest. Commentaries on the growing fear, powerlessness, and anger of urban resi- dents are numerous. Yet, even against the backdrop of serious social, economic, and political urban challenges, other writers extol the many virtues of urban life. They note urban life offers residents a broader and more varied mix of intellectual and cultural stimulation, economic opportunity, and personal choice in pursuing various so- cial roles and relations and moral options--including seemingly endless options for money, opportunity, free- dom, excitement, diversity, intellectual stimulation, im- proved public utilities and services, transportation facili- ties, accessibility to health c are services, and multicultur- alism. These too are part of the daily fare of urban life (Marsella, 1991). Over the centuries, a remarkable ambivalence re- garding urban life has emerged. Plato considered rural life to be benevolent and urban life to be malevolent (Ericksen, 1979). Thinkers of the 18th and 19th centuries, such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Henry David Tho- reau, prized the virtues of pristine rural life and associ- ated cities withShow MoreRelatedGraffiti As A Sustainable And Decent Art Form1397 Words   |  6 Pagesmultiple stakeholders regarding the nature and acceptability of graffiti as a sustainable and decent art form. Having gained immense popularity in urban environments, graffiti has always been on the verge between art and vandalism. The reason for such controversial perceptions lies in the definition of graffiti and its origins. As Campos defines it, â€Å"graffiti and street art could be considered a practice through which individuals appropriate the city† and whose nature â€Å"is consistently described as subversive†Read MoreHalfway House by Mo han Rakesh750 Words   |  3 Pagesincomplete nature of bourgeois existence. 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