Cities Are For Good Life
A famous quote by the Greek philosopher Aristotle says that people come together in
cities in order to live; they remain together in order to live a good life. To live a good life
together with others requires beyond laws and governance a certain degree of
acceptance to communal responsibility. In cities, the desire to live a good life
individually is by nature tied with others’ ability to do the same.
WRITTEN BY JAN VAPAAVUORI
As dense communities of
people, cities function as
platforms for many in-terconnected
transforma-tions
currently impacting
our world. Climate crisis, digitalization,
and the current corona epidemic have
been in their turn seen by many as the
“last straw” of urbanization; a force
that will turn people away from cities
towards a “simpler” lifestyle. History
of mankind has shown us that this will
most likely not be the case.
The ability to live a good life comes
from many attributes that co-exist in a
balance. Security, equality, freedom of
self-expression, well-being, and basis
for meaningful family life are some of
the attributes in studies that have named
Helsinki as the happiest city in the world.
Good life is associated with many Nordic
cities in many studies. Trust in govern-ment
and among people is one of the
common denominators.
The corona epidemic has inspired
many to question the fundamentals of
our democratic systems, the market
economy, or global collaboration. Some
see the current situation as a vehicle for
their pre-existing political ambitions.
Some see the corona crisis as a disruption
that justifies many measures that under
normal circumstances would not even
be debated. A persistent question relates
to the degree of personal liberty. In our
path to re-building, we must be careful
to separate what works in a global crisis
and what works in normal life.
As a Mayor of a fairly advanced,
transparent, and high-functioning city
build on substantial level of trust I see
the path to re-building as a more of
a practical exercise. We must ensure
that collaboration between state gov-ernments,
municipalities, cities and the
private sector works better in the future.
We must keep our essential infrastruc-ture
in good shape. The basic supply
chains feeding our cities must endure
disruptions. Resilience and prepared-ness
must be built by providing access
to information but also basic protective
gear in all situations. We must ensure
that services to vulnerable people and
communities are secured at all times.
Any Mayor knows that taking sub-stantial
steps towards better resilience
will not be done by laws or additional
regulation. It will be done by empowe-
ring communities, making sure peop-
le have the grounds to trust their go-
vernment, and by building communal
responsibility to a new level. Building
resilience to communities is not a pro-ject.
It means that every decision taken
by a city must be evaluated against our
ability to survive another crisis.
Cities will keep flourishing due to
their economic, social, and cultural
power. They will keep growing due to
people’s desire to gravitate towards
like-minded communities. Capital will
move towards clusters of innovation,
inspiration, and capabilities. Working
remotely will not split urban areas but
bring them closer together globally.
Corona crisis will forward many digital
solutions and services. A shared glo-
bal reality will be much more tangible
to many.
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