Joe Berridge’s “Perfect City”
A User Guide for Cities Looking to Attain Those “Perfect” Moments
By: Nilanee Koneswaran & Saurav Maini
Joe Berridge’s “Perfect City” takes readers on a city tour of the world’s capitals, which includes our beloved Toronto, New York, Singapore, Shanghai, and Manchester. This tour aims “to examine what’s working, what needs to be fixed, and what is promising in the contemporary metropolis” (Berridge, 4). Throughout Berridge’s tour, readers see key factors that need to be present for a city to be “perfect” or to have its “perfect moments”. This user guide will provide cities with information to help them in their process to become such a city. While we draw largely upon Berridge’s learnings, this user guide will caution cities when thinking of implementing these factors themselves, as there are multiple layers to attaining the status of a so-called “perfect” city.
Urban Machine
A city can be seen as a machine requiring care and attention by its residents; it is also often designed to achieve a specific purpose. Manchester was able to rescue its urban core from the devastating 1969 bombing by mobilizing the necessary energy and expertise outside of city hall organized by its political, business, and institutional leadership. This suggests that the machine cannot complete its intended functions if there are no individuals or large scale initiative caring for it, which is important to consider when a city is trying to attain those perfect “moments”.
It is also important to recognize that the urban machine is tied to numerous other factors. Anti-immigrant sentiments, the lack of affordable housing, and income inequality can prevent the machine from becoming home. Thus, all these factors are intertwined and one cannot achieve the “perfect” city without acknowledging this basic fact.
Economic Machine
Key to attaining those “perfect” moments is a prosperous and flourishing urban economy. Thus, alongside the city’s urban machine, the city contains an economic machine that comprises of the largest and highest value sectors and infrastructure investment.
A city must invest in infrastructure and its financial and technology sectors. Infrastructure investment entails pursuing large scale development initiatives that ensure economic success while repairing/replacing ageing infrastructure. This includes transit and airport investments. Development in financial and technology sectors are also necessary as it can yield substantial contributions to a city’s infrastructure, taxation revenue, job creation, and immigration of highly skilled workforce. Shanghai is the perfect example where its advancements in technology and manufacturing have helped establish itself as an emerging global city (Berridge, 167).
This guide recognizes that a “perfect” city should have a prosperous economic machine, as without economic success, cities would lack the resources necessary to conduct a host of large scale planning initiatives.
Governance
Berridge finds that the way a city governs itself is a key factor in whether a city will be able to executive large-scale city initiatives. Evidence from his tour suggests that a two-tiered governance structure is the optimal form of urban governance in which a city has the strength needed to undertake large projects with the local contact necessary for civic harmony (Berridge, 172). Through a two-tiered governance structure, local governments can respond directly to residents’ concerns, and a central executive body (often led by a mayor) has the authority to make long-term, impactful decisions.
Although governance is crucial in implementing changes in a city, one must be cautious. There are nuances of two-tiered urban governance. For example, although Ontario has upper and lower-tier municipalities, all Canadian mayors operate within a “weak-mayor system.” In such a system, the post is more ceremonial; the mayor generally doesn’t have more than a single vote at council. In such scenarios, where a city does have a two-tiered urban governance system in place and an executive with limited powers, the governance system will not suffice. This is important to keep in mind when trying to become a so-called “perfect” city.
Universities and Human Capital
Universities are a key factor for a city’s success as they are seen as “developers of human capital and catalysts for stimulating the innovation and entrepreneurial economies” (Berridge, 163). Every city visited on Berridge’s tour had established universities that were fixated on stepping up in the global rankings. During the reader’s stop at Singapore, a Singapore senior civil servant stated that cities don’t run on natural resources, businesses or manufacturing “but on the competitive smarts of its citizens” (Berridge, 163). A high number of entrepreneurs and city builders come out of universities, and these are the same people that are responsible for developing a city’s economy. Thus, increasing human capital equals wealth creation (Ibid, 163).
However, increasing human capital goes beyond the mere presence of universities. Cities must ensure that younger children can attain an elementary and high-school education before thinking about university access. In other words, cities need to ensure that individuals can meet basic educational requirements before human capital can be developed through post-secondary education.
Immigration
Berridge also states that a big city’s core activity is to aid those who have fled their countries and transform them into productive citizens in their new homes (Berridge, 169). Policies aimed at restricting immigration aren’t just inhumane. Such policies negatively affect the city’s high tech, medical and professional structures, as well as its agricultural, hospitality and tourism sectors (Berridge, 168). Berridge highlights New York, where more than 10% of the city’s population is undocumented. If this population is deported, who will do their work? Immigration is thus crucial not just for economic success but also for job creation.
There’s no denying the importance of immigration and as such, this guide recognizes that immigration is a key factor in attaining the so-called “perfect” city status. Encouraging immigration is how a city becomes a global city, in which it is the “go-to” city for those not only looking for a new place of residence but also those looking for a new travel destination.
Some Concluding Remarks
As we conclude this user guide, a city cannot forget the smaller pleasures — the freedoms one has in a city and whether one can easily access an ethnic grocery store. It’s what makes home, home.
As Berridge suggests, all these factors are key in attempting to attain a “perfect” city or those “perfect” moments. This user guide also attempts to emphasize the fact that cities need to recognize that none of these factors can contribute to such a status standing-alone. All of them are intertwined and no meaningful change can result in the presence of just a few of these factors.
References
Berridge, J. (2019). Perfect City: An Urban Fixer’s Global Search for Magic in the Modern Metropolis. Toronto: Sutherland House.
Gordon, J. (2013). “Weak mayor” system keeps Toronto ticking through crack controversy. Thomson Reuters. Retrieved from https://www.reuters.com/article/us-toronto-mayor/weak-mayor-system-keeps-toronto-ticking-through-crack-controversy-idUSBRE94G0ID20130530
