Edmund Spenser, 1596, The Faerie Queen, Book 5, Canto II. Online: http://www.luminarium.org/renascence-editions/fqintro.html
This is sort of a follow-up to two previous posts on urban landscapes (May 4, 2016 and May 11, 2016).
Back then I linked to a total of 36 articles that were published by The Guardian on "The Story of Cities." The topics ranged from the hallucinatory mirage that was Arcosanti to the tragedy (not yet over) of Johannesburg and apartheid.
They didn't stop. There are now more than 50 articles in their series on cities.
And that's not all.
They've also started a new series: Lost Cities. As of today (August 17, 2016) they have seven.
I'm going to do two things: 1) Give the complete list of The story of cities articles; 2) List the seven (so far) articles in the Lost cities series.
I'm not going to even attempt to summarize these articles. They're all good.
The Story of Cities
- How Alexandria laid foundations for the modern world http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/mar/14/story-cities-day-1-alexandria-egypt-history-urbanisation-foundations-modern-world
- Rome wasn't planned in a day … in fact it wasn't planned at all http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/mar/15/story-cities-part-2-secret-ancient-rome
- The birth of Baghdad was a landmark for world civilisation http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/mar/16/story-cities-day-3-baghdad-iraq-world-civilisation
- Beijing and the earliest planning document in history http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/mar/17/story-cities-beijing-earliest-planning-document-history
- Benin City, the mighty medieval capital now lost without trace http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/mar/18/story-of-cities-5-benin-city-edo-nigeria-mighty-medieval-capital-lost-without-trace
- How silver turned Potosí into 'the first city of capitalism' http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/mar/21/story-of-cities-6-potosi-bolivia-peru-inca-first-city-capitalism
- Philadelphia grid marks birth of America's urban dream http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/mar/22/story-of-cities-7-philadelphia-grid-pennsylvania-william-penn-america-urban-dream
- St Petersburg – is the 'city built on bones' starting to crumble? http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/mar/23/story-of-cities-8-st-petersburg-city-built-on-bones-starting-to-crumble
- Kingston, Jamaica – a city born of 'wickedness' and disaster http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/mar/24/story-cities-9-kingston-jamaica-richest-wickedest-city-world
- How the dirty Old Town became enlightened Edinburgh http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/mar/29/story-of-cities-10-edinburgh-new-town-old-town-scottish-enlightenment-james-craig
- The reclamation of Mumbai – from the sea, and its people? http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/mar/30/story-cities-11-reclamation-mumbai-bombay-megacity-population-density-flood-risk
- Haussmann rips up Paris – and divides France to this day http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/mar/31/story-cities-12-paris-baron-haussmann-france-urban-planner-napoleon
- Barcelona's unloved planner invents science of 'urbanisation' http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/apr/01/story-cities-13-eixample-barcelona-ildefons-cerda-planner-urbanisation
- London's Great Stink heralds a wonder of the industrial world http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/apr/04/story-cities-14-london-great-stink-river-thames-joseph-bazalgette-sewage-system
- The rise and ruin of Rio de Janeiro's first favela http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/apr/05/story-cities-15-rio-de-janeiro-first-favela-providencia-2016-olympic-games
- How the US-run Canal Zone divided Panama for a century http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/apr/06/story-cities-16-panama-canal-zone-history-us-run-divided-city
- Canberra's vision of the ideal city gets mired in 'mediocrity' http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/apr/07/story-cities-17-canberra-capital-australia-walter-griffin-ideal-city
- Vienna's 'wild settlers' kickstart a social housing revolution http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/apr/08/story-cities-18-vienna-austria-cooperative-self-build-settlers-social-housing-revolution
- Johannesburg's apartheid purge of vibrant Sophiatown http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/apr/11/story-cities-19-johannesburg-south-africa-apartheid-purge-sophiatown
- The secret history of Magnitogorsk, Russia's steel city http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/apr/12/story-of-cities-20-the-secret-history-of-magnitogorsk-russias-steel-city
- Olivetti tries to build the ideal 'human city' for its workers http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/apr/13/story-cities-21-adriano-olivetti-ivrea-italy-typewriter-factory-human-city
- How Hitler's plans for Germania would have torn Berlin apart http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/apr/14/story-of-cities-hitler-germania-berlin-nazis
- How disaster sparked Napier's art deco renaissance http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/apr/15/story-of-cities-napier-disaster-art-deco-renaissance
- How Hiroshima rose from the ashes of nuclear destruction http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/apr/18/story-of-cities-hiroshima-japan-nuclear-destruction
- Shannon – a tiny Irish town inspires China’s economic boom http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/apr/19/story-of-cities-25-shannon-ireland-china-economic-boom
- Delhi's modernist dream proves a far-fetched fantasy http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/apr/20/story-cities-23-delhi-india-modernist-fantasy
- Singapore – the most meticulously planned city in the world http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/apr/21/story-cities-singapore-carefully-planned-lee-kuan-yew
- How postwar Warsaw was rebuilt using 18th century paintings http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/apr/22/story-cities-warsaw-rebuilt-18th-century-paintings
- Los Angeles and the 'great American streetcar scandal' http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/apr/25/story-cities-los-angeles-great-american-streetcar-scandal
- How this Amsterdam inventor gave bike-sharing to the world http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/apr/26/story-cities-amsterdam-bike-share-scheme
- Skopje plans for the future by fixating on its ancient past http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/apr/27/story-cities-skopje-plans-future-ancient-past
- Jane Jacobs v Robert Moses, battle of New York's urban titans http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/apr/28/story-cities-32-new-york-jane-jacobs-robert-moses
- How Santiago tackled its housing crisis with 'Operation Chalk' http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/apr/29/story-cities-33-santiago-chile-housing-crisis-operacion-sitio-operation-chalk
- The struggle for the soul of Milton Keynes http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/may/03/struggle-for-the-soul-of-milton-keynes
- Arcosanti – the unfinished answer to suburban sprawl http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/may/04/story-cities-35-arcosanti-paolo-soleri-desert
- How Copenhagen rejected 1960s modernist 'utopia' http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/may/05/story-cities-copenhagen-denmark-modernist-utopia
- How radical ideas turned Curitiba into Brazil's 'green capital'
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/may/06/story-of-cities-37-mayor-jaime-lerner-curitiba-brazil-green-capital-global-icon - Vancouver dumps its freeway plan for a more beautiful future
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/may/09/story-cities-38-vancouver-canada-freeway-protest-liveable-city - Shenzhen – from rural village to the world's largest megalopolis
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/may/10/story-of-cities-39-shenzhen-from-rural-village-to-the-worlds-largest-megalopolis - How a village had to die so Hamburg's port could survive
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/may/11/story-cities-altenwerder-hamburg-germany-port - Soul City's failed bid to build a black-run suburbia for America
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/may/12/story-cities-soul-city-floyd-mckissick-north-carolina-black-run-suburbia - Medellín escapes grip of drug lord to embrace radical urbanism
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/may/13/story-cities-pablo-escobar-inclusive-urbanism-medellin-colombia - How Dubai's World Trade Centre sold the city to the world
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/may/16/story-of-cities-43-dubai-world-trade-centre-turned-sand-gold-uae - Will Dadaab, the world's largest refugee camp, really close?
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/may/17/story-of-cities-44-dadaab-kenya-worlds-largest-refugee-camp-closed - The death of Richard Nickel, guardian of Chicago's heritage
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/may/18/story-cities-death-richard-nickel-guardian-chicago-heritage-architecture - The gated Buenos Aires community which left its poor neighbours under water
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/may/19/story-cities-46-buenos-aires-gated-community-nordelta-flood - Myanmar rising – how democracy is changing Yangon's skyline
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/may/20/myanmar-democracy-yangon-changing-skyline - Cybercity, Mauritius – a vision of Africa's 'smart' future?
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/may/23/story-cities-48-ebene-cybercity-mauritius-vision-africa-smart-future - The long road to Rawabi, Palestine's first planned city
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/may/24/story-cities-rawabi-planned-city-palestine - The reclaimed stream bringing life to the heart of Seoul
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/may/25/story-cities-reclaimed-stream-heart-seoul-cheonggyecheon
There are also two "bonus" entries:
- What will our growing megacities really look like?https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/may/26/story-cities-future-growing-megacities-waste-floating-smart
- The story of cities: the tales we missed
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/may/27/the-story-of-cities-the-tales-we-missed
Lost Cities
- Babylon – how war almost erased ‘mankind’s greatest heritage site’ https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/aug/08/lost-cities-1-babylon-iraq-war-history-mankind-greatest-heritage-site
- The search for the real Troy – 'not just one city but at least 10' https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/aug/09/lost-cities-2-search-real-troy-hisarlik-turkey-mythology-homer-iliad
- Muziris: did black pepper cause the demise of India's ancient port?https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/aug/10/lost-cities-3-muziris-india-kerala-ancient-port-black-pepper
- Pompeii was preserved by disaster. Now it risks ruin all over again https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/aug/11/lost-cities-4-pompeii-roman-preserved-disaster-vesuvius-volcano-second-extinction
- How the magnificent city of Merv was razed – and never recovered https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/aug/12/lost-cities-merv-worlds-biggest-city-razed-turkmenistan
- How Thonis-Heracleion resurfaced after 1,000 years under water https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/aug/15/lost-cities-6-thonis-heracleion-egypt-sunken-sea
- How NASA technology uncovered the 'megacity' of Angkor https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/aug/16/lost-cities-6-angkor-wat-nasa-technology-khmer-megacity
Well, that ought to keep you busy for a while! And I'm certain there are more "lost city" entries coming. Exciting, isn't it?
These are indeed good articles, they make you think about things differently. I knew a little about Benin, mostly from the bronze artworks that signal a large population with technologically advanced culture, but clearly I didn't understand nearly enough, nor does anyone else.
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