Cities of Hope and Happiness

Abstract

Alicia Keys breathlessly captured her love for New York as a place ‘where dreams are made of’. Global cities capture the intensity of life, nightlife, music, ambition and the future. Second-tier cities remain ‘sticky’, quirky, different and defiant. The third-tier cities are the garbage dump of the world, bearing the scars of industrialization, pollution, depopulation and decaying infrastructure. Even the schemes used to rebuild these regions focus on schools and families. While schools and families are important, there are many stages of life. While Richard Florida’s creative cities, classes and regions over-egged the excitement of bohemia, there is an importance—rhetorically at least—in claiming the value of tolerance, technology and talent. Such a strategy allows urban planners to understand city residents through their lifetime and understand the intricacies and emotions of these places.

Here in Dubbo, the advantages are … close to work, shopping and activities but for me as a single, ‘mature-aged’ woman it has been quite difficult to make friends outside of work. Despite what I had been told about country towns before moving here, the people can be quite cliquey (L. Ghys, Facebook post, January 17, 2014).

Linda Ghys