Design
The (Failed) Idea That Links St. Petersburg and Mumbai
Even in cities laid out to micro-manage and shape its residents, the people who use public space can't be controlled.
Daniel Brook’s new book, A History of Future Cities, reviews the development of four "unlikely sister cities:" St. Petersburg, Shanghai, Mumbai, and Dubai. Beginning in St. Petersburg in the early 1700s, Brook identifies the moment when each city started to become "modern" and charts its progress through the present.
What binds these seemingly dissimilar places together is the intent of their designer. Each set out to use architecture to create modern societies in regions perceived to be lagging behind the West, bringing near-compulsive attention to their design and layout.