What Is a City Lewis Mumford

“What is a City” Lewis Mumford

In this article, Mumford describes poor planning as the handicap in modern cities. In addition, he languishes over the poor understanding of social functions of the modern city. Indeed, Mumford views the modern city as more than just the physical infrastructure. He widens his perception of the modern city as a social institution. Mumford presents the modern city in several different ways including “complete sense, a geographic plexus, institutional process, and economic organization, an aesthetic symbol of social unity and as an action theater” (p.85). Mumford focuses on the modern city as the focal point of social networks.

The author presents the modern city as focal concentration point of community’s culture as well as power. The modern city diffuses several divergent and different beams of life into social significance and effectiveness. As a result, the modern city features as a symbol and form of enhanced and united social relationship. It holds the market, seats the temple, the learning academy and the Hall of Justice. The modern city supports productivity of civilization goods and manifolds. Moreover, civilization issues unfold in the modern city as well as passage of rituals into theater of differentiation and, social self-consciousness.

The modern city is a part of the built environment. This environment influences the social setup too. According to Mumford, the role of the built environment is to provide a platform for social actors. Indeed, the writer notes that the trait of the modern city is “conception of drama”. The infrastructure of the suburbs is similar to that of the modern city.

Mumford based on this ultimate contention, purport that defining facts on a city such as density, city structural outline, area and density as size should be considered. In my opinion, size, density and area should not have limitations in a city. I, unlike Mumford, believe that changes in magnitude are good for the city. Mumford...