Shattered cities

The urbanization process has brought with it new challenges for all the major cities. It is an inevitable process that has occurred through the centuries. With industrialization and globalization added to the mix, urbanization has taken on an even greater role as it integrates and develops the city or core area of a particular place, physically and socially to ensure that the city’s inhabitance are able to develop according to the cities progression. However with the movement of people and goods our of the city’s centre towards areas outside the city, would the cities be distinct form one another, or would they be reduced to shell like entities that will take on any role at any given time by anyone?

Increasingly, with the deindustrialization of many cities, the cities are taking on the role as areas of cultural interest with ethnic diversity being key, although this adds life to the otherwise decapitated areas of the city, the city is transformed to accommodate this change, buildings and warehouses are converted to restaurants and museums. However the power to utilize these functions effectively has been at the hands of new immigrants as they seek to develop their own unique ethnic enclave for them to assimilate with. With the locals almost abandoning the city in acceptance of the enticements presented by the suburban areas, would the city change drastically to result in the locals being unable to relate to it? With the locals no longer actively participating in the cultural developments of the city, would a new culture be created that is foreign to the identity of the city?
Would the city then become a hotbed of conflict as picket lines are drawn between the city dwellers and the rest of the society?

Undoubtedly the development and progression of ethnic enclaves has injected some life into the areas of the city otherwise left to wither away. It has also allowed the city to revitalize its own image to remain relevant in face of competition from the suburban areas but the freedom in which the developers of these enclaves enjoy might lead to changes to the city that are not transitory in nature. The city has lost some of its activities through the relocation of industrial areas outside the city to cheaper areas as well as its residential blocks for suburb living, these facilities have moved on to “greener pastures” at the promise of greater living space and cheaper costs, however the development of ethnic enclaves based on cultural aspects might result in historical and emotional connections being made that would entrench the particular area permanently as a cultural enclave for a particular ethnic group. Would these ethnic groups allow for the same areas to be transformed for different purposes when the needs of the city call for it? Unlike the deindustrialization and migration of people based on economic lines, areas with emotional and cultural significance might be more difficult to part with. This cultural enclave also serves as a gateway for new immigrants as a transition point to aid the integration and assimilation process, with more of the city being left as unused areas and with the increase of immigrants, these ethnic enclaves will increase in size. This will automatically give these areas a louder voice and a stronger purpose to exist. Hence making it difficult to remove or relocate should the need arise. Therefore should there be a new wave of purpose that envelops the city, the city developers might be forced to tip-toe around these areas to prevent conflict.

Although this would result in distinctive cities that would have its own unique flavour, it would have to come at a cost, especially for cities with space constraints. This coupled with the fact that suburbs are beginning to invade parts of the cities outermost boundaries, the city would be choked for expansion and future development. Hence this would make this cultural enclave the final transition of the particular area. This would not be a source of concern unless the cities lose out on opportunities by virtue of these cultural enclaves. These lost opportunities especially those of an economic nature would present itself as a source of resentment an eventually conflict between the state, the society at large and the tenants of the city.