by Travis Vaughn
When I was young, I enjoyed getting out my dad’s old Rand McNally Road Atlas and stare for what seemed like hours at the roads, cities, and towns dotted across each map. I would spend an equal amount of time flipping to the back so that I could compare the population of one city with another. At that time, I was a card-carrying member of the cult of quantification. The only way I knew how to measure a city’s health was to look at the numbers. The more people a city had, the better the city. If it were only that simple!
Cities are complex. Technology and globalization have changed everything, and today, they are bigger than ever. Cities showcase the greatest disparity between the haves and the have-nots. Globalization’s impact on the economy can best be observed in the large city-regions of the world. And it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that the tension of the world’s religious and cultural diversity is felt more acutely in city regions than anywhere else. “Cities are mosaics of institutions, family and kinship groups, ethnic enclaves,”[1] and so much more.
So what is a city? What makes a city healthy? How can a city’s citizens contribute to the health and well-being of their city or community? Why and how should they? What is the role of innovation and creativity in the global city? How does a church relate to the city and to the different sectors of the city? These are just some of the questions we hope to explore over time with City and Citizen.
With an urban motif, we plan to weave in a variety of topics. Among these will be leadership, film, public policy, business, community development, and the academy to name a few. And, just to keep things interesting, we’ll mull over current events, make a few recommendations, and debunk some assumptions along the way.
photo by the author
[1] Harvie M. Conn and Manuel Ortiz, Urban Ministry: The Kingdom, the City & the People of God (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2001), 165.
As a pastor, and architect (w/ an urban design interest) I am intrigued by you city&citizen site. My interest tilts toward how the church/religous thread is woven into the 21st cent. city scape. As a Christian I lean on Augustine(City of God) and Luther(The Two Kingdoms) for the position the church plays in influencing the urban fabric and I look forward to further replys.
Since the inception of mankind as a community, cities have been centers of education, religion, commerce, record keeping, communication, and political power. As the birthplace of civilization, cities have influenced culture, society and religion far beyond their proportion of the total population. City and Citizen is a welcome addition to this conversation and, I have no doubt, will find a place of leadership in the journey toward active understanding. I look forward to learning more!