Praise Architecture discussion

Diversity across all aspects of cities are intrinsically linked and dependent on one another. Diversity in architecture, building use, routes to travel and diversity in the city’s population types all combine to create lively and prosperous cities. As Jacobs describes, the joy of cities is you can find unique places that don’t exist in suburban areas. Cities are a mix of ‘the standard with the strange, the large with the small. Wherever lively and popular parts of cities are found, the small much outnumber the large.’ I think this is one of the reasons we have seen the downfall of the high street in UK cities. Many high streets are homogenous and look exactly the same as each other because of repetitive chain stores. There is no variation in architecture or building use, and people find more joy in going to streets with more independent shops and cafes. I find it interesting that she highlights one of the myths about diversity and mixed uses is that it is ugly because I don’t find that to be common thought today. What do you think?

- Praise Architecture

Yeah I agree, maybe this myth of mixed uses being ugly is something that has changed over the decades and is more celebrated now. It'll be interesting to see if there is a change in high street use after the pandemic. There's been a lot of talk about helping local and small businesses and although some have suffered greatly, I hope there is a change in attitude in the future and there is more support for local business.