The six principles

The London School of Life, founded by writer and philosopher Alain de Botton, distinguishes six principles that govern the attractiveness of a city.

YouTube Video, How to make an attractive city.

These are:

• Order – consider the layout of New York or Paris, but beware of too much order. It can be soul-destroying. The ideal is somewhere in between.
• Visibility of life – people should be visibly engaged in life on the streets.
• Compact, rather than spread out wide – therefore Barcelona, rather than Phoenix, Arizona.
• Orientation and ‘mystery’ – one must apparently be able to become lost yet not be lost. A mixture of larger and smaller streets is the way to get it right.
• Scale – the ideal height is five storeys, which is more humane than the high-rise developments nowadays associated with city skylines. Amsterdam is a good, compact example.
• Local relevance and unique character.

Do read what readers of the British daily newspaper The Guardian have to say by clicking here: