3. De-growth and urban obsolescence: the re-wilding of the city.

- Objectives:
Reformists want sustainability whereas radicals want no growth.
Serge Latouche sais that sustainable growth doesn’t exist, which it is true.
We need a cultural revolution in order to reach a footprint that is equivalent to one
planet.
The idea of de-growth it is in fact a reality given that population has started to
shrink and there is a physical degrowth. For that, we need to learn how to leave
buildings abandoned or demolish them.
Biological capsule: let nature take its course leading to biodiversity where various
species can live.
Therefore, we have primary spaces (i.e. forests), reserves (i.e. Doñana) and
residues (i.e. abandoned buildings).
“Moving garden”: dialogue, interaction with nature, let it grow.

METRÓPOLIS 1882-1939

1. From Laissez-faire to monopolist capitalism.

The firs technological Revolution took place when the steam machine was created in
England. Industry became the first sector. In te beginning there were no rights for the
workers so bosses exploited them and they were very cruel. All the power befall in
hands of a minority, the bourgeoisie.
Due to this revolution people left the countryside to work in the industries in the
cities. This was a radical change for these people who experienced tragedy, loss
and nostalgia. This is quite understandable because people have customs and such
a radical change took a toll in the mental health of these people.
Cities where there wasn’t industrial revolution didn’t grow as quickly as the ones
where industrial revolution took place. There was a huge migration.
Cities were so overcrowded that people had to move to the outskirts. The working
class lived in fabelas or in inhuman apartments until the end of The Second World
War. These people even brought the animals that they had in their fields to these
miniature apartments where big families lived. For that reasons: working inhumanly
amounts of hours, living in small apartments with lots of people, poor salary, no
conditions or rights in their works; were the catalysts that led some people to
suicide.
At the beginning of he century The Second Technological Revolution took place.
Electric power stations and motor carriages were created. In this time, the firsts
monopolists appeared and Germany was the first power with its rationalization and
productivity. Nowadays, people don’t like big companies in western society, but
before they were seen as the ones that resolved the problems. We can see this
mentality now in China where people are willing to work too many hours sacrificing
their happiness to improve their country.
Henry Ford in “My life and work” (1922) said that we had to specialize in order to be
more productive, this led to a simplification of knowledge and people who wasn’t
creative. In this century important universities look for people who have different
skills and can make connections. I believe this to be true in a way, but I also think it
is necessary to specialize in a field that you love in order to create new things and
advance.
Frederick Wislow Taylor wrote “The principle of scientific management” (1911)