THE URBAN RHETORIC

An urban space quipped to handle residents and strangers alike and to make safety an asset in itself. A thriving city neighborhood must have three main qualities: First, there must be a clear boundary between what is public space and what is private space. Public and private spaces can not ooze into each other as they do typically in suburban settings or projects. Second, there must be eyes upon the street, eyes belonging to those we might call the natural proprietors of the road. The buildings on an urban street should be equipped to handle strangers and ensure the safety of both residents and strangers. They must be oriented to the street. They cannot turn their backs or blank sides on it and leave
it blind. Third, public spaces must have users on them reasonably continuously, both to add to the number of effective panopticons and to induce the people in buildings surrounding the space to perform as active characters responsible for the safety of the space.

A tight urban space ensures a successful public life and high living standards. Equity ensures that every person, irrespective of race, caste, creed, or religion, gets an equal opportunity for growth and success. Such efforts must permit explicit discussions on race and equity with clear communications and a platform for everyone to raise their concerns and present their needs and ideas. A platform that is transparent, accountable, and fosters relationships. Social cohesion can be achieved if governments can understand the needs of their citizens by establishing special departments in the neighborhood that promote citizen and community engagement. This department, led by cultural officers, should
aim to bridge the gap between the bottom-up and top-down approaches by fostering connections/relationships between the place and the people that live in it. Community engagement must ensure that the people are comfortable with engaging, feel safe, and develop trust towards the cultural offices. To achieve this, the approach cannot be short-lived or temporary. The approach must transform into a social movement that can leverage civic power and collective action to transform policies. The urban Rhetoric, through its seventh  issue, , aims to foster a platform to discuss the urban space, its actors, and qualities that make it successful, such as safety, equity, and social cohesion.

We invite you to write for our upcoming issue and join the dialogue.