Cities must rebuild our sense of community in an age of uncertainty
Andrew Sheng says across the world, the silent majority show they will no longer accept feeling like a stranger in their own home. Cities must grow in a way that gives everyone a sense of identity – not just the elite
This insecurity in an age of prosperity results in localism that many elites who benefited from globalisation do not quite understand. They dump on Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, Rodrigo Duterte and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, but they forgot that these men became leaders because they listened more to the people than the elites. Rightly or wrongly, the silent majority finally exploded and new leaders emerged to represent its aspirations.
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Most of us identify with our environment. Liberals may not like Duterte, but he won the election because enough Filipinos hated the drugs and violence that were corroding their daily lives. Recent migrants to cities yearn for the peace and sense of community of their home villages.
The condition of a nation therefore is reflected in the condition of its cities
Throughout Asia, politics is dominated by the rural-urban divide, and even in urban Japan, the agricultural vote matters hugely in national policies. But as rural-urban migration reaches a tipping point of 50 per cent in many Asian cities, the identity of cities become crucial. No longer can cities treat rural migrants as outsiders. In the modern age, individuals identify with their city more than their nation – they simply want a better place in which to live.
Cities have always been the centres of culture, civilisation and science. Their architecture, parks and green space reflect different social and cultural values and the competition between cities generates urban pride. If we think carefully, failed states have always been associated with failed cities. Aleppo is an example where differences in ideology have resulted in civil war.
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Paris has always been a city of romance; Hong Kong a city of entrepreneurship; New York a city of energy. Today, Shenzhen exudes the spirit of a city of technology, where the young with creative ideas can become the new icons of innovation and “cool”. Shenzhen competes not just with Shanghai or Hong Kong, but also Silicon Valley/San Francisco, Bangalore and Singapore.
Hong Kong today is deeply divided because those who benefit from high real estate prices forget that the young feel increasingly marginalised