The Brussels Philosophy Meetup

What would make a city "ideal"? The answer(s) might first appear on the surface (excuse the pun) to be a no-brainer: thriving, prosperous, clean, safe, energizing yet relaxing, beautiful, affordable, etc ...

However, as we further unpack and explore all these factors, we might soon begin to see that the answer(s) may not be that simple after all - not only considering the reality of limited resources (not enough money or energy - or surface area - to realize all visions, therefore choices have to be made), but also confronting the reality that each decision made will have implications on the whole system, as every element in a city both influences and requires all others.

Inspired by Plato's Republic, one approach to answer the question "What is an ideal city?" could be to compare this question with the question, "What is an ideal human being?" If there might be many types of ideal cities or human beings, what properties (again, excuse the pun!) would they all have in common?

Each city should best of course be studied in the context of its particular history, geography, climate, ecosystem, economics, culture etc. How have cities optimized (achieving differing degrees of success) their natural advantages while compensating for their vulnerabilities?

What type(s) of people would be the ideal cities' inhabitants and visitors?
How homogeneous or heterogeneous should a city be to both flourish and function optimally? (cf. meetup topic of 7/11/2020). In which ways should its citizens behave uniformly and in which ways diversely?

Should architecture and urban design be used to promote social/political/ethical behaviour?

How would social navigation ("networking" and maintaining ties) in our city operate? What sorts of infrastructure and urban culture would facilitate thriving interactions?

How can city and nature be best reconciled?
How should our cities deal with climate change and function sustainably?

Where do we go from now? What lies in the future for our cities in the world today?

At the micro level...

What would your ideal city look like?
(For example - just 1 out of hundreds of possible questions - how high should its highrises be?)

What would be the ideal size of geographical area that we would consider to be our "home territory" i.e. the amount of earth surface area that we move upon during an average day/week/month of our living?

How would we move around?

What would your own personal lifestyle be like in your ideal city?
Would a "low-stress" lifestyle be ideal, and if so, what characteristics of our ideal city would facilitate this?

What would you argue are the most positive and negative aspects of cities you can think of in the world today?