City of Fear or Open City?: Fid-Bau Portal

City of Fear or Open City?

Friedmann, John

Richard Estes' image of a view of Manhattan from the Staten Island Ferry before September 11, 2001 juxtaposes two symbols representing the choice John Friedmann poses for us in his Longer View. On the right are the World Trade Center towers, now a symbol of America's vulnerability and possible need to retrench and protect itself. On the left is the Statue of Liberty, welcoming everyone to an open city and an open nation, despite the danger this might entail. Friedmann's essay argues for steering a course toward openness, with its many associated responsibilities and privileges.

Estes is one of the best known artists of the photorealism movement in painting. Originally from Illinois, he studied at the Art Institute of Chicago before working as a commercial artist in publishing and advertising and then painting full time. His works hang in The Art Institute of Chicago, the Guggenheim Museum and the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, DC, among others. He currently lives and works in New York and Maine.

In the aftermath of September 11, there is a heightened sense of fear in our country and much talk about how to protect ourselves against terrorists and other threats to our lives and peace of mind. To counter the natural desire to retreat into fortress America, I propose a more positive strategy, an agenda for action to create what I call the Open City. Four aspects of this agenda are discussed: reducing the urban footprint, drafting charters of local citizenship, meeting basic human needs, and working towards new forms of city-regional governance. This article proposes the Open City as a series of experimental projects in major metropolitan regions across the country, arguing that planners have the requisite powers to set such projects in motion. Success in carrying them out would, at the same time, serve as an inspiration for cities beyond our own borders.