#CITIES

Should I reveal to you that imploding numbers of people around the world are crammed into cities surrounded by millions (money and people)? Did you know there are now global cities (or world/alpha-beta-gamma cities) operating as key nodes in the global network of political and economic flows, and 40 megacities with more than 10 million residents!? Why are these facts important? Because these demographic dynamics shape the way large numbers of people now live.

A graphic charting the rise of megacities around the world

I am a city boy. My childhood and youth were cultivated through encounters in inner-city houses and centres, streets and terraces, alleys and gutters, and the odd field and tree. I have tasted the banality urbanity can spew, and lament the frivolity of poverty with its vicious cycles and avoidable swill for those inflicted with the sporadic forms of struggle it can spur.

  • I lament the frivolity of poverty with its vicious cycles + avoidable swill for those inflicted with the sporadic forms of struggle it can spur

Yet simultaneously, there is so much to marvel at from the proliferation of cities. There is often opportunity for people to coalesce and congregate, experience and create a wide range of projects and activities spanning the community with voluntary acts of charity, sports, leisure, digital media and technologies, cinema, theatre, and other forms of expressive activity encompassing dance, music, literature, religion, (sub)cultures, politics, and multiple cuisines. Humanity has also achieved incredible feats in engineering to develop tools, resources and infrastructure to keep these spaces flowing and functioning.

#drBACKPACKsCITIES

There is so much to explore with both people and places in #CITIES here in the UK, let alone the many more pulsating rhythms and flows of #CITIES around the world. #drBACKPACKsCITIES will touch upon these aspects of the cities that will feature across the series. As is core to my whole blog, I will be sharing what the people and places I encounter mean to me. However, I will be touching upon the challenges and opportunities cities bring, because I think this is something interesting to discuss here and there.

I will soon be publishing articles about the following British cities:

  • Birmingham
  • Edinburgh
  • Glasgow
  • Leicester
  • Manchester