Do we really want our mayors to have a vision? This is the provocative question asked by Alain Bertaud in an article on The MIT Press Reader. Bertaud is a Senior Research Scholar at New York University’s Marron Institute of Urban Management, an urban planner, and the author of the 2018 book Order without Design.
In his article, Bertaud writes that a mayor “convinced of the necessity of having a vision” is less inclined to support innovation welling up from the population and more inclined to impose his or her own vision.
A mayor with a vision needs to be followed, not questioned by people who lack one. Visionary leadership implies a top-down approach, in other words, but a city is mostly created from the bottom up.
Bertaud’s alternative?
Mayors and their municipal staff, including urban planners and economists, should be considered not visionaries or rulers, then, but a well-coordinated team (one hopes) of competent managers and janitors.
Bertaud’s article is the subject of this week’s Upzoned. In this episode, host Abby Kinney, an urban planner with Gould Evans in Kansas City, is joined by Strong Towns senior editor Daniel Herriges. They discuss visionary mayors, the role of city managers in creating good feedback loops, and how local governments can act as support systems for local innovation rather than gatekeepers.
Then in the Downzoned, Abby recommends a podcast that’s taking a hard look at the lucrative wellness industry. And Daniel recommends a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about North Vietnamese spy living in Los Angeles after the Fall of Saigon.
Show NotesDo We Really Want Our Mayors to Have a Vision?, by Alain Bertaud
Order without Design, by Alain Bertaud
Dongo Chang (Twitter)
The Dream Podcast
The Sympathizer, by Viet Thanh Nguyen
Daniel Herriges (Twitter)
Abby Kinney (Twitter)
Gould Evans Studio for City Design
Theme Music by Kemet the Phantom (Soundcloud)
Select Strong Towns articles on local government
Let's Make Public Hearings More Public, by Travis Parker
Learn from Peers but Think for Yourself, by Charles Marohn
Prototyping the City (podcast)
Beyond the Buzzword: Innovation and How it Can Help Local Government Create Meaningful Change (podcast)
Winds of Change in Kansas City
Local and Diverse > Networked and Global
Has the West Made a “Cult” of Home Ownership?
This $15 Trillion Market Is On the Verge of Collapse
Bonus Episode: The Bottom-Up Revolution
"We Can't Micromanage Great Urban Design Into Existence."
Winter Is Coming: Will Restaurants (and Customers) Adapt to Help Businesses Survive?
Why Cities Shouldn’t Wait for the Feds to Do Something about Reparations
Fragile Policies are Making California More Vulnerable to Megafires
For City Planners, Community Consensus Shouldn't Be the Standard
For U.S. Transit, "Death Spiral" Shouldn't Have Been an Option in the First Place
Can the Right and Left Come Together on Zoning Reform?
Pandemic Fallout: Will New York City Experience Long-term Decline?
"This Makes No Sense": An Ill-Fated Comprehensive Plan in Texas (and Why It Matters Where You Live)
Finding a Room to Rent in Boulder Won't Get Easier Anytime Soon
Help Shape the Future of the Strong Towns Podcasts
How Do You Solve a Problem Like Housing Prices?
Down to Earth: Time to Re-examine the Hype around Skyscrapers
A Better Use of Federal Infrastructure Spending
The U.S. Has An Affordable Housing Problem. Are Dead Shopping Malls the Solution?
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The Commercial Edge: Unleash the Power of People
The emPOWERed Half Hour
Advocacy Scoop Podcast
Social Dallas Podcast
Change Church Podcast
Six Degrees with Kevin Bacon
Nonprofits Are Messy: Lessons in Leadership | Fundraising | Board Development | Communications