Patrick Geddes - Cities in Evolution

Geddes, Mumford's primary inspiration (to the point that he named his son "Geddes") was a biologist who wrote more or less one book on city planning. This copiy of "City in Evolution" is a version of that book.

Geddes has a number of interesting and provocative ideas about cities. The one I think is most important is the idea of city in evolution. In other words, Geddes constantly uses biological metaphors to describe the growth of the city: he describes London as an "octopus" or "polypus," ever-expanding, and also as a "man-reef," a particularly apt metaphor as the reefs are more or less concrete structures built by the creatures who live in them (9).

One of Geddes' biggest concerns is that, as "conurbation" occurs and chokes the life out of the cities, no municipal body is prepared to govern it. Looking at a map of London, Geddes asks "Do we not see, and more and more clearly as we study it, the need of a thorough revision of our traditional ideas and boundaries of country and town?" (11). Geddes suggests that industrial growth has created "a new heptarchy, which has been growing up naturally, yet almost unconsciously to politicians, beneath our existing, our traditional political and administrative network; and plainly not merely to go on as at present, straining and cracking and bursting this old network, but soon surely to evolve some new form of organisation better able to cope with its problems than are the present distinct town and country councils. What are the new forms to be?" (19). Geddes doesn't answer this question, but I would like to suggest that perhaps private industry - Cowperwood at least - are what stepped up to the task. Also, heptarchy refers to an ancient grouping of 7 Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, now replaced by 7 conurbations (West-Riding, London, Tyne-Wear-Tees, etc). Geddes, in these names, suggests that a simple town or city name is no longer enough, and we need to recognize that we are in the presence of regions.

A few other notes: In regards to the industrial revolution, Geddes is adamant that what looks like "progress of wealth and population" is just the rampant march of coal "to produce cheap products to main too cheap people" and the industrial revolution has created cities which look like mold spores on jam - rapidly devouring all available resources and then dying out once the jam/coal has been consumed (26). Geddes does note that there is a new hope: electricity which can do everything coal does more cleanly (31 - a 2nd industrial revolution) and he praises the nordic system of wind and hydroelectric power for allowing humans to spread out in a line, not in a giant clump.