Can the Media build great cities?
Just this morning in a conversation with an ex-IIT topper who's also been an energy consultant with some of the top energy firms in India and abroad, the topic of power-shortage in Mumbai came up. Mumbai, for the first time in I-don't-know-how-many-years faces the real possibility of a scheduled power cut. From our brief discussion on the topic, we both were of the opinion that the current shortage is more a problem of mis-management than of a real shortage of power.
The same argument stands true of every facet of Indian urban (and rural?) planning. Potholed roads. Unruly traffic. Unregulated construction. Stinking sewers. Uncollected garbage. Blocked drains. I could go on...
This post on Emergic really got me thinking.
Isn't it astonishing that 2,600 years ago, when most of the world was living in tiny little human settlements, the Indus Valley civilization had well-planned cities of Harappa and Mohenjodaro?...
What is even more astonishing is that now, two and a half millennia later, most of the current inhabitants of land of Harappa and Mohenjo-daro civilization live not in well planned cities but in tiny little impoverished villages, and some in ill-planned congested mega-slums. The shame of the whole thing is that as a collective not only have they lost the knowledge of what cities mean but also they don't even dream of building and inhabiting cities. One wonders when the regression started and what led to the death of the spirit that built those ancient cities. Something snuffed out the spirit, something killed those dreams, something made the inheritors of such great vision and accomplishment into myopic poverty-stricken masses living in misery, huddled into very primitive small villages.
Being a media professional, the question that is of interest to me is, what role has the media played in this decline? AND, more importantly, can the media now take on a leadeship role? Can it plant the seeds in people minds to get them dreaming of the stuff that great cities are made of?What is even more astonishing is that now, two and a half millennia later, most of the current inhabitants of land of Harappa and Mohenjo-daro civilization live not in well planned cities but in tiny little impoverished villages, and some in ill-planned congested mega-slums. The shame of the whole thing is that as a collective not only have they lost the knowledge of what cities mean but also they don't even dream of building and inhabiting cities. One wonders when the regression started and what led to the death of the spirit that built those ancient cities. Something snuffed out the spirit, something killed those dreams, something made the inheritors of such great vision and accomplishment into myopic poverty-stricken masses living in misery, huddled into very primitive small villages.
Where the three pillars of democracy have let us down, can the fourth estate stand-up and deliver?
Or am I just dreaming?
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