Lauren N. McCarthy
My blogs
| Industry | Consulting |
|---|---|
| Location | Alexandria, VA, United States |
| Introduction | Welcome! Urbanity is from the Latin urbanus, or “belonging to the city.” Therefore, we belong to the city; the city does not belong to us. Cities do not belong to us as individuals, but to society as a whole. Cities belong to our collective future, past, and present. Cities are, in a way, organized chaos, or a masterful blend of both the sane and the insane. Thus, I feel the title of Urbanity (in)Sanity aptly describes what all city dwellers experience everyday and reflects the focus of my research. The orderly streets, blocks, buildings, and sidewalks give way to a chaotic stream of people and flurries of commercial activity, each with their own path that is often incongruous with one another. As we move forward into a technologically infused future, we must remember that we are stewards of the city. Urban innovation and sustainability are essential to curate healthy cities that will survive long past our time. At this turning point of history, we have to act, be smart, be sustainable, be equitable, and innovative in our application of emerging technologies to the city. |
| Favorite books | Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities (Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2016). Alain Bertaud, Order without Design: How Markets Shape Cities (MIT Press, 2018). Anthony M. Townsend, Smart Cities: Big Data, Civic Hackers, and the Quest for a New Utopia (W. W. Norton & Company, 2013). Michael Batty, Inventing Future Cities (MIT Press, 2018). |