Smooth City

Book review by Geert Walinga

On rainy Saturday afternoons in the early 2010’s, when my parents allowed me an hour of computer time, I loved to play world building games. Rollercoaster Typhoon, SimCity or Minecraft, I must say that I have played many and I look back at those times with gratitude and some nostalgia. Now that I think back on it: have these games foretold what my career later in life would be? And what else do these games have in common? One thing that immediately comes to mind is that in most world building games, the player would have ultimate control. Poor car drivers in SimCity would suddenly not have a road anymore if that so pleased me. Chaotic city layouts have never seen the light of day in my virtual city landscapes. There were no problems, no unwanted elements. There was virtual smoothness. 

The human urge to be in control is something that both fascinates and scares me. And I see myself also having the tendency to place myself in situations in which I have some measure of control. It gives the feeling of safety and predictiveness. And indeed, control is quite useful and perhaps even necessary. In both video games and real life, a controlled city landscape leads to an effective and productive society. However, what happens when control becomes the end, rather than the means? In his book Smooth City: Against Urban Perfection, Towards Collective Alternatives, René Boer explores exactly this. In 257 pages, he takes the reader along in his discussion of the smooth city, its origins and development, and its effects on people living in such a city. He questions whether control is indeed as wonderful as we think it is. His essay-like chapters are supported by artworks by Kees de Klein, transforming the textual into a visual synthesis. Klein’s collages are Black Mirror-esque: eerie and futuristic. However, for visual thinkers -myself included- having such artworks combined with text makes the underlying message more tangible.

The abrasive side -and perhaps also its greatest strength- of books that describe societal trends is that a lot of it is recognizable. The upgrading of neighbourhoods in northern Amsterdam, the upcoming of stainless steel-cafes in Rotterdam or even the switch in supermarkets to self-scan checkouts can all be ascribed to the ‘smoothification’ of the city and of our daily lives. It can be seen in urban squares that are constantly monitored for unwanted behaviour, in top-down pre-defining of a program of a new public space, but also in large scale city projects, such as the relocation of capitals in Indonesia and Egypt. And naturally, it has to do with concepts like gentrification, globalization, Americanization, neoliberalism, digitalization, and individualism. The term does include not only spatial realizations but also people, their behaviour and their appearance. Boer writes: 

“Generally, they look roughly the same, are part of similar demographics, and wear clothes and accessories from the same narrow selection of globalized brands. It is rare to see people who don’t fit this image of normalized ‘perfection’, just as it is rare to see any behaviour that doesn’t fit the norms implied by the smooth city.” (p. 28). 

This exactly references the critical notion that this book addresses: the consequences of a smooth city landscape for its people, and especially for the people that are not able to join the expected behavioural patterns and appearances. The story of the smooth city is especially also the story of the people that are excluded. These people are often not visible in these optimized areas. And if they are, they are quite often removed because they make other people awkward or because they disturb the peace. I realize that when someone disturbs my smooth shop-session in the city by screaming and is consequently removed, I feel a sense of relieve. I can pass as normative whereas not everyone can. I have never really felt the consequences of being ‘other’ (which might also have originated from my anxiety for being excluded and my masking abilities). I am very much part of the smooth city and that is a privilege in this system. However, as a queer man, I also know some of what it is to enter spaces where you are the exception rather than the norm. I know what it is like when there is a distance between everyone’s behaviour and your behaviour. I know what it is like to be excluded. Can we still change this movement in our cities today? And must we seek solace in systemic change, or is there also individual power to create this change?  

The smooth city is a choice that we make every day. And luckily, within a smooth landscape, there still remain cracks through which the unsmooth (Boer calls it ‘porous’) can be seen and experienced. It can be the queer bar in your neighbourhood that ironically enough is the heterogeneity within the homogenic landscape. It can be the small plot of municipal land in your street that neighbours use for coffee on Sunday mornings. It can be the person that stands in front of Albert Heijn, asking if you would buy a newspaper from them. And it can be you. This is the hopeful message that this book leaves us with. Breaking open normative structures is something that everyone can and should do to make sure that city landscapes remain accessible and inclusive for everyone. And, as Boer also notes, this is something that we as designers and planners should make a priority. Let us exclude the exclusion and make designs that fit people, not systems. Let us remind ourselves that we are not playing world building games but that our design choices have effects for which we bear responsibility. 

Smooth City. Against Urban Perfection, Towards Collective Alternatives.

Writer: René Boer

Publisher: Valiz, Amsterdam

ISBN: 9789493246201

Pages: 271