Thoughtlessness & Erasing Memory

Two common mistakes that cities make are outlined in The Creative City - The Toolkit for Urban Innovators by Landry, Charles as follow:

[1] Lack of Effort and Thoughtlessness

Out of town shopping centres are usually formulaic, lack local distinctiveness, have no real public space. They rarely retain natural features; the mix of shops is predictable; opportunities are rarely taken to integrate public buildings such as an arts centre or a library.

Distinctiveness is key, for although cities draw from each others' experiences the danger is that pioneering cities around the world quickly become textbook case studies for city officials. Cities then tend to adopt generic models of success without taking into account the local characteristic and conditions that contributed to those successes. The result is a homogeneous pastiche of buildings - aquariums, convention centres, museums, shops and restaurants - that prove to be remarkably similar the world over.

[2] Erasing Memory
We continue to erase memory - a particular pointless form of urban vandalism. Memory is undervalued though it helps the anchoring process, it can be tapped as a creative resource, it triggers ideas, it helps make connection. Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, among many examples, realised at the last moment, probably too late, that they had erased practically every historic quarter from sight even as they created fake versions of their past in urban fun parks. In Berlin there are few surviving remnants of the Wall, and though locals may have wanted to forget, other solutions could have been found rather than the 'cancelling strategy' whose over-riding theme was the erasure of any memory of the GDR.