Urbanized Movie Screening

After watching the "Urbanized" movie at the Des Moines Art Center, I am now more aware just how much time and planning goes into the design and creation of a city. It's easy to just walk through a city and not realize that every single building and pedestrian area has been thought about or designed in some way. I thought it was interesting when it was mentioned how some cities fail because of poor design. It was even more surprising that New York City was one of them since it has highways or roadways blocking the waterfront in some parts of the city. Another city they mentioned was designed based on what it looked like from the air, so no thought was put into actually living in the city, so that is why that one failed. Poor planning and accounting for travel time leads to major problems such as heavy traffic or unsafe paths/distances for pedestrians to walk. One other piece of information I found interesting was when it was mentioned how people can only really perceive whatever moves if it is within 100m of them. This is why plazas or gathering areas made in ancient times aren't too big (so people will be able to see 100m from one edge to the other so they can perceive all movement). Overall, this movie made me realize just how important good design can be, and what the repercussions of a bad design can be.

View of the screen "Urbanized" was shown on at the Des Moines Art Center