The Coming Crisis of Cities: Reinvention or Bankruptcy

July 17, 2023

by Charles Hugh Smith Of Two Minds

Those who got out early (i.e. now) will be glad they acted promptly and those caught in the decline will regret their faith in a high-cost system that was no longer affordable or sustainable.

Our confidence that cities are forever is misplaced. History informs us that cities arise and decline just like civilizations: cities decline when the material essentials needed to support their vast populations are no longer affordable or available in sufficient quantities, or when the economic benefits produced by the city no longer outweigh its immense costs.

Let’s start by reviewing why cities have been features of human life for thousands of years.

The human population has become increasingly urbanized for compelling reasons that have been in play since cities were founded thousands of years ago. In a nutshell, cities offer greater economic / social opportunities and more novelty, variety and excitement.