The Crowded City

Every city is different, not just from its historical origins, but also the very manner in which it presents itself to the world. The people within are different too: subtle changes in fashion; accents and regional dialects; awareness of local history; acceptance of outsiders. The list might go on for several pages, if we put our minds to it, and not just from the things that we see as long-time residents or regular visitors, but also the characteristics which remain in the minds of those who come as tourists, no matter how briefly. My memories of the grime and unfriendliness – in appearance – of Hannover, for example, would be completely different to those of another who, perhaps, came into the city from a different direction, or has a closer tie to those who claim to be citizens.

If we look closely, we see another difference, and that is the people who live in that city themselves. It is not just the regional dialects or accents, the specific fashions, then awareness of their surroundings and historical significance, it is also where they come from as individuals or as families. A city is made up and completed not just by the local, born-here citizenry, but also by the range and depth of those who have adopted the city as their own, no matter where they may have been born or raised.

In some cities we see the strange phenomenon of those who believe their city is too crowded, that too many people live there, and that those extra people are the wrong sort. These same people take great pleasure in eating in Italian, Mexican, Vietnamese, Japanese and Indian restaurants, and experiencing first hand the culinary wonders of what is on offer. They might, as I can personally attest, be pleased to see someone keeping up the traditions of their home country by wearing a kilt, and hold long conversations about bagpipes, and their desire to visit, or revisit, the Highlands, but lament in an aside those who have not adapted to their own culture, integrated themselves. I also know, from personal experience, that a person living in a city or a town for any long period of time does not automatically belong to that town, and that it is sometimes the third generation which comes to be accepted, with certain provisions, as belonging, as being allowed to call themselves a citizen of that town or city.

This colourful mix of cultures has been a steadfast part of the cultural background of every single town and city, village and hamlet, since the first cave dwellers ventured out and began constructing their own, standalone habitation, forming groups, tribes, peoples. At the same time, the drawing of borderlines between those born locally and those entering these small societies has also be clearly drawn, and redrawn over many centuries. There has never been a time when so-called pure-blood citizens existed alone, never been a time when someone born and raised elsewhere has not been present. And there has never been a time when those coming in from outside have not been resented, belittled, accused, persecuted and abused. It is utopian to believe that time will change this state of affairs.

The overcrowded city is a state of mind, rather than a fact of reality. While many might complain at the difficulties in finding accommodation, there are empty apartments and houses easily visible in every town and city across the continent. The city always has need of new workers, at all levels: the press is full of advertisements for positions of varying degrees, levels of responsibility and ability. Governments – those which do not try and destroy the infrastructure and social safety nets for personal gain – constantly lament the lack of income being paid into pensions, welfare and social funds to assist those who have paid their dues to society and retired or, for whatever reason, require financial assistance from the state. Your pension, we are told, is secure, but needs new input to top it up, to balance the books.

The crowded city is a state of mind, sometimes welcome, sometimes not. A rally, a demonstration, a concert packed with people brings joyful headlines, as well as necessary returns on investment. The fantasy of an overwhelming number of immigrants – a distinct minority is every single town and city the world over – only brings out the worst in some people, but especially in those whom demand integration, while doing little to further it.

The crowded city is a place of beauty on many levels. The workforce keeping it running, the shops and services, restaurants and bars, nightlife, the myriad colours and characteristics of ordinary people on the streets, languages, accents, clothing. Henry Ford is reputed to have said:

“The gifted man bears his gifts into the world, not for his own benefit, but for the people among whom he is placed; for the gifts are not his, he himself is a gift to the community.”

and also:

“..we do not hire a man’s history, we hire the man”

Those who complain of the crowded city, and who do not see its delights as a result of the mixture of humanity, are blind, and have little of their own to offer that society.

Image © Urban Camera. Quotations taken from Ford News, 1 July 1922 and My Life and Work by Henry Ford and Samuel Crowther, Garden City Publishing Company, New York, 1922