However, the technical objects
say nothing of the profound and
rapid changes of our societies.
These technical tools imply a different
approach of social life at the risk of
destroying the traditional solidarity
without creating new ones. The
technical objects establish a mode
of organization of society and minds
where specialization compartmentalizes
individuals, not giving everyone a direct
responsibility in producing their living
condition, with the consequences that
one lose sight of the global dimension
and, at the same time, local solidarity.
If we are not careful, we may find
ourselves before a dreadful paradox;
that is of expecting the tools created
by the technical development to be
the tools that should save the political
process on which we built our cities.
There is a real risk of fragmentation of
the city. This fragmentation can upset
the delicate “social contract”. As Jean-
Jacques Rousseau states, “every human
being is recognized as a social being who
renounces absolute freedom in favour of
the general interest, but also is recognized
as an individual whose substantive civic
and moral rights are protected”.
All this determines a choice of society
which in turn gives sense to the city:
the city is becoming a complex, shared
and negotiated place shaped by social
and cultural movements, a place that
expresses both the recognition of
diversity and of common values.
Obviously this is close to Utopia,
but it leads to a variety of urban, social,
economic and cultural practices: for
example, the relationship between
citizen engagement and public authority;
Relations between public action
and private initiatives; “Commons”
and commodification; Relations between
local initiatives and solidarity and national
or supranational challenges; Citizen
participation, access to rights, individual
and civic liberties, and solutions from
new technologies; transformations and
possible changes in our ways of seeing,
evaluating and acting.
The diversity of practices calls for
more innovation in social, economic and
political fields, and innovation is needed
to design the sustainable and human
development of tomorrow.
The real success of the G20 in China
will depend on commitments made by
the various urban and territorial actors
either public, private or the civil society
to implement those innovation that will
give the City back to its inhabitants. ■
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