A Documentary Review: Urbanized: by Angella Elza John

A Documentary Review: Urbanized
‐ By Angella Elza John
Urbanized by Gary Hutswit, is a beautiful documentary on the growth of
cities. The movie gives us a brief idea about the processes involved during the development
of a city regardless of whether the processes cumulate in a positive or negative impact on
the overall growth. The movie addresses the issues and concerns related to urbanization
through discussions and studies with some of the well known architects, planners, thinkers
and other experts and specialists. Major urban cities from all over the world are also
featured in this documentary for a better understanding on the social, environmental and
economic issues at present and in the possible future.
The movie opens by defining a city, in terms of the forces which shapes and
drives it, in terms of the role the city has to play and lastly in terms of the hope and
promises it holds for the multitude. It describes the role the urban designers and planners
has to play while planning a city. The problems solved, threats caused, the issues projected
and the changes and forces that come into play during urbanization are clearly addressed or
at the least hinted to in this feature long documentary. This movie gives us an idea about
the pace at which the cities have been growing and will continue to grow; from the
relatively slow pace during the pre‐roman era to the projected 75% of the world population
on the near future at 2050. It shows us the most pressing issue of Mumbai which is set to
top the chart as the biggest city, which means that the slums in Mumbai is also set to grow
and compete with the city. Such an increase in the slums would mean more health and
hygiene issues in the already deteriorating human habitat. If the urban planning and design
still fail to address the growing issues of informal settlements then it could lead to such an
inhuman and unlivable condition which could become a forever of the human society. The
case of the city of Brazil where the buildings were separated and spread out and accessible
only through automobiles is in direct contrast to those conditions in a slum where there is
no proper transportation or open areas, where the density is much high. But both these
settlements are a disaster in terms of urban planning. Where one lacks the transportation
systems as a whole the other lacks the adequate means of transportation. Some cities have
attempted to solve the issues of transport and traffic congestion through bicycle and
pedestrian only streets and bus‐based systems, a separate lane for bus, such as the
transmileno in Bogota, Colombia and in Copenhagen, Denmark. Such design solutions
regarding transportation planning reduces the congestion and environment pollutions
caused otherwise and encourages the low income groups of the society by increasing their
social statuses.
The participatory design movements carried out in Santiago, New Orleans and
Khayeslitsha in South Africa all prove the importance of people’s input and participation in
planning a city. The importance of transportation systems and most importantly the proper
transportation means in regard to the given context is successfully depicted in this short
documentary. The transportation systems in cities play an important role in shaping the
cultural, social and economic aspects of the lives of its inhabitants. It is clearly the nervous
system of the city. If this system is absent like in Khayelitsha and the slums in Mumbai or
cluttered like the streets of china or sprawled or dislocated such as in Brazil or cut off like
the case of High Lane in New York, the city fails and loses its grandeur. Thus this
documentary provides a global discussion on the impact of urbanization, its issues, the
growth of cities, its shrinkage, the people to be involved in its planning and lastly but not the
least the future of the cities. The movie demands our attention to this world crisis not just
as architects but also as a fellow human being helping out the other. The movie ends on the
note that what we need is an idea that can manifest and improve the quality of the present
urban cities while adapting to the explosive growth in the future. This seems like a challenge
for the architects, planners, designers and other experts from all possible time period to
come up with a solution for the present and the expected future condition of all these
formal and informal urban settlements.

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