How smart is your city?: Redefining the urban living space

Abstract

The German Autobahns of the Third Reich and the Metro Rail Project of Stalin’s Moscow have been the two most intriguing ‘totalitarian’ urban projects of the 20th century. Both were conceived pompously, executed brilliantly and portrayed as superhuman feats. The former was Hitler’s pet showpiece, a symbol of the unfolding possibilities of the Third Reich, while he latter was an ornate, subterranean transport system that was efficient- ly executed by Stalin’s henchman, Lazar Kaganovich, to burnish his master’s iconic image.

Germany’s super-highways—or autobahns—that crisscross the country from the north to south and east to west owe their present shape to the 1930s, when Adolf Hitler was preparing to ‘avenge for the wrongs’ of the Treaty of Versailles. A German engineer gave me an interesting explanation of why these autobahns were designed the way they were. According to him, Hitler had designed them to carry German tanks and Panzar convoys. Landmark avenues of Berlin and Munich had a similar orientation. They were primarily reserved for Nazi Party processions. Civic use was secondary. Josef Stalin followed similar logic. For him, the Moscow Metro was another Bolshoi stage, an embellished platform to address party workers and officials. It was a piece of art to be showcased to the world. The idea of using the Metro as a mass transport system was secondary. Read more at: https://openthemagazine.com/essays/open-essay/how-smart-is-your-city/