Keep Screaming Until You Can Breathe
Our policymakers must confront the impact of the life-and-death decisions they make
My papa comes from a city in Northern India called Chandigarh, which was modeled after the human body. Every block is an anatomical structure. Every road is a blood vessel. Every home a cell. In the city center, commercial properties represent the organs, and just to drive the metaphor home, the city’s brain, so to speak—its government buildings—are in the north. When you look at an aerial map, the flow of people looks like blood coursing through it. The citizens transport oxygen and give life to every part of the body.
I know it’s a worn-out metaphor for many of us. Bodies represent resilience and adaptability. They demonstrate just the right rate of growth. They can show signs of sickness too. When no one is using public space, we say it lacks fresh air or oxygen. I would argue that if a city lacks racial diversity, it’s a good idea to test for anemia.
Often, our vulnerable populations—people who are indigent, unhoused—are left out of these metaphors. In fact, they’re often left out of urban planning altogether. I’m guessing no urban planner designs a city thinking, “This is where the socially isolated senior will live. Here’s where we’ll put the domestic violence shelter. And I have a nice…
