*The sum total approach here essentially may imply macro-level and multidisciplinary approach but the meaning and modality go far beyond.
Distinctive characteristics of urban affairs at present, in an encompassing sense-
☑️Legacy and emerging challenges (and awareness)
☑️Transitioning demographic traits and shifting collective (community) consciousness
☑️Increasingly aggravated climate and weather events (and awareness, voice)
☑️Unprecedented technological opportunities (emergence, pace, unfathomable outcome)
☑️Unprecedented emergence of enterprise ecosystem (numbers, pace, heterogeneity, scale)
☑️Unprecedented participatory approach within and amidst different spheres (public, private…)
☑️City administrations demonstrating unprecedented internal knowledge and specialization
☑️Unprecedented acknowledgment and focus on innovation within the public sector
☑️Repository of pilot testbed learnings
☑️Cascading localized effects of geo-political and economic turbulence
Changes and shifts at many levels and within many spheres which are happening in this decade and soon in the proceeding years, with cities at its center stage, are not even comparable to past century combined, except key milestones like consolidation of industrialization, globalization, the emergence of computers, and the internet. Truly unprecedented, what we see today.
It's not just an unprecedented time, for cities and city administrations, but also a poised time for them calling for resurgence, given the access to a vast body of accumulated universal knowledge; previously unimaginable (still) emerging, accessible, and market-ready technological tools; a (growing) ecosystem to support, test and realize utopian visions; previously unwitnessed level of specialization, interwinding web and shared aspirations of stakeholder, among others.
Amidst all these changes and shifts, a whole new governance approach to planning, managing, and growth strategy is required for cities, with city administrations being in an ever more prominent role. Ironically despite quite a bit of exceptions, emerging examples and proof of concepts; we still see the majority of urban governance responses that are quick-fix and fragmented, under the weight of decades and centuries of inertia - living budget to budget, solving problems department by department, battling to match demand and supply, focusing on tenure to tenure ect.
🤹♂️What may, not only help city administrations, but also rather unavoidable, is to adopt a sum total approach to look at problems that each city is confronting and opportunities that each one beholds.
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