Problems in Reconstituting the Traditional Urban Values in Contemporary Cities and the Role of the Boundary

Abstract

Critics would commonly agree that in many contemporary cities wasteful modes of consumption, encouraged and facilitated by fantastic developments in technology, have significantly eroded the values of the traditional urban environment. Very often these contemporary cities would lack a sense of placeness, a vibrant public life, and a harmonious relationship between man and nature of the traditional urban environment. This paper studies why the configuration of the physical boundary may be used as an important tool in reconstituting these values in contemporary cities. It suggests that the boundary is not merely an abstract pattern of lines. Rather it is an integral constituent of the physical landscape whose importance lies in its intrinsic ethical values.