Individual
non-government initiatives have been taken up as well in various cities around
the United States. Groups like Critical Mass have spruced up the biking
experience in cities all around the world, including Miami. Since 1992, the
activist group has organized monthly biking events sometimes attracting as many
as a thousand people, setting a location to meet, and a route. The objective is
not only to have an entertaining community activity, but also to push for more
sharing of the roads and stricter driving laws. The rides do appear spontaneous
to drivers, sometimes causing conflict, but pedestrians see it as a way to take
the streets.
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| Miami Critical Mass (from Beached Miami) |
Other initiatives have included group gatherings on public spaces,
such as karaoke. While government agencies and businesses have been involved in
getting people back on the streets or in the parks through festivals and
farmer’s markets, commoners like Joe Hatchiban, an Irishman, use the materials they
have (in Joe’s case, a cargo bike, a microphone, and some portable speakers)
and a bit of activism to transform a small stone amphitheater in a park in Berlin into a Sunday’s afternoon karaoke stage. On days with good weather,
singers and entertainers from the streets can attract hundreds of people. It is
a simple activity which brings the community together through a bottom-up
approach, as Jacobs suggested works well for political change. Jan
Gel, a Danish architect once said, “First life, then spaces, then buildings: the
other way around never works” (Smith). This proves furthermore the theories
Jacob’s presents that help cities grow properly and become healthy. A place
cannot be pre-established by city planners. The place must have meaning to the
people, and this can only happen when citizens themselves create the
vibrancy of that place. Bringing life to a place and attracting
attention from there is one way to encourage the interest in creating more and better
public spaces. All it requires is creativity and engagement.
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