Are We the World?

Part six of the Design and Politics series compares the Randstad region with S o Paulo, Istanbul and Detroit, and speculates about alternative visions for city planning and idealistic architectural intervention for the cities involved. Are We the World? is not only a plea for a central role for city planning, and an active exchange of ideas, but primarily for new political involvement. For decades, Dutch design has been exported across the globe. After a successful period in which the polycentric Randstad model was held in high esteem, followed by the fresh, modern approach of the SuperDutch architects, the resources and expertise of organizations such as NAI, IABR and DutchDFA are now being employed for projects in Asia and South America. But, are Dutch ingenuity, pragmatism and process management the ideals that the explosively expanding or shrinking cities of the twenty-first century are most in need of? What does the Dutch model offer global cities and what can the Netherlands itself learn?