The problem with cities today, writer and journalist Suketa Mehta told an audience at Yale University during a talk on urban development, is that there is a disconnect in narration. He explained that on the one hand, there is an official narrative from urban planners about what a city should be. On the other hand, there are unofficial stories about the people who live cities.
“So much of the conversation in urban planning is buildings talking to buildings, and they forget that there are human beings living inside and underneath these buildings,” Mehta said during the talk, as reported in an article in Yale Daily News. “Where I come in is I can speak to people who are doing the planning (…) and then I can render it into a story for the average educated reader.”
Mehta cited the example of the Hudson Yards development in New York City, which he said was designed to “remind people of their poverty”. Few consultations were made with locals about the luxury development, according to Mehta, and the 7 train was extended to serve it – despite ongoing needs for the trains to be extended to outer boroughs of the city.
“A populist is basically a gifted storyteller, like the real estate companies that advertised Hudson Yards as the gleaming symbol of New York," said Mehta. "The only way a populist can be fought is by telling a true story back at it, a fact-checked story back at it. And that’s where journalists and writers come in.”
Mehta, who is an associate professor of journalism at New York University, writes extensively about urban development. His book about Mumbai, “Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found,” was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2005.
