Introduction

In tumultuous times such as these, I find myself imagining the worst possible outcomes. Images flicker across my mind: National Parks sold off to the highest-bidding oil companies, my hometown becoming one giant urban heat island, wildfires and other intensified natural disasters stretching across the United States. These daydreams do nothing good for my nervous system; they tend to send me spiraling. If I want to sustain myself in these turbulent times and remain steadfast in my activism, I must intentionally switch my daydreaming. I must ask myself, “What if we get it right?” 

When facing a crisis as large as this one, perhaps one of the bravest things we can do is imagine life on the other side.

In this Ask a Resilient Activist column, Kansas City writer Anna Woiwood crafts a compelling vision of sustainability in our cities. Straying from the stereotypical vision of a rural utopia, Woiwood shows that urban environments, too, deserve our imagination—and designing those sustainable, walkable cities may just be key to our future. 

– Board Member Briana Anderson

What Could The Dream City Look Like?

In the dream city, we all have a safe home.

No bigger or smaller than what you desire. Well kept, safe, with a sprinkler system and plenty of fire protection so that we live stacked on top of one another without fear. Solar panels line the roofs providing ample renewable energy that we do not pay for because the sun shines for free.

Community gardens grow in collective backyards, allowing all access to beautiful flowers and ever-changing produce throughout the seasons. The rest is covered in patches of native plants. 

There are farmer’s markets on the street corners, easy to walk to, where we gather provisions for the day. Fresh fruits for breakfast, vegetables for soups and roasting and salads, fresh-baked breads for all meals.

We eat in harmony with the changing seasons: blueberries and cherries in the summer, winter squash and turnips in the fall, butternut squash and grapefruit in the winter. We listen to the earth, to what she wants to produce. 

The roads and pathways outside are small and quaint in the dream city. They are tree-lined and well-maintained with priority given to bikes and walkers. One can reach where they need to go within a mile or two.

For further trips throughout the city, one can hop onto the free electric streetcar. And for trips even further out, there is a bullet train that can speed you across the continent in record time. The schedules, like that of Germany, are rigid and trains come regularly. 

In the dream city, we work, but the work day is short and flexible. We prioritize spending ample time outside, with breaks for tending to children, or taking long lunches at local cafes, as the French do.

The work is joyful work, filled with creative endeavors that allow people to use their talents and skills in the ways they wish. 

Jobs are compensated fairly and every profession is equally appreciated and revered. The search for knowledge and understanding is encouraged, education doled out freely and to all. The work week is curtailed to four days at most. Doing work outside of hours is not allowed. A balanced life is rewarded. 

There are beautiful parks, filled with trees, natural water features, and playgrounds for children with rocks for climbing and ample paths for hiking. There are luscious botanical gardens displaying local flora, with beautiful greenhouses filled with the plants of others. Nearby gardens surround beautiful pools for swimming in the warmer months, where everyone is welcomed. 

Life Thrives on Diversity… and So Do Our Cities

In the dream city, we do not live homogeneously. 

All ethnicities, heritages, pasts, and backgrounds are welcomed and encouraged to mix freely, allowing for people to learn from differences. One race does not rule over another; no resources are kept from one in order to favor another. A zero-sum mindset does not exist in this city where everyone is given the necessities to live. 

Community is at the heart of the city.

Walking in the evening, we pass one another and stop to have conversations. We attend yoga and meditation at the community centers and grab tea with friends afterward. We have time to establish connection.

Families live with open door policies. Parents can share responsibilities of care for the children, allowing kids to grow up in safe, comfortable environments that support their growth and strengthen relationships with others. 

The benefits of this society are plentiful, found in the relaxed and compassionate lifestyle people practice.

In the city, there is time for leisure and enjoyment so the body releases tension easily. Being in harmony with the body and relaxed in the world opens us to our sensuality. We make love freely, respectfully. Like the seasons, we are in tune with the cyclical cycles of the body. We eat when we need to eat, we exercise regularly to keep the body strong and healthy, and we rest when the body needs rest. 

The Dream City… in the Here and Now

Fragments of the dream city exist in the real world.

Japan has high-speed railways that take you across its countryside in record time. Europe has retained much of its walkable cities and has a robust train system that connects most all European countries. Africa takes part in kinship care, where children are raised not only by parents, but by relatives or close family friends. In 2017, France passed “Right to Disconnect” legislation that allowed for employees to disconnect after work – making it so that employers could not reach out to employees outside of working hours. 

Several countries began experimenting with four-day work weeks, which improve workers well-being and overall job satisfaction. Countries like Norway, Switzerland, and Spain levy a high wealth tax on individuals who make over a certain threshold which aids in reducing wealth disparity. And the Netherlands have pushed to provide affordable, social housing for all, improving quality of life for all citizens. 

A society built to support everyone gives humans the time to care not only for themselves, but for the planet as a whole. 

A move away from individualism and capitalistic endeavors shifts our energy. When we do not have to suffer every day to make ends meet, to keep a roof over our heads or food on the table, we are given the time and space to exist.

We rest into our bodies, we respond more intentionally to ourselves and to others. We are taken from a finite way of seeing things to the infinite. 

A more collective approach to living gives people the luxury of time. Time to be in touch with the world around us, to see the beauty of nature and honor her seasons.

In the dream city, we spend restful nights watching the snow cover the dead earth in the winter, we visit botanical gardens and watch the flowers bloom and life return in the spring, we traverse to the rivers and pools to cool off in the summer, and then we stroll through the changing foliage and bonfire-scented woods in the fall. 

Though we may feel far from the dream city, we can cultivate it in little acts of defiance. We can slow down and take the time to look around us. We can take the time to make love and give ourselves permission to revel in the sensations of it, using it to ground ourselves into our bodies. We can get involved in the community by joining organizations that align with our beliefs.

We can reach out to others and get to know them and understand their struggles and learn about the world outside ourselves. We can teach our children to go outside, to get in touch with nature, to forest bathe. We can see the world less as a race toward something, and instead fight for stillness. 

The dream city awaits us if we dare to fight for it.