Fallenstadt: the Rise and Fall of Cities

Text / Nobuo Takamori

Since the first cities rose from the earth millennia ago, they have stood as a defining hallmark of human civilization. Acting as hubs of demographic and economic agglomeration, cities have fostered the development of cultural assets and innovative technologies throughout history. Therefore, it appears intuitive to view cities as synonymous with a major triumph of human civilization. However, it remains to be seen if these seemingly great edifices will, as prophesied in the Bible, ultimately fade into historical oblivion at any moment. As monuments to civilization, are cities destined to be devoured by rainforests or deserts, indistinguishable from the famous ruins of antiquity?

Statistically speaking, urban civilization does not necessarily equate to the concept of a comfortable existence. According to 2024 statistics, over 4.5 billion of the world’s 8.1 billion people reside in cities, meaning that urban residents now account for up to 58% of the world’s total population. Projections indicate that by 2050, at least 60% of the global population will be living in cities. However, not every city that accommodates this massive influx of people aligns with the idealized vision of urban life—one featuring convenient public transportation systems, ample green spaces, high-quality educational and medical resources, modern industries, and comfortable residential communities. Currently, there are over 80 cities worldwide with populations exceeding 5 million, a scale comparable to that of the Greater Taipei Area. Yet, among these megacities scattered across the globe, nearly half fail to provide the majority of their inhabitants with basic public services, such as access to sufficient and clean tap water, efficient sewage and drainage systems, adequate green spaces and housing, as well as necessary educational and medical resources. Furthermore, even in the cities that meet minimum living standards, dwellers continue to be plagued by traffic congestion, air pollution, soaring housing and commodity prices, and even high crime rates—all of which compromise the fundamental quality of life.

Historically, numerous urban design experiments have sought to improve the appearance of urban civilization, aiming thereby to raise residents’ living standards. However, a preponderance of cases illustrates the inherent difficulties of such endeavors. Traversing the border between Germany and Poland today, one encounters a city established in 1953—originally named Stalinstadt, and now known as Eisenhüttenstadt. Its rectilinear thoroughfares and monumental collective housing complexes epitomize socialist urban planning. Nevertheless, these blueprints for utopian cities ultimately invited criticism for being “devoid of humanistic warmth,” and these cities have been fated to suffer population decline.

During the Cold War, many developing countries attempted to employ urban theories from opposing ideological blocs to develop and regenerate emerging metropolises. However, the actual outcomes have proven dubious. For instance, the Yonghe District in New Taipei City introduced the principles of the British “Garden City” Movement into its urban planning, only to be compelled to accommodate a population several times greater than original estimates, evolving into the dense urban configuration today. Meanwhile, urban dwellers in many developing countries still have to struggle for survival, confronting the challenges ranging from traffic problems and overpopulation to recurrent flooding. While these ordeals inspire survival-oriented ingenuity, they also highlight the social resilience demonstrated by many cities in the face of climatic change. In this sense, as humanity is ushered into an era characterized by increasingly severe living conditions and geopolitical complexities, it remains debatable whether the idealized cities of developed countries are better equipped to withstand extreme scenarios, or if the emerging cities of the developing world will prove to be the “hidden champions” in the race for survival. Our experience of the COVID-19 pandemic showed that even wealthy, idealized cities may expose their potential vulnerabilities if they lack the requisite resilience and flexibility to address unforeseen, large-scale catastrophes.

Globalized trade networks have catalyzed the rise of numerous emerging cities across Asia and Africa while converting various objects (including refuse) into tradable commodities. Within the context of globalization, cities in affluent countries boost economic growth by stimulating consumption. Yet, waste, as the byproduct of economic growth and overproduction, has become an “objectionable resource,” allowing the costs associated with its disposal to be externalized. Many emerging metropolises in West Africa have served as hubs for the collection and importation of global e-waste. There, laborers toil in extremely hazardous conditions, while the general populace is exposed to severe pollution risks. Ironically, the primary generators of e-waste are usually glittering megacities, such as New York, London, Paris, Dubai, Shanghai, and Tokyo. In reality, the residents of emerging cities often endure degraded living environments to undergird the existence of these “super-metropolises,” but these same residents simultaneously harbor a sense of inferiority in terms of culture, living standards, and income when juxtaposed with those megacities. The consequence has become apparent in the hierarchical pattern of global migration. Rural populations migrate to the emerging cities in Asia and Africa, while the original inhabitants of these emerging cities aspire to eventually migrate to any of the “super-metropolises” in pursuit of a more comfortable lifestyle.

Nevertheless, one must consider the possibility that all of this could be reduced to rubble in an instant. Beyond natural variability, geopolitical instability is arguably the paramount threat to contemporary cities. An examination of recent history reveals a sobering reality: cities such as Baghdad, Damascus, and Kyiv can be engulfed in conflagration overnight. Amidst the ravages of war, the paradigm of urban life instantly precipitates from the pursuit of well-being to the struggle for bare subsistence. Familiar neighborhoods may, as a consequence of political misjudgment, be forcibly turned into scorching battlegrounds or fortifications.

These contingencies do not seem distant from our reality. In this exhibition, the insightful works by the artists from home and abroad show us the “city” in multifarious manifestations. Resonating with Italo Calvino’s depictions in Invisible Cities, the grandeur and decadence, the courage and absurdity, as well as the wisdom and annihilation of human civilization find expression in the cities beleaguered by flooding, self-abasement, crises, global detritus, and encroaching warfare. Cities serve as a portrayal of humanity per se. Their multifaceted façades and complexities are projections of human consciousness. Acting as a mirror, cities reflect our pride, aspirations, morality, dread, desires, and depravity. Welcome to Fallenstadt, a place where reverberations linger just before the torch of civilization is extinguished.