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PARTISAN REVIEW
only build its houses east and west. But when Alexandrians dig, they
discover a Roman amphitheater that must be preserved; when they
move east or west away from the ruin, they run into a mosque.
Alexandria is the captive of its past, but for all the comic frustration the
governor could not conceal his pride in the splendor of that past. In
contrast, the delegate from Warsaw presented a view of a city solemnly
determined to recreate its history out of the rubble of World War II as if
its self-esteem depended upon its capacity to revive historic Warsaw.
The most eloquent and entertaining presentation was by the city
manager of Dublin. Joyce, O'Casey, and Brendan Behan entered his
speech evocatively, comically. (Behan: "The city is a place where one is
not afraid of being attacked by a wild sheep.") The Dublin representa–
tive alone revealed both literacy and a literary sense. But the eloquence
of the manager could not redeem the rather dreary slides of Dublin
redevelopment. The beauty of Irish speech has not found its way into
the physical look of the city: indeed, perhaps literature compensates for
its architectural dreariness. Yet the city manager, commenting apropos
of a slide depicting a drinker in a pub, showed a sensitivity to the
common life of Dublin, how it feels to be alive in a city, missing from
most of the presentations.
In the face of the variety of situations and problems posed by the
conference (problems posed despite the impulse
to
evade them), most
mayors and delegates exhibited a commendable modesty and flexibil–
ity. A city with a homogeneous population requires a different ap–
proach from one with a heterogeneous population. A city with a rich
heritage proposes different burdens and opportunities from a city with
a short history. There was a marked unwillingness to decide for or
against public investment as a general policy for all cities, though
Edward Logue, who headed the Boston Redevelopment Authority and
now is in charge of redevelopment in
Sou
th Bronx, characterized the
end of the urban renewal program, based on federal aid, as a repressive
step, inimical to the interests of American cities. For the most part, the
delegates were interested in stimulating and mixing the various sectors
of the economy.
Teddy Kollek remarked in the course of his presentation that a
conference succeeds if one comes away with one or two good ideas.
It
is
probable that the mayors of Nairobi, Hangzhou, Caracas, Athens and
Baltimore (to ci te at random cities of the various continents) did learn a
thing or two from the conference. Already there was talk of turning the
conference into a movable feast in other cities.
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