Rethinking towns & cities
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taci-rethinking.bsky.social
Rethinking towns & cities
@taci-rethinking.bsky.social
70 followers 400 following 22 posts
What if a town had a purpose, a focus, something to aim for?

What to expect?
- ideas for towns, cities & gardens
- related reposts
- discussions

This is a @charlie-alice-raya.org project. See also: https://www.towns-and-cities-international.org
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Rethinking towns & cities @taci-rethinking.bsky.social · Oct 29
CAMPAIGNS FOR OUR FUTURE
featured in book 4, building, part 1

For all town planners and urbanites, this chapter is of interest:

www.easy-town-books.com/2025/09/14/d...

As is book 3, shaping, part 1
www.easy-town-books.com/preview-book...

#urbanism #townplanning #greencities #climateaction
DAY 20, AT JELLYBRIDGE, TOWN PLANNING, UNDERGROUND TOWN & TRANSPORT, book 4, building – easy town books
www.easy-town-books.com
Reposted by Rethinking towns & cities
charlie-alice-raya.org
//
Connections Day began on three-hundred and thirty-three trains across the UK. In an unlikely cooperation with British Rail, the campaign took over all tasks which used to be performed by humans.

#trains #connections #transport #AI #FuckAI #cardependency #WeThePeople #resist #OurFuture #travel
Just after noon, a journalist reported from the Connections Day, writing: This campaigns valid points are: If you buy your ticket from a person every day, you form a connection. If another person helps you to get your luggage or shopping from the train to the bus, you forge a connection. If actual people announce the next station, they can do so with humour which relates to today’s weather, news, or the full train — and you get a connection between driver, staff and travellers, which is only fair since they are all on the same train. And if you have either bars or snacks trolleys, you have potential connections between travellers and sellers. And if you bring musicians, storytellers or thinkers, then tired travellers might dance, laugh or think together. And as I write this, I hear people shout: ‘But who will pay for all this?’ And here the town project shows just how well prepared they are for experiments. They calculated the costs of fitting trains with digital displays, electronic doors and blinking lights, and included maintenance costs and replacements. Those costs are way higher than, to quote: ‘giving people a job that creates connections.’ And they added: ‘Besides, humans are not made to be efficient. They are made to connect, to live and laugh.’
November 29, 2025 at 10:46 AM
Reposted by Rethinking towns & cities
charlie-alice-raya.org
// DOGS

‘We failed to question what makes us and our planet sick.
For too long we thought that it was for governments to sort out our
troubles. For too long we failed to see that change starts in our minds
and that a lot of what makes our world needs a rethink — by all of us.’ #photography #dogsky
Black Labrador walks into small lake. I will close my report with another stress factor, a stress factor I hadn’t thought off: dogs. There are people who are stressed by dogs, which might not surprise you, but as the owner of two lovely spaniels, I have to admit that I had never put myself in the shoes of someone who can’t see the point of two happy spaniels racing after a ball, ears flapping, spittle flying, jumping high, colliding in the air and one of them catching the ball. What is there not to love? And here is something, I am starting to respect about the town project. They don’t dismiss any stress or fear. They say: ‘OK. Let’s assume ten percent of our towners get stressed by dogs while twenty percent of towners have dogs. What could we do? Could we have time corridors where dog owners are asked to keep their dogs at home so that the ten percent can have a stress-free stroll? Or could dog owners live in the same area and the ten percent on the other side of town? ‘This,’ Alice Adler said, ‘is part of composing our town. We ask: How can we put the town together in a way that benefits all and doesn’t belittle or ignore anyone’s needs?’’ There is also a discussion whether any dogs or other pets should be held in town at all. What are the pros and cons of pets? How to deal with the poo since no plastic won’t be allowed in town? Do pets have an effect on biodiversity? And so on. But these are topics for another day. It is true that the town project is overloading us. But maybe it’s this overload we need to wake up and to claim a future where we have untangled ourselves and our world from all the fabricated things that stress us. I am doubtful about some things the town project suggests, but I am with them on this: For too long we failed to question what makes us and our planet sick. For too long we thought that it was for governments to sort out our troubles. For too long we failed to see that change starts in our minds and that a lot of what makes our world needs a rethink — by all of us.
November 29, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Reposted by Rethinking towns & cities
charlie-alice-raya.org
// MAXIMISATION

‘They keep their promise of rethinking everything, of leaving no stone unturned, no narrative or practice unquestioned. How would we know whether a balanced approach to our economy works better if we have never tried it?’
#tourism #healthcare #urbanism #profit #business #photography
Spider & spider’s shadow above green leaf. A remarkable point is that the town is interested in alternatives to profit maximisation. Instead of draining tourists, they determine what the town’s health care sector will need and then they split this amount between the projected number of tourists. Are you experiencing a convolution of your brain? You’re not alone. It’s what the project campaigns keep doing to us: they keep their promise of rethinking everything, of leaving no stone unturned, no narrative or practice unquestioned. How would we know whether a balanced approach to our economy works better if we have never tried it? Not worrying about maximising profits should definitely be less stressful. Much less. And not stressing tourists with rip-offs is less stressful for hosts and visitors.
November 29, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Reposted by Rethinking towns & cities
charlie-alice-raya.org
// TOURISM
If you want to take this ride nonetheless, hop on for our noon question: How do we propose to deal with everyday stress in our town?’ And then the team picked one stress factor at a time and convincingly illustrated that alternatives are available. We only have to choose the alternatives.
Lilac wildflower in sunlight. Just as we were scrolling down the list, the campaign team published a new post. It started with a warning that made us smile, at this point. Two weeks ago, we would probably have thought it a silly remark. ‘Fair warning:’ the post began, ‘the following will contain positive references to our town project and to our businesses, portraying them as stress-reducing options. You have been warned. If you want to take this ride nonetheless, hop on for our noon question: How do we propose to deal with everyday stress in our town?’ And then the team picked one stress factor at a time and convincingly illustrated that alternatives are available. We only have to choose the alternatives. Here a few points which stuck out for me: Apparently the town project wants to use income from tourism to co-finance their health sector. They argue that every towner is affected by tourists, so every towner should also benefit of tourism.
November 29, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Reposted by Rethinking towns & cities
charlie-alice-raya.org
// TOURIST RIP-OFF

‘Join us in compiling a list of things that stress us in our everyday
lives. And let’s see whether we can’t come up with ideas of how to
reduce stress.’

#tourism #finance #touristtraps #travellingcosts #travelling #photography #beach #holidays
Travemünde beach with beach chairs. A report. The longevity campaign hit the mark again with a precision and cunning that got my whole family into a lively debate at the breakfast table (usually our breakfasts are a quiet affair with the odd grunt in acknowledgement of the others’ presence, or the: yes, please, jam.) Not so yesterday when our daughter said excitedly, and more awake than I have seen her in a year or two: ‘Listen to that! “Join us in compiling a list of things that stress us in our everyday lives. And let’s see whether we can’t come up with ideas of how to reduce stress. Here an example of a stress factor that came up in our team meeting: tourist rip-offs. You are on a holiday, you are supposed to relax and around every corner you are faced with ridiculously high prices that have no other justification than to make as much money as possible from you. Ice cream, espresso, a glass of wine? The simple delights of a holiday spoiled by prices that stress, suck and are downright out of place. Who can relax when they have to spend vast amounts of money on small pleasures?”’ Could we relate? Hell, yes! And as our son pointed out: ‘It’s worse. I remember that we began to fight at that ice-cream parlour because some of us wanted to have a fun holiday and some of us thought it was ridiculous to pay those prices.’ Our youngest child nodded, saying: ‘Do you remember, how we said one night that we’d take a camper so we could stay by the lake without stepping into the tourist traps?’ My son nodded. ‘Only camping has become a tourist trap, too.’
November 29, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Reposted by Rethinking towns & cities
charlie-alice-raya.org
Find more on tourism in my short story: ripples-publishing.com/introducing-...

This story is also an introduction for ripples publishing & pepper books, two ideas for businesses which have moved on from the invention of profiteering.

#writers #tourism #business #econsky #photography #light #actnow
Light lines, abstract of two trailer blazing people. Imagine from 2011, series: light dance
November 29, 2025 at 6:32 PM
Reposted by Rethinking towns & cities
charlie-alice-raya.org
/19

And in these

DAY 20: www.easy-town-books.com/2025/09/14/d...

DAY 19: www.easy-town-books.com/2025/09/14/d...

#urbanism
Track between a field and a forest, Island of Usedom, Gnitz
November 29, 2025 at 4:11 PM
Reposted by Rethinking towns & cities
charlie-alice-raya.org
/18

Find rare glimpses into the ideas for the town and the experiments in these chapters:

DAY 32: www.easy-town-books.com/2025/09/05/d...

DAY 31: www.easy-town-books.com/2025/09/05/d...

#urbanism
A track between a forest and a field splits into two. Island of Usedom, near Korswandt.
November 29, 2025 at 4:11 PM
Reposted by Rethinking towns & cities
charlie-alice-raya.org
/7
‘That leaves the last part of the fold. Here I’m tempted to opt for gardens rather than buildings — and now I have your fold fever, too, and ask, what if we kept the fold free of homes?’ Ethan and Megan chuckled. ‘Damn. I see how you got there, and that this will need more thinking.’

#urbanism
Jason eyes had an excited gleam. ‘We could use smaller buildings on the top of the fold, which perfectly fit into the fold design theme, and as the Yards slope down, they fade into the red-brick design. We could even integrate some redbrick into a timber design.’ ‘That sounds great,’ Alice said. ‘And that leaves the question of the last part of the fold. And here I’m tempted to opt for gardens rather than buildings — and now I have your fold fever, too, and ask, what if we kept the fold free of homes?’ Ethan and Megan chuckled. ‘And push the Roof Gardens further east?’ Megan teased. Alice shook her head, smiling. ‘Damn. I see how you got there, and that this will need more thinking.’ ‘You made valid points,’ Megan said. ‘And maybe the best takeaway from our fever is to focus on the towners. What do they need, what enhances the chances of a vibrant community life? And when we get too much into a fever on that side of the scale, we’ll focus more on coexisting with nature again.’ ‘You’ve got me cooled down,’ Alice said, smiling.
November 29, 2025 at 4:11 PM
Reposted by Rethinking towns & cities
charlie-alice-raya.org
/6
‘Covering the fold in gardens is not a way of redemptions for having ten-thousands of people occupying the space left and right of the gardens. A town is a town, a unit. Not something that’s separated. Besides, I’m a Berliner, you can’t ask me to agree to splitting our town into east and west.’
After listening to all suggestions, Alice, her eyebrows raised, said: ‘Your ideas sound great, and they are in keeping with our goal to reconnect to nature. But listening to you I thought, we are kidding ourselves. We cannot pretend that we’re not building a town. Covering the fold in great gardens is not a way of redemptions for having ten-thousands of people suddenly occupying the space left and right of the gardens. A town is a town, a unit. Not something that is separated. Besides, I am a Berliner, you really can’t ask me to agree to separating our town into a west and an east side.’ Some chuckled, others smiled, Alice continued. ‘Our task is to build a town in a way that coexisting with nature is possible. What exactly that will look like is something we want to find out. But cutting off a chunk of our town to leave it to nature is not coexisting. At best it’s being neighbours. To coexist we have to find a way to share space without causing too much damage. I like the idea of corridors, though. Maybe the corridors could be winding along the fold, parts of them elevated to let walkers pass, or the other was around, or both. And there is another point. We want to find out how we can build a town where community life is a natural byproduct. And I guess for that, all our spaces in town need to be connected. If I have to walk through a large forest to get to my grandmother, I’ll think of a scary fairy tale and won’t be wrapped in a town’s connecting atmosphere. And just in case, one more point: Not one of our circle roads runs for a full circle in our new plans, which is fine and and a bit funny, but to cut our partial circle into halves contradicts the whole idea of our three-thirds-of-a-cobweb town layout.’ Ethan, head of the Town Planning Team, let out a long sigh. ‘I didn’t see the Berlin wall angle. But that does it for me.’ Jason, head of the Architecture Team, nodded and asked. ‘Then what are we going to do with the fold?’
November 29, 2025 at 4:11 PM
Reposted by Rethinking towns & cities
charlie-alice-raya.org
Plus
Days 32/31 offer rare glimpses into the plans for the future town.

What is the town?
A playground to test ideas and find out what serves people & planet.

🧵
November 24, 2025 at 9:53 AM
Reposted by Rethinking towns & cities
charlie-alice-raya.org
#TRAINS

I don’t like conspiracy theories. But here is one that wouldn’t surprise me: If I was invested in fossil fuels, I’d take every opportunity to make travelling by train miserable & I’d spread rumours about it to make everything sound even worse.

🧵 1/19

#transport #cardependency #photography
Long, empty, unpleasant train station at night.
November 26, 2025 at 7:51 PM
taci-rethinking.bsky.social
CAMPAIGNS FOR OUR FUTURE
featured in book 4, building, part 1

For all town planners and urbanites, this chapter is of interest:

www.easy-town-books.com/2025/09/14/d...

As is book 3, shaping, part 1
www.easy-town-books.com/preview-book...

#urbanism #townplanning #greencities #climateaction
DAY 20, AT JELLYBRIDGE, TOWN PLANNING, UNDERGROUND TOWN & TRANSPORT, book 4, building – easy town books
www.easy-town-books.com
October 29, 2025 at 1:46 PM
taci-rethinking.bsky.social
CREATING SPACES FOR NATURE. On pavements, squares, streets, highways, lawns & in parks, areas were roped off & given back to nature with boxes of wildflowers, spaces for insects, bridges for mammals, tree trunks for snails, little ponds for insects and fish. #photography #urbanism #nature #rethink
Wildflower
October 29, 2025 at 12:32 PM
taci-rethinking.bsky.social
As I continue to write the easy town books and keep an eye on political developments, I increasingly see a need to come together in the streets, have street breakfasts, make space for nature, celebrate, shape the community together.

For more see today’s chapter SPRING SPECIALS.

#urbanism #nature
DAY 12, SPRING SPECIALS
This is what defiance looks like & this is what celebrating spring can be.
itsourworld.substack.com
October 29, 2025 at 12:25 PM
Reposted by Rethinking towns & cities
charlie-alice-raya.org
GREAT PROJECT 🐝 from Evanston!

‘Bees on the Block project — transforming underutilized lawns into nature ecosystems abounding with native plants and bees, while connecting neighbors to one another through collective environmental stewardship.’

Rewild lawns & be amazed!
#rewilding #urbanism #bees
October 29, 2025 at 8:54 AM
taci-rethinking.bsky.social
The photographer in me can spend some happy time with a building like this (next to the Hauptbahnhof in Berlin).

The thinker and moreover the town builder in me wonders what the good of such a building is.

1/2
Cubic kind of building with a mirror facade. The facade is a juxtaposition of triangles which allows for fun mirror twists.
May 31, 2025 at 9:29 PM
taci-rethinking.bsky.social
I put together a little fun guide to rethinking.

Rethinking - How is it done?
rethinking towns and cities entry – towns and cities international
www.towns-and-cities-international.org
April 29, 2025 at 8:49 PM
taci-rethinking.bsky.social
'The watcher is a reminder that humans will only progress if and when they strive to understand what it is they are doing, and when they ask themselves why they are doing it.'

© Charlie Alice Raya, book 2/2, travelling
April 29, 2025 at 8:47 PM
taci-rethinking.bsky.social
#urbansky #towns #rethink #future #greensky

For more see

www.towns-and-cities-international.org

and

www.easy-town-books.com
April 29, 2025 at 8:45 PM
taci-rethinking.bsky.social
#urbansky #towns #rethink #future #whatif #greensky
April 29, 2025 at 8:43 PM
taci-rethinking.bsky.social
#urbansky #booksky #artists #towns #art

1
‘An artist is a needy creature. The artist needs solitude, time to contemplate, time to create. But the artist also needs the bath in the crowds, the interaction, the confrontation, the praise. And while there is some selfishness involved in this,
April 28, 2025 at 12:22 PM
taci-rethinking.bsky.social
Whenever I come across an issue that needs addressing, I create a town which is specifically built to offer solutions and ongoing research, a town which deals with the issue and allows its people to heal and thrive.
towns and cities international – ideas for thriving and inspiring towns and cities
www.towns-and-cities-international.org
April 27, 2025 at 8:51 AM
taci-rethinking.bsky.social
Introducing towns & cities international

The idea to give a town a purpose first developed in my easy town books. By now I have a collection of more than eighty ideas for towns with a purpose.

In my main fictional work, the easy town books, I create a town and a town experiment from scratch.
1/7
April 26, 2025 at 1:21 PM
taci-rethinking.bsky.social
A town with a focus brings together people from around the world who share an interest, a characteristic, a passion, and who want to further explore what they are interested in, who want to share their findings.
April 26, 2025 at 12:58 PM