My recent european adventures (http://www.myspace.com/via_jeffe) lead me to many of the great capitals in Europe, and without exception each of these cities were shaped by their modest beginnings as regional city centers created for trade, security and spiritual enlightenment. Every city I visited had unique places for people to see and be seen, usually around the ancient market areas, but these places also shared many common attributes. These 'places' even in old europe continue to evolve with the changes in city character, function and available technology.
One of the main shopping streets in Vienna is called 'Karntner Strasse', now a pedestrian-only and lined with expensive local and international shops. The Viennese stroll along this street, that links the catherdral to the opera, night and day even window shopping when shops are closed.
In Copenhagen the shopping street is called "Stroget" and it links the beautiful "Radhuspladsen" (city hall plaza) to other public squares marrying excellent public space with private uses encouraging grand commerce and allowing Copenhagers to meet in comfort and style any time of year.
Rome has too many famous meeting places, but here are a few famous ones: the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Piazza Navona, and my favourite, the Campo de Fiori. Each 'place' centers around commerce always with open air markets, and focused around some fantastic work of art. These places are always crawling with visitors and locals alike, because of their deep sense of history and beauty, they also make for great places to just hang out, or buy cheap shoes..
In Zurich, I witnessed a prosperous and button-downed city temporarily transform many of its swiss plazas into tented Zurich film festival venues, charming filmakers and critics alike.
As Washington, DC areas residents, each of us has our favourite places to go to see and to be seen. Georgetown, Alexandria and Annapolis draw us to their 'old city' charm. As our nations captial "Washington" provides us national spaces such as the Mall, Kennedy Center, and White House. Newer names such as Reston town center, Ballston, and Silver Spring are places attempting to create a modern-contemporary sense of place.
But what makes our favourite places? Are we looking for commerce, security and enlightenment? What makes them work well? And what truly distinguishes one great place from another?
Reflections on Europe #1: Welcome to Stuttgart - Free Transit Pass.
By Jeff Price.
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