Return of the City-State

[gothwalk]

Originally published at Now Is A Long Time Too. You can comment here or there.

There’s a fascinating article on the BBC site which suggests that cities, becoming more and more independent from the countries that host them, could give rise to new city-states. London mayor Ken Livingstone is quoted as saying:

“Having been to Singapore and seen how successful it was I think anything short of a fully independent city state is a lost opportunity, with its own foreign and defence policies thrown in.”

I’ve always been a fan of the notion of city-states, and the concept that they might make a return is very interesting.

Comments

[rowancat.livejournal.com]

Problem is that Singapore is notorious as a Big Brother, very neat and clean but at what cost, almost police state where even minor infractions carry over the top penalties.
Of course a city state doesn't have to be that way :)

[gallowglass.livejournal.com]

As a Londoner (no matter where they live, Londoners always remain Londoners), I've always regarded my city as separate and apart from the country that surrounds it. Looks like I'm not as far off base as some people have said in the past.

[utterlymundane.livejournal.com]

I am very much in favour of the notion of city states. I think it's the level at which humans exist and believe, with no external stimuli. Anything bigger is hard to get your head around. Anuything smaller is harder to make self-sustaining in a worst-case scenario.