Struggle As A Tool

     Conflict is the spark plug to the engine that is human progress. It is through struggling and either perishing or thriving that cultures and nations of the world achieve definition. This conflict has become increasingly complex as time has allowed the evolution of our physical and social constructs to embed themselves on top of preexisting ideas implemented by generation’s past. No matter the construct of human civilization, be it religion, economic systems, cultural tradition, there is an abundance of conflict that attacks the implementation of the construct when an increasing number of opposing notions and ideas proliferate around the world. For example, the rapid changes in global economic identity from industrialization to service or the simplicity of a single implemented religion in a region being shattered as competing ideologies imbue within the minds of local citizens both introduce conflicts that displace waves of individuals reliant on these human constructs for survival and meaning. The process of change, or rather the wrestling between competing human constructs, is a brutish time for individuals who are identified by their involvement within a construct; however, the competition of ideas and constructs is ultimately a net positive for the whole of humanity as time goes on.

     The increasing connection of cites, peoples, ideas, and cultures though technological advancements has devised a network of varying identities of human social constructs. However, this connection is anything but neatly organized. The process of globalization and the proliferation of free market ideas has connected our world by rushing through, often harmfully, traditions or systems of the past that people had grown reliant on. David Harvey in The Urban Process Under Capitalism articulates the tense class struggle, particularly of the working class, that exhibits the neglect on working class people that results from the prioritization of the advancement of businesses that fuel the economic machines of their respective countries. The trends of economic output that increase the overall GDP of a region outweigh the cries for economic homogeny among the citizens left behind in the race towards global relevance. Saskia Sassen explains in The Global City that the trends of a city in terms of achieving relevance in the pantheon of international centers of innovation and production are pointed towards the outsourcing of a company’s varied collection of tasks into the realms of foreign countries. This extended influence across the globe connects the company’s influence to the regions of different areas of the world that otherwise would be oblivious to the progress of the company.

     The "Urban Imagination" studies this struggle as poeples acorss the globe are connected with each other. By analyzing a moment in time within an urban environment, one can witness the changes being made that infleunced the way of life for a city's citizens. The pieces of culture contributed by citizens in past times highlights what it means to become more connected, for better or worse. The urban environment is perhaps humankind's most prominent spot of connection between people of varying values, beliefs, and identities. As the networks of humans and their social systems become increasingly dependent on one another, the abundance of ideas and varied lifestyles arouse conflict among people who are accustomed to an explicitly defined way of life.