I have tried to see supposed negative qualities as positive possibilities ("It's not a bug, it's a feature!"). There are many problems with today's places, but we can use some of the new qualities of contemporary places (especially, discontinuity and linkage) against others (especially simplification and commodification). We do not need to return to hierarchical villages or imperial cities, though we may want to borrow some of their spatial strategies.
(c) David Kolb, 1 August 2001