There’s no critique more cutting than saying that development is turning an urban neighborhood into a theme park.

The irony of course, is that cities like Dubrovnik and Venice represent a profoundly obsolete, pre-industrial technology.  They were built without machines, without computers, designed for walking and and most animal powered travel.  They provide a degree of walkability, density and human-scale–and freedom from cars–that’s simply not available anywhere else.

In 1990, some colleagues at the University of Washington invited Patrizio Bianchi, a professor of economics at the university of Bologna to present a lecture on Italy’s Marshallian industrial districts. After the lecture, the hosts took Bianchi on a walking tour of Seattle’s Pike Place Market, pointing to market stalls and fresh produce with obvious pride. Bianchi was non-plussed, much as if a group of Americans had been treated to a tour of a Walmart in Rome.