Stewart Brand: Why squatter cities are a good thing

[nooneisusingthisname]

I found this speech to be excellent and informative, if a bit rushed.

[musharrafdog]

Stewart, what about people who are displaced in China and forcibly moved by the government for infrastructure projects, in huge swaths of Africa for multinational agriculture conglomerates, or in Colombia where fields are fumigated in the drug war and then mined by multinationals (Colombia has second largest refugee population in the world.) Are these people moving to those great favelas because of the exciting "urban air"?

[discipleoftheteapot]

the slides moved too quickly

[eugenicsdebate]

Squatter cities may be climbing out of poverty, but like economist John Maynard Keynes said, "in the long run we're all dead." Malnutrition and child labor is an unacceptable way to end poverty. These people need a solution to end poverty that does not take generations to fix.

[mintyvision]

if you didnt get the message of this lecture then evidently your not particularly bright. its all pretty damn simple. he makes some good pro capitalist points.

[Nonoyawns]

Good speech. Good points made in favor of capitalism increasing the living standards of humans, not that those indoctrinated in the political style of the day will recognize this. Somewhat unclear points at time, and honestly, the power-point should've gone much slower! Some of us like to READ them!

[GrizzlyFist]

Technology will enslave man. The machine is saying goodbye to the natural world, at least what we have left.

[mawriz]

I didn't get it. :-(

[Simjab]

yea, whats the point?

[electricaura]

this has to be the least-developed, most uninformed talk I have ever seen published by TEDtalks. Here are the basics this guy doesn't mention: people are moving into cities because rural existences are MORE destitute than ever before

[electricaura]

- why? Because of the land grab through privatization of what were once common lands and the global commodification of food with the bulk of the world's most arable lands being used to produce luxury food stuffs for the rich while those who once lived prosperously (shelter, vibrant culture, food, clean water) now have no choice but to join the great global market economy for the instability of cash jobs.

[melodious7777]

@electricaura Totally agree.

[superdiza]

Only 40% of this video is a commercial ad, thanks TED.

[buzzadler]

no unemployment in squater cities? this guy obviously hasn't been to San Francisco.

[beyamoth]

There is a massive difference between squater cities in developing countries an and the homeless in San Francisco, they don't even compare. They are both the result of different influencing factors and therefore function in a vastly different manner.

[chippewagreenx]

...you're kidding right?

[BMS1974]

When are some people going to realise finances are not the meaning of life, human needs are limited, but human wants are probably infinite, do you want to keep playing games we can not win at the cost of precious existence, even if you 'win' and become rich you will still die and eventually even memories of the rich man will die, perhaps it would be better to place a higher value on human emotions and relationships.

[BMS1974]

everyone works in squatter cities? rio,sao palo, johanesburg etc included? even if we included illegal activity as being employed, this is far to general a statement to even come close to a 'truth', at least this was my experience in rio when i have visited, and anecdotal evidence from acquaintances suggests similar.

[BMS1974]

mumbai is not a good example, the wealth gaps from poorest to richest is immense, with a wealthy elite living from profit earned by others.

[lordaltay5]

There is nothing wrong with wealth gaps. The problem in Mumbai and India is there is too much government regulation.

Get rid of that and let the smart and bold get rich. They will then employ the rest.

[CO2Junkie]

"Get rid of that and let the smart and bold get rich. They will then employ the rest."

Wow. You live in a dream. And this is because the smart & bold only do good deeds? LOL. And this is because the smart & bold are inherently quick to share resources? Oh my, oh my. Well by all means laissez faire capitalism must be a panacea.

Do you have any degrees in economics or history?

[lordaltay5]

The smart and bold do what they can to get rich and powerful. It's up to the society they live in to hold everyone to the rule of law and preserve liberty.

Laissez Faire Capitalism is a panacea -- did you happen to catch what it did to the West not too many centuries ago?

Capitalism doesn't mean letting gangsters run amok -- it only means getting out of the way in economic matters. Police the streets, set up simple laws and watch the magic happen.

Do you have any points?

[Animalll2003lll]

the editing ruined this talk. and people are too quickly getting 'offensed' by the title. it's actually a pretty good talk! really interesting to think that people go to squatter cities to get out of poverty. interesting. and the 2 main points are really good: that 1/ cities are going to defuse the population bomb. and 2/ cities are weatth creators-- that is of course mega interesting. read Jane Jacobs and Richard Florida about that. btw why isn't Florida at TED talks???????? why???

[InsectRoyalty]

Large greenhouses on the top of every skyscaper would be a good start..

[CultureJamtheNWO]

I'm kind of bummed that this man got so much little time!  I would have loved to see the thoughts here explored in greater detail...5 min is not enough, maybe TED can get him back on in the future and we can get better than this, give the man time to speak...

[Decarock10]

the point is of the video showed how people need little to no government to improve their lives

[anotherelvis]

All the other speakers have gotten around 20 minutes this guys got 5. That is why he didn't had the time to say anything. I would love to hear a longer speach from him.

[kafkan]

whats this guy talking about?

[kellysontheroad]

WORST TED EVER! How did they let this corporate propaganda idiot in? I will move to the city when hell freezes over! Cities safer? People move to the cities because they have no choice - because the land can no longer sustain them because it has been consumed by us!

[kitsunde]

Yeah people can't possibly move to cities because they want to *rolls eyes*.

[kellysontheroad]

Good one! - lol

[dogeatery]

@ c6gunner

Do you understand how globalized industry works? If you did, you would know that peasants in 3rd world countries lose their rights once governments negotiate deals w/ transnational corporations. During their lives as peasants, these people had no need for proper employment and job skills. Do you think they choose the instability and squalor of squatter cities over the stability of village life?

[dogeatery]

This guy totally glosses over the reasons people move out of villages. In most cases they are displaced by corporate developments that force them off of their lands. They have no choice but to find work in cities.

[c6gunner]

"In most cases they are displaced by corporate developments that force them off of their lands."

Congrats, you win the "dumbest thing I've read all day" award.

[tnus03]

this crap reminds me of a conversation about overpopulation on public radio and the only solution all three "experts" could come up with was "lets build more skyscrapers". How about lets have less babies, thats the only solution that will ultimately solve the problem, but its some kind of devine human right to have as much babies as possible so thats not gonna happen. So lets all just wait until things get really shitty and half of us die of hunger or kill eachother.

[tnus03]

life is gonna get really crazy in the next 50 to 100 years. is anyone else frustrated that the human race can only solve major problems when the shit hits the fan.

[MetaCraken]

This is like that Isaac Asimov book I read, lol

[MetaCraken]

Worst. TED. Ever.

[usedforbattle]

Worst TED talk ever !

[shovet1111]

I live in North Dakota and this is happening all over the state. There is website called ghostsofnorthdakota that has a bunch of pics of ghost towns all over the state. It is a pretty cool site.

[NartSaga]

For the first time: I have to strongly disagree.

[tnus03]

WHAT THE FUCK!

[MetaCraken]

Damn, I know.

[jehnubis]

This video was as useless, as having sex with my wife!!!

[moondog999]

perhaps you should take those spammers up on their offers and get yourself a bigger dick?

[DavidRoyinTokyo]

I hate his smacking mouth noises.

Makes me want to wrench my guts out.

[agrus001]

this video taught me nothing.

[5random1]

@agrus001

judging by the intro and follow ads, all those billions heading to cities are making way for a few, very few, drivers of BMW to roam their former lands

pretty sick 'philosophy'

[uch]

ha he only showed the shanty town of mumbai, what about the stcok exchange...bloddy hell..nairobi too is lush

[peapodfontaine]

Well, I would have preferred something a bit more realistic -- perhaps Mike Davis discussing his brilliant book "Planet of Slums".

Stewart Brand's neo-liberal spin is pretty unethical for a TED talk.

[planetdarwin]

that guy needs to work on TIMING

[only1duk]

hehe

[studio7manga]

PLEASE ATTACK MY POSITION

Frankly, naysayers to the message of this talk are missing a big part of what makes living in the west so nice. WE went through the same transition about 100 years ago in the US, Europe, parts of Asia. Cities are more efficient modes of living than rural life in terms of net energy use due to the benefits of density. The crux of sustainability comes from energy consumption & production. Properly designed cities are more efficient energy consumers than any thing else.

[neotoy]

The wealth that is "generated" in cities is actually coming from outside them. More precisely the life is being slowly sucked out of the ecology and converted into an unsustainable industrialized state. This will only be able to continue for as long as the environment has resources for us to exploit, then it will be game over, and such cities will become ghost towns.

[Truthiness231]

So all cities are "generating" (not sure why there are quotes around it; the word is being used properly here) wealth outside themselves? Does "wealth" (apt) just walk toward town until collected? What about cities of production that use renewable resources?

[Truthiness231]

Ex. There are more trees now than there were before the invention of the paper mill. There is more natural hydrogen now than there was before we started using it for power. Not a single thing that can't be replace was consumbed when you came up with your bullshit theory.

[Truthiness231]

consumed* ^.^

Now then, what are you smoking? Is it increasing or decreasing your grey matter?

[neotoy]

I'm just smoking reality, maybe you've heard of it? You should try it sometime.

[neotoy]

Consumption exceeds production in all cities, which is why our natural non-renewable resources decrease rather than increase every year.

[Truthiness231]

You keep saying this, and I keep saying it's mathematically impossible.

1) Don't generate any goods

2) Consume goods (though none have been generated)

3) Stand with neotoy and laugh at Truthi for not being able to consume something non-existant. You've just pwned reality.

[neotoy]

It's in quotes because nothing is actually being generated, only consumed.

Cities that use renewable resources? That would be nice, too bad the Masdar initiative is the only example on earth.

[Truthiness231]

Paper production, I thought, was a good example. Please explain, since you know so much, how trees are considered non-renewable sources of resources by your current understanding of this matter...

[neotoy]

I think we differ on the interpretation of the word production. There is production in an ecological (holistic) sense and production in a strictly humancentric sense. Converting trees into paper does not benefit the ecosystem, therefore it is really just energy consumed in the production process. 95% of which comes from non-renewable resources like coal and oil.

[Truthiness231]

OK, you're starting to get off topic. Loss of resources like coal and oil won't hurt the environment (unless there's some freak animal that lives off crude and is somehow beneficial...). That's a plus for the environment; no more shit in the ground. To deal with the shit in the sky, that's simply a matter of another future technological innovation (*knocks on wood*). And we've already found ways to continue past coal and oil, so yet again I implore you to explain where ghost towns come in.

[neotoy]

I'm glad you're such a massive optimist, you're probably going to need it.

[DMR612]

I get it. Hell, I can do that too: Global warming is good!

[sillyallergent]

hmmm

[Licmycat]

Big cities are the blight of mankind. Over-population, dwindling resources; especially 'space'. People have to have a certain amount for their physical and mental well-being. Once you pass a certain point of numbers of people living in one space, it becomes a jungle and with the same kind of laws that rule in a jungle.

[mikezephyr]

notice how most of the 40 comments here saw through this crap, and perceived the massive lie of civilization for it's worth. arbeit mach frei? seriously dude?

if what we called as bullshit isn't revolutionary then it's simple common sense. though i doubt those two concepts are at all separable.

[DSCH4]

Hunh? That's it? Let me quote Clara Barton: "WHERE'S THE BEEF?" There was the hint of an interesting argument there, but he seemed to think it wasn't worth backing up at all.

[TheRhizome]

Stewart Brand is essentially the founder of the modern day environmental movement. Who are these trolls in their basements who call him an idiot?

[felixthehuman]

People who haven't figured out the people he's talking about don't have a car.

[kristopolous]

He abandoned his long hair and peace sign long ago.  It shows.

[jkgillett]

The title sounded so interested I guess the ancient proverb is right, you can't judge a youtube video by the title (or thumbnail shot).

[musicfan2012]

that was it???

[proffromgview]

And his point???

[OtherVerse]

I think he missed his true calling as a White House spokesman. He throws together a few unsupported generalities, and stitches them together into a total inversion of reality. I won't call him an ass; I'll let someone else do that.

[jaredbrunk]

He's an ASS!

Nice to know people still can confuse their ideals with reality and get a screwed up message. Sure, some of it sounds appealing, but all in all it is mostly appalling.

[zev007]

There don't seem to be alot of comments about the your "facts" about life in the country vs city.

You are BY FAR more free, private and safe in the country vs the city! Are you kidding me?! Backbreaking living in the country? Sorry, but unfortunately you are wrong. 1/5 FAIL.

[librarychair]

I will give you safe, but only at the SACRIFICE of privacy. The privacy - the ability to avoid a lot of human interaction in the city if you so choose - is what makes it less safe. People aren't keeping an eye on you in the city. In small towns, where everyone knows everyone else, it's socially oppressive - anything you do has the potential to make you an outcast and there is no escape from those social circles because they are the only ones you have.

So maybe not safer, but, freer, I think.

[zev007]

I disagree with you completely about it being "socially oppressive".

I live outside of a town of 700 people. Nothing I do can make me an "outcast". And I mean nothing. I get to do what I want, and nobody says a thing about it. Everyone does what we want here.

Furthermore, you don't know what social circles I'm part of and I definitely don't limit myself to socializing with people only from my town, region, province or country.

[Brazdolph]

He talks shit, but the images were awesome.

[chachalaca777]

this is a sham... squatter cities are OK but under the circumstances only! They're not the ideal! I find his argument to be an extreme capitalist mindset, not an objective one, not deep in analysis. So many still unanswered questions on this topic seem shrugged off and sold. TED should not be a propaganda forum, but an ideas forum. Agriculture suffers, the elderly suffer, education: rampant but what kind? is it better? where are the sensitive adjustments needed? where is the deep reality?! TED?

[120EST]

Lets blame the industrial revolution. Advertising, marketing and merchandising. People want man mad things.

[mikezephyr]

arbeit mach frei!

if only this were a joke.

[mikezephyr]

living in empoverished, polluted and polluting, violent and over-populated shanties is climbing out of poverty wukdar! coercive and exploitative labor is freedom!how on earth would you have people eat if they weren't in sweat-shops and debt bondage? Employment makes you free. arbeit mach frei! starvation motivates you to work-and-shanties starve people. brilliant pyramid scheme.

[chachalaca777]

good point!  I wonder if this talk was actually really his darkest humour coming out... you know maybe running from some hereditary guilt hiding behind all that superfluous optimism?

[fastfatloss]

lol, by far the funniest yet. wtf was that?

[YawnGod]

Very succinct. My style. I love this man.

[LoveCraken]

"aesthetics rule"

what?

[mikezephyr]

overpopulation and sludge "overe there" is kinda pretty when you're a corporate spokesman living in an isolated american suburb in the "West".

corrugated steel, untreated-free flowing sewage and mercury laced water is aesthetic!

[LoveCraken]

hah

[spawnfan101]

lmao

[LoveCraken]

This reminds me of my lame PE teacher trying to inspire a group of kids but saying something so thoroughly uninspiring and disgusting that we all just stared at him in revulsion. I love how this man got no applause and just skulked off looking kinda depressed.

[mrmaciejm]

He didnt get ready and he didnt take his time.

[Cubit100]

Damn. This was important and the presenter didn't take his presentation seriously. I had to go back and pause on the slides.

[YawnGod]

Same here, but then again that's what makes so great in my opinion. All the information is there with no excess fat. Because of this, it goes by really fast, but all the information you need is in those first 3 minutes. It's a brilliant presentation, I must admit.

[reivilo]

snooze

[ktc0754]

Interesting & optimistic I think.

[chachalaca777]

interesting to see how someone can take these facts and interpret them in such a narrow POV... optimism doesn't always help. Critical thinking helps. This talk is not what I would expect at TED; very disappointing that this is an example of the cream of the crop.

[kristopolous]

Check out the wikipedia on this guy. He *is* top notch. I don't really understand how someone with such an impressive CV can toss out such crap.

[Animalll2003lll]

it's thought provoking. stop falling for the global warming crap and start thinking with the data. if cities are a good thing, then what's wrong? if cities create wealth better than rural areas and defuse the demographic bomb then what's wrong? cities are awesome. cities are a good thing. sometimes progress and consumption is just cool. this talk should have been longer.

btw global warming is likely to be essentially natural. and btw oil is going to be more and more rare and expensive.

[BrightHelmVellas]

I wonder if this guy lives in a lean-to shack in Mubai?

[kristopolous]

He lives on a tugboat in Sausalito according to wikipedia. That's quite a city mr. Brand.

[thkaal]

Yet, those shanty towns look like nothing more than larger, more dilapidated villages.

[thkaal]

Yet, those shanty towns look like nothing more than larger, more dilapidated villages.

[ForceUser]

Those slides were going a bit too fast.. still a good presentation

[joh3]

Scrap these fucking comercials!!!

[gratex]

Do they produce "I <3 Shanty Town" T-shirts in Mumbai?

[coffeepyros]

i feel this talk was too short.