City priorities determine quality of urban life beyond mere physical works

Evidence

And his influence upon New York went far beyond the physical. In twentieth-century America, no city’s resources, not even when combined with resources made available by the state and federal governments, came close to meeting its needs. So cities had to pick and choose among these needs, to decide which handful of a thousand desperately necessary projects would actually be built. The establishment of priorities had vast impact on not only the physical but the social fabric of the cities, on the quality of life their inhabitants led. In New York City, for thirty-four years, Robert Moses played a vital role in establishing the city’s priorities. For the crucial seven years, he established all its priorities. — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker, 50

Categorization

• QUESTION: This frames the entire book’s thesis: priority-setting power may matter more than building power itself. Worth holding against later evidence of how Moses actually set priorities.
• XREF: connects to: urban practices are distinctive not in origin but in meaning and function; Reducing physical noise does not automatically improve perceived urban comfort — Almo Farina, Soundscape Ecology: Principles,…, 1047; Utopian urban plans fail without social psychological realism about people

Broader Connections

• Utopian urban plans fail without social psychological realism about people #corroborates (0.82)
• Reducing physical noise does not automatically improve perceived urban comfort #corroborates (0.78) — Almo Farina, Soundscape Ecology, 1047
• urban practices are distinctive not in origin but in meaning and function #expands (0.75)