LONG BEACH — The history of cities over the last century is littered with good intentions, from separated-use zoning to urban renewal to more recent interventions such as convention centers, riverwalks, pedestrian malls, and monorails. Today, while Boston, New York, Washington, Chicago, Denver, San Francisco and Seattle continue to enjoy a resurgence, the rescue of legacy cities such as Youngstown and Camden remains elusive, and megacities in the developing world are best by poverty and troubled slums. So what makes a glamorous institution like
TED think it has anything to offer? The highly ambitious initiative The City 2.0, announced Wednesday at the annual gathering here, suggests a new pathway for gathering ideas and experimentation for the 21st century city, that seeks to be given a chance. The City 2.0 is a “wish” embodied in the
TED Prize for 2012, which has for the last several years been awarded to individuals. Harvard biologist Edward O. Wilson prompted the creation of the Encylopedia of Life [
http://eol.org/]. Last year’s winner, the French artist JR, sought to bring art in the city to a new level with
portraits of people plastered on walls and buildings in cities throughout across the globe.
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