Summary Of An Ordinary Night Out

In the article “The Uses of Sidewalks’’ by Jane Jacobs and ‘‘An (Extra)ordinary Night Out” by Yeo and Heng, the authors encapsulate on the significance of the modern urban city as a collective space to generate its user friendly environment and usability experience. For the modern urban city to be livable, both articles contend on the similar principles that a city should be equipped with, that is, the urban space should be densely populated, with each group of people having a role to play in the welfare of the city, and each individual’s sense of accountability in their role as a citizen in their neighbourhood. In the urban landscape, a densely populated area is where a civilized and sustainable society is meant to be situated. It is

If there ought to be the coming together of people, then each person must have the capacity to take on their own role and hold themselves accountable for the welfare of the city. In the public safety sense, the “locksmith, fruit man and the laundry proprietor had all come out of their shops and that the scene was also being surveyed from a number of windows beside. Nobody was going to let a little girl to be dragged off, even if no one knew who she was” (Jacob, 1961). Although the urban metropolis is often portrayed as an environment where people are not inclined to care for or look out for their peers because of their own individualistic goals, the example above prove otherwise. Rather, people, from shopkeepers, residents, to street users, all implicity play a role in keeping their streets and sidewalks safe through mutual surveillance. Their very presence and gaze is effective in stopping crime before it happens. The surveillance and witness role that the urbanites play acts as an informal way to prevent crime. In the economic sense, Heo and Yeng proposed that every community member has the right and purpose in contributing to the economic welfare of the modern urban city to achieve social sustainability. Through increasing the city’s accessibility, tolerance, diversity, and an inviting environment for small enterprises, they make possible for lower income individuals to sustain their livelihoods.

Consider Hong Kong, for example. As a global metropolis, Hong Kong has one of the world’s lowest crime rates. Reason being is, Hong Kong meet all the three requirements stated above. Firstly, Hong Kong is an extremely densely populated city with shops at every corner, constant surveillance of the streets by numerous eyes is a never ceasing process. Secondly, everyone contributes to Hong Kong’s economy. Although the inequality between the lower and upper class is extremely huge in Hong Kong, small enterprises are nevertheless made possible to operate. For example, food carts that run on wheels operate every early dusk. Without licenses, they don’t have the premises to operate on the streets of Hong Kong as they also blockade the road for other road users. Although they often get chased away by police, they are seldomly caught, or been formally charged for violating the law. Community residents has also come to appreciate their presence over the years, and are old customers of these trolleys on the streets of Hong Kong. The state and community members have become extremely tolerant and lenient on , a bylaw, illegal activity. So how does a civilized and lawful society such as Hong Kong pride with such low crime rates despite their leniency toward “unlawful enterprises?” This is because of the community’s tolerance towards