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For The Love of Cities

By Peter Kageyama "about 'lovable cities' and the emotional connections that we have with some places versus others and the benefits that accrue to communities that are able to tap into that emotional wellspring." I learned about Peter through my connections in the midwest, Peter focuses on the emotional connection between cities and it's civilians. By looking at what makes a city "loveable" we can explore the aspects that can bring other cities up.

"This is my first book and it is about “lovable cities” and the emotional connections that we have with some places versus others and the benefits that accrue to communities that are able to tap into that emotional wellspring.

A 2009 Gallup study that looked at the levels of emotional engagement people have with their communities, found that just 24% of people were “engaged” with their community. Gallup also found a significant relationship between how passionate and loyal people are to their communities and local economic growth. The most “attached” communities had the highest local GDP growth. Despite this, it feels as though our places and our leadership have forgotten how to connect with us emotionally and our cities have suffered because of it.

This mutual love affair between people and their place is one of the most powerful influences in our lives, yet we rarely think of it in terms of a relationship. If cities begin thinking of themselves as engaged in a relationship with their citizens, and if we as citizens begin to consider our emotional connections with our places, we open up new possibilities in community, social and economic development by including the most powerful of motivators—the human heart—in our toolkit of city-making."

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