Jeff Brown – For the Love of Cities: The Love Affair Between People and Their Places
Photography By Rick Cooper
Do you love your city? This question is rarely asked but, after reading Peter Kageyama’s For The Love of Cities: The Love Affair Between People and Their Places, it is a question that should be asked more frequently. Kageyama writes, “Instead of merely livable, I think we need to start thinking about how we make our cities more lovable. When we love something, we cherish it; we protect it; we do extraordinary things for it.” According to Kageyama, human interaction is the key component to the lovability of a city.
This book, published in 2011, moves quickly from discussing the measurability of the love of a city, to increasing civic engagement through social media, to identifying and allowing “Co-Creators” to flourish in a community. Co-Creators are those individuals within a community who make things and get things done. The individuals identified in Kageyama’s inspirational case studies include entrepreneurs, artists, and concerned citizens. He skillfully emphasizes their importance and impact, but noted that their impact is diminished the larger the city becomes. Kageyama highlights perfectly that, although it is the job of government to provide safety and infrastructure for the City’s foundation, the Co-Creators in the community make the community good, great or lovable. However, like many who present case studies, Kageyama does a disservice to those he wishes to inspire by not pointing out the missteps that took place on the way to success that, in hindsight, could have been avoided.
Kageyama’s follow-up to this book is Love Where You Live: Creating Emotionally Engaging Places. He is from Akron, Ohio and is a graduate of Ohio State. He started Cyberscapes Interactive in 1995 in the Tampa Bay Area. He became President of Creative Tampa Bay, a grassroots community change organization. He is also co-founder of Creative Cities Summit, a localized conference that brings citizens and practitioners together around the idea of “the city.” He is an international speaker and community development consultant.
Leadership, leadership development in others, and organizational development are subjects that I focus on in my personal reading choices in order to perform my job better. I know that most people who live in Panama City love it; the challenge is to identify, encourage, and support those Co-Creators.
About Jeff Brown
I am the City Manager of the City of Panama City and I love our city. During my off time, I volunteer for Girls, Inc., enjoy traveling, riding my Harley, watching hockey and soccer (Go Bolts, Orlando FC, Manchester United and Bayern Munich), going to the gym, and supporting my alma maters, the University of Florida and University of South Florida.