Some days ago I wrote about how school should be cool, built for fun more than for achievements. The same might be said of cities.
Amsterdam is full of play. Lots of playgrounds. Lots of people goofing around on bikes. Boats bobbing up and down in the water where cars should be.
And yet the Dutch are an extraordinarily productive people. Surely there is a link.
The mistake urban planners and school designers make is to think that play promotes more play rather than the efficiency and rigor they want.
But play promotes good citizenship and work. A playful commute intercedes work as a buffer to the arduous part of the day or may even blur the line between play and work such that work itself becomes more fun.
So more play on campus and in cities. More ridiculousness for the same of the good.
Also, if you are feeling down, thinking about your life or your friends, and you go outside and a four-year-old navigating her bike rings her bell at you, as happened to me a few minutes ago, you just have to feel better about things.
Now this made my day… not that every post should. But it was like a ray of warm sunshine after the rainy season.