Essay about London A Cultural City - 1248 Words

4. London a Cultural City London had become a wonder, but was it a marvel or a monster? The Intellectuals of the Enlightenment saw that the future lay with cities: despite ancient anti-urban prejudice, the city now seemed to promise development, profit, pleasure, peace and the decrease in ignorance; city man was a civilized man. Voltaire reckoned London the cradle of social liberties and mobility by contrast to the rigid hierarchies of the fields. Yet, cities had enemies as well as friends; many still considered them as Babylon or Sodom. And, by a perverse logic, the greater the benefits metropolitan life gave, the more the urban writers attacked it, idealizing nature and complaining about the loss of rural innocence, in a movement†¦show more content†¦London had a vigor which, for all its shortcomings, elevated its streets far above the regular lines of Berlin or Turin. The capital was like an amusement park. â€Å"Here you have the advantage of solitude without its Disadvantages† reflected Henry Fielding. From Restoration times Fleet Streets displayed theatres, and it was also associated with literary London. Street-life was full of places of refreshment. The more stylish site for socializing was the coffee-house5. Coffeehouses and taverns served as places of business, discussion and pleasure, catering to customers from all ranks and walks of life. Coffeehouses were influential in providing sites for the new enlightened public culture. A first attraction, in fact, lay in the newspaper kept in there; as Cesar de Saussure noted â€Å"workmen habitually begin the day by going to coffee-rooms in order to read the latest news†. Newspapers were the daily mirror of London life, and, since early provincial papers reprinted London copy, the capital’s monopoly of the news media strengthened metropolitan supremacy over the other regions. The eighteenth century produced new print technologies, wealth, and places encouraging cultural performers who defined themselves the guardians of public taste and opinions. Writers, painters, and performers had to work within the larger metropolitan environment of impresarios, critics, and the public. Inevitably, the result was an increasing self-consciousness on theShow MoreRelatedCultural Diversity in London1162 Words   |  5 Pagesmost populated city – London. In order to understand things better, we should take a few steps backwards and attempt to define these two important terms – (1) culture and (2) cultural diversity. According to â€Å"Longman’s Dictionary of Contemporary English†, culture is primarily defined as â€Å"the beliefs, way of life, art, and customs that are shared and accepted by people in a particular society†. If we take into consideration that the â€Å"particular society† here is the city of London, because it isRead More ¬Ã‚ ¬Explain the Nature, Character and Spatial Distribution of World Cities936 Words   |  4 Pagesof world cities Closely associated with the process of globalisation is the notion of ‘World cities’. World cities are those such as London, New York and Tokyo where urban function has moved beyond the national scale to become a part of the international and global system. They are centres of culture, economics, employment, tourism, transport and communications and have been referred to as the command centres of the World’s borderless economy. Nature and Character of World Cities The natureRead MoreUrban Development And Reconstruction Of Cities1708 Words   |  7 PagesContemporary cities face a dilemma in the modern world today; either they evolve in order to adapt to the challenges which globalization bring about, or simply refuse to change and stagnate. 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