Introduction - Theme Cities: Solutions for Urban Problems - page 15

these ideas should not be viewed as necessarily implying some size-threshold of
place. In addition the themes being developed rarely apply to one place, whatever
their origin or application. When these themes have been used, or seen to work
successfully in a particular location or set of towns, they have often been adopted
by other cities. The creators of various themes have usually created a network of
like-minded individuals, or city officials, establishing an association based on the
decision to resolve particular problems and develop the policies that are part of
each theme. The theme is promoted and enhanced, not simply by regular meetings
between adopters of a particular theme, but usually by a formal organization and a
website, which has quickly spread the ideas from some initiating group, or city, to
many urban places, frequently to centres around the globe. The towns or cities in
the network share information about how to develop new policies to solve the prob-
lems associated with individual themes and how to effectively implement them.
Sometimes the theme may come to dominate policies in the adopting city; more
frequently it is an addition to, or expansion of, some existing activities. However
the rapid creation of these networks via the communication medium of the Internet
provides one of the other distinctive features of this new phase of new urban con-
cepts and policies. Each theme promises to provide a new focus to solve particular
urban problems and to provide better environments, both physical and social, and
an improved quality of life for the residents of our towns and cities.
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