The New York City Subway System

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If nimbi is ruling, how do we redo the subways? The second avenue line. That was started or planned in the early 70s and it just now opened. What's going to happen with the New York City subway? I think that's one of the most terrible things. Why is the Moscow subway so wonderful? Because Stalin built it. Like everything else Stalin built, right? No, you had a taste for architecture, you have to advise it.

Markets, Alain Bertaud likes to say, are like gravity: they exist everywhere. But while urban planners are quite good at taking gravity into account, they tend to ignore market forces entirely in their designs, resulting in city development that too often fails to address the needs of their residents.

Following the release of his recent book, Order Without Design: How Markets Shape Cities, Alain joined Tyler in New York City for a discussion of the politics affecting urban centers, his advice to Robert Moses, whether the YIMBY movement can win, why he loves messy cities, what he got wrong about Shenzhen, why the Moscow subway is so wonderful, whether cities can move, favorite movies about cities, the region of the world most likely to start a charter city, how to reform the World Bank, his top three NYC planning reforms, why Central Park is the perfect size, and more.

Read a full transcript enhanced with helpful links.

Recorded September 9th, 2019 Other ways to connect

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