Came across this book on a 2007 conference on urban design and the discussion was on ‘What Makes A Healthy Downtown?’ The most striking part in the discussion was a comment made by Peter Rees, a City Planner Office in London. And quote:
London was built from testosterone, and I include the ladies in that because there are a lot of ballsy ladies working in the city as well. You laugh at these things, but they are the determinants of what brings people to downtown. People come to downtown to pair and to mate. That’s the power of downtown. The worst thing you can have in downtown is families. Families kill cities. Families are boring. What you must not do is create a downtown that is mixed-use residential. What you should do is make mixed-use business and nightlife, because that’s what makes the city hum.
Now some people may disagree with his theory but I have to agree with his comment that downtown should be a mixed-use business and nightlife. However what I don’t agree with is ‘families kill cities’. That doesn’t solve the problem of sprawling if everyone moves out of the city to start a family.