The draw of big cities, like New York, London, LA, or Tokyo is that they are made of a series of distinct, colorful neighborhoods, each with their own identity, vibe, and demographic. What makes them different are the small, local, mom-and-pop shops—not the chains of identical mass retail stores.

Before endeavoring to answer these questions, it is important to understand that patina of the city is associated with two factors: permanence and transformation. The dynamics given by the passage of time and by human intervention may favor either permanence or produce the transformation of the places. Permanence is understood as being the... See more

The social sector acts on culture-level concerns in the domain of governance. One example is the sudden mid-20th-century dominance of "historic preservation" of buildings, pushed by organizations like the National Trust for Historic Preservation in America and English Heritage and the National Trust in Britain. Through them, culture declared that... See more