Walked out of the elevator past the classic gaming display, past the bjork gallery (Which I was really tempted to go in,) into what seemed like a plain gallery. I thought I was in the wrong place. I guess the Nat History Museum has spoiled me.

I walked in and the first thing I was introduced to was introduced to the most populous cities in the world. Living in NYC you are probably aware exactly how many people live in this. Everyone can attest to that just by using the public transit and being shoved head first into someone’s armpit. But was semi-surprising is that NYC is no where near the most densely populated city. What I mean by the NYC is a pretty big city. It can take you almost an hour to get into Brooklyn from the Bronx via car. Its a weird reminder our city is not the center. This is interesting because in DADOES Earth seems uninhabited after the colonization, but its hard to think “everyone” emigrated out.

The one section I was able to directly relate too was the housing issue in NYC. Housing in NYC is at a really bad standstill. We are in the need of public housing for people that need it, but real estate firms don’t want to build them. So we have so many people living in shelters simply because there is not enough shelters. The solution is to simply find permanent home for them, but there is more money creating high market value condominiums. Another issue we have is landlords want to evict existing tenants for no reason at all. The reasoning for this is due to tenant laws, its possible to have your rent stabilized. So its possible some tenants are paying close to 3 times below the market value. So its in the landlords best interest to get them out.

The reason I relate to this the most is because currently our landlord refuses to take our rent payments due to not taking partial payments. The reason they are able to use that excuse is because when we have been sending in the stacked months, they send it back. They wait for us to send next months rent and send back the previous stacks with the claim of partial payment. So we wait for the one we sent on its own to be sent back then rinse and repeat. Landlords try to to get their tenants to give up. Sorry I went on a little rant there.

Anyways, I guess the main attraction of this exhibit is the development of mega cities. The idea of not moving away but developing around the existing terrains. My favorite was probably Lagos. I love the idea of traveling by water just to get to your destination. Could be I’m just tired of the road. But its interesting instead of fleeing and developing elsewhere like they did in DADOES, they are staying put and figuring out how to work with what they have. Then there is Kito where their priority is to create communities where people are living together in harmony. One example is having common living area shared by several people. Much like having a roommate in college. Interesting how these developments differ drastically from what science fictions has depicted. Instead of having vast emptiness and despair, you have something where it is vivid and bright.