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How to Live in the City
Building a relationship with a city is a lot like building a relationship with another person - just as cities can be intoxicating, generous and inspiring, so they can also be dangerous, fickle and impenetrable. How to Live in the City is a book for navigating and nurturing this important relationship.
Hugo Macdonald believes you need to feel a city to understand it. He won't tell you how wide the perfect pavement should be but he will show you how to walk down a pavement with eyes wide open. This is a book to help you feel human in an inhuman environment.
Hugo Macdonald believes you need to feel a city to understand it. He won't tell you how wide the perfect pavement should be but he will show you how to walk down a pavement with eyes wide open. This is a book to help you feel human in an inhuman environment.
177 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 14, 2016
24 people are currently reading
197 people want to read
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April 29, 2025
Dit is echt by far mijn favoriete reread ooit
December 12, 2019
از نظر من، حتی بیش از ۵ ستاره سزاوار این کتابه
البته شاید از اون کتاب هایی نیست که همه دوست داشته باشن، ولی برای منی که حس و حال و بعد انسانی شهر براش مهمه، این بهترین انتخاب بود.
بخش هایی از کتاب:
«ارتباط ما با شهر خیلی شبیه ارتباط ما با آدم هاست»
«بناها، و در واقع شهرها در کل، گنجینه انرژی و حافظه اند»
«ادوارد گلاسر: باید خودمان را از بند این گرایش رها سازیم که ما را بر آن می دارند شهرها را مجموعه ای از ساختمان ها ببینیم و به یاد داشته باشیم که شهر واقعی از گوشت ساخته شده، نه بتن»
«وقتی شهرها از حیث اجتماعی چندپاره می شوند، مشکلات سر بر می آورند. به محض اینکه یک اجتماع زیادی حالت مفرد می یابد، تبدیل به زاغه می شود و زاغه ها برای سلامتی شهرها و ساکنانش ضرر دارند»
«علایم تاثیر زیادی در خوانش شهرها دارند....
لندن خیلی شما را دعوا میکند. رادیو در پارک ممنوع، دوربین نیاورید و ...
من همیشه عاشق آدمک های چراغ عابر برلین بوده ام: این آدمک تپل کلاهدار، یکی از معدود چیزهای خوب از آن روزهایی است که دیوار برلین بین آلمان شرقی و غربی فرو ریخت، با اعتماد به نفس تمام در حالت سبز قدم می زند و وقتی قرمز است توجه را به خودش معطوف میکند.»
«محله برساختی اجتماعی است که امکانی فراهم می سازد تا مردم با حسی از تعهد و امنیتی فراتر از هستی شان در مقام یک فرد، در نزدیکی هم ، زندگی، کار و بازی کنند»
«لازم نیست حتما در دفتر شهردار کار کنید تا تغییری به وجود آورید. می توانید کاری کنید که صدای تان در شهر کمتر، ولی نه کم اهمیت تر ، به گوش برسد»
البته شاید از اون کتاب هایی نیست که همه دوست داشته باشن، ولی برای منی که حس و حال و بعد انسانی شهر براش مهمه، این بهترین انتخاب بود.
بخش هایی از کتاب:
«ارتباط ما با شهر خیلی شبیه ارتباط ما با آدم هاست»
«بناها، و در واقع شهرها در کل، گنجینه انرژی و حافظه اند»
«ادوارد گلاسر: باید خودمان را از بند این گرایش رها سازیم که ما را بر آن می دارند شهرها را مجموعه ای از ساختمان ها ببینیم و به یاد داشته باشیم که شهر واقعی از گوشت ساخته شده، نه بتن»
«وقتی شهرها از حیث اجتماعی چندپاره می شوند، مشکلات سر بر می آورند. به محض اینکه یک اجتماع زیادی حالت مفرد می یابد، تبدیل به زاغه می شود و زاغه ها برای سلامتی شهرها و ساکنانش ضرر دارند»
«علایم تاثیر زیادی در خوانش شهرها دارند....
لندن خیلی شما را دعوا میکند. رادیو در پارک ممنوع، دوربین نیاورید و ...
من همیشه عاشق آدمک های چراغ عابر برلین بوده ام: این آدمک تپل کلاهدار، یکی از معدود چیزهای خوب از آن روزهایی است که دیوار برلین بین آلمان شرقی و غربی فرو ریخت، با اعتماد به نفس تمام در حالت سبز قدم می زند و وقتی قرمز است توجه را به خودش معطوف میکند.»
«محله برساختی اجتماعی است که امکانی فراهم می سازد تا مردم با حسی از تعهد و امنیتی فراتر از هستی شان در مقام یک فرد، در نزدیکی هم ، زندگی، کار و بازی کنند»
«لازم نیست حتما در دفتر شهردار کار کنید تا تغییری به وجود آورید. می توانید کاری کنید که صدای تان در شهر کمتر، ولی نه کم اهمیت تر ، به گوش برسد»
September 24, 2019
Really enjoyed and resonated with this short accessible book that affirmed my love for cities, as well as elucidated why. These particular points were new insights:
(1) re: FOMO: to acknowledge there will always be more things that we can possibly do; to be confident in the decisions we make (‘decision’ originating from Latin de and caedre, meaning to cut off, i.e. literally slaying your options) (36);
(2) importance of having small acquaintances (e.g. person who serves you coffee) who are familiar and friendly without stepping into category of friendship (i.e. civic civility) to root us (54);
(3) destigmatising boredom—you’re not deficient in engaging the stimuli; too many stimuli means overstimulation—and embracing it, i.e. disengage, put your conscious on standby, allow yourself to recaliberate, power-saving mode (88).
Also loved his five-minute observation of the visceral sights, sounds, smells on an unremarkable local street (113)—something I often do too. The city is teeming with life, and I love it.
(1) re: FOMO: to acknowledge there will always be more things that we can possibly do; to be confident in the decisions we make (‘decision’ originating from Latin de and caedre, meaning to cut off, i.e. literally slaying your options) (36);
(2) importance of having small acquaintances (e.g. person who serves you coffee) who are familiar and friendly without stepping into category of friendship (i.e. civic civility) to root us (54);
(3) destigmatising boredom—you’re not deficient in engaging the stimuli; too many stimuli means overstimulation—and embracing it, i.e. disengage, put your conscious on standby, allow yourself to recaliberate, power-saving mode (88).
Also loved his five-minute observation of the visceral sights, sounds, smells on an unremarkable local street (113)—something I often do too. The city is teeming with life, and I love it.
March 22, 2016
There's a chapter in How to Live in the City called How to be Hard and Soft. I'd hoped before starting the book that this chapter might cover aspects of urban living that are seldom acknowledged, like whether it's a good idea to make eye contact with strangers, whether you should give money directly to people who beg you for it, whether you should respond to substanced-up geezers who start talking at you on the night bus, how you should deal with neighbours practicing their MCing at 4 in the morning, how not to be psychologically scarred when removing human shit from your doorstep, whether you should try to rouse the guy lying maybe lifelessly on the pavement at the end of your street, etc etc.
But How to Live in the City is a self-help book from the Alain de Botton-founded School of Life, and as such it's more concerned with things like - that old standby - how to retain your zen when your commute involves trying to avert your nose from the armpits of fellow tube-users, and how to find time for yourself when there's just so much to do.
To be fair, I should have guessed as much from the cover. And more importantly, HtLitC is framed in the context of not only the opportunities but also the costs of urban living, opening and closing with a quote that warns "big cities have difficulties in abundance".
But even if I shouldn't expect grit from The School of Life, it would have been nice to have more personality from Macdonald - or rather, from his writing, since he seems like an interesting bloke. His affable, at-times blog-like, writing makes HtLitC an easy read, but far from a distinctive one.
And though the advice seems largely sound, albeit geared towards the affluent, there's little in HtLitC that you won't already have read elsewhere or thought of yourself if you're at all reflexive.
That said, it rarely hurts to be reminded of good advice, and Macdonald is an agreeable enough benevolent spirit - and a well-read one, if a little too ready to recommend the works of former mentors and employers. It's hard to be too critical of a book that exhorts you to be a radiator of warmth rather than a drain of life, and impossible to dislike an author who uses an addendum to recommend both Madonna's Ray of Light album and Charlie Brooker's Black Mirror TV series - I hope at least a few of the book's target audience give that latter a try...
Besides, Macdonald seems better at life than me, so what do I know?
But How to Live in the City is a self-help book from the Alain de Botton-founded School of Life, and as such it's more concerned with things like - that old standby - how to retain your zen when your commute involves trying to avert your nose from the armpits of fellow tube-users, and how to find time for yourself when there's just so much to do.
To be fair, I should have guessed as much from the cover. And more importantly, HtLitC is framed in the context of not only the opportunities but also the costs of urban living, opening and closing with a quote that warns "big cities have difficulties in abundance".
But even if I shouldn't expect grit from The School of Life, it would have been nice to have more personality from Macdonald - or rather, from his writing, since he seems like an interesting bloke. His affable, at-times blog-like, writing makes HtLitC an easy read, but far from a distinctive one.
And though the advice seems largely sound, albeit geared towards the affluent, there's little in HtLitC that you won't already have read elsewhere or thought of yourself if you're at all reflexive.
That said, it rarely hurts to be reminded of good advice, and Macdonald is an agreeable enough benevolent spirit - and a well-read one, if a little too ready to recommend the works of former mentors and employers. It's hard to be too critical of a book that exhorts you to be a radiator of warmth rather than a drain of life, and impossible to dislike an author who uses an addendum to recommend both Madonna's Ray of Light album and Charlie Brooker's Black Mirror TV series - I hope at least a few of the book's target audience give that latter a try...
Besides, Macdonald seems better at life than me, so what do I know?
March 13, 2022
"Viver numa cidade é uma arte, não uma ciência. Escolher viver numa cidade é escolher entrar numa relação com ela."
Hugo Macdonald humaniza assim a Cidade e a relação de cada indivíduo com ela. A cidade será cada vez mais parte de nós quanto mais nos relacionarmos com esta e fizermos dela parte integrante (e não apenas passageira) da nossa vida.
Não é um livro sobre urbanismo, é mesmo sobre como viver a cidade.
Hugo Macdonald humaniza assim a Cidade e a relação de cada indivíduo com ela. A cidade será cada vez mais parte de nós quanto mais nos relacionarmos com esta e fizermos dela parte integrante (e não apenas passageira) da nossa vida.
Não é um livro sobre urbanismo, é mesmo sobre como viver a cidade.
July 3, 2017
I loved the idea of this book and the way it was organized, giving advice on a broad spectrum of areas, always related to city life.
January 14, 2021
more like “How I live privileged life in London”
July 12, 2023
i am an urbanist at heart, i love environments, this was a very cute topic for me
a have actually used this quote many times in my own life, since reading the book :)
“The Danish urban pioneer Jan Gehl made a wonderful illustration that shows the increasing detachment of humans from real life, the higher the storey of their building.”
other favourite quotes:
“It takes two to tango, but it always takes one person to ask another to dance. Don’t sit and wait.”
“Your environment is larger than the sum of you and your own existence, your worries, your hopes and your fears.”
“working out whether you feel comfortable as a member of this community - and comfortably anonymous within it, too. Do you feel normal here? (...) ‘Fitting in’ sounds so dull and passive, but when it comes to your neighbourhood, sticking out is worse.”
“I’m sure we are all familiar with that gratifying feeling of having our coffee or drink order given to us before we’ve asked. It means recognition, which in turn makes us feel that we belong.” - YES, this is such a great feeling!
“The neighbourhood is a social construct that enables people to live, work and play together in close quarters with a feeling of engagement and security beyond their existence as individuals. (...) a sense of scale and community that is manageable, more village-like than urban. The most attractive neighbourhoods [are] the ones where there’s a palpable sense of an open, rather than closed community. Being a good neighbour is not about watching from behind your curtains and reporting any suspected misdemeanour to the police - it’s about inhabiting your neighbourhood beyond the curtains, bringing life to your street with open arms, not closed minds.”
a have actually used this quote many times in my own life, since reading the book :)
“The Danish urban pioneer Jan Gehl made a wonderful illustration that shows the increasing detachment of humans from real life, the higher the storey of their building.”
other favourite quotes:
“It takes two to tango, but it always takes one person to ask another to dance. Don’t sit and wait.”
“Your environment is larger than the sum of you and your own existence, your worries, your hopes and your fears.”
“working out whether you feel comfortable as a member of this community - and comfortably anonymous within it, too. Do you feel normal here? (...) ‘Fitting in’ sounds so dull and passive, but when it comes to your neighbourhood, sticking out is worse.”
“I’m sure we are all familiar with that gratifying feeling of having our coffee or drink order given to us before we’ve asked. It means recognition, which in turn makes us feel that we belong.” - YES, this is such a great feeling!
“The neighbourhood is a social construct that enables people to live, work and play together in close quarters with a feeling of engagement and security beyond their existence as individuals. (...) a sense of scale and community that is manageable, more village-like than urban. The most attractive neighbourhoods [are] the ones where there’s a palpable sense of an open, rather than closed community. Being a good neighbour is not about watching from behind your curtains and reporting any suspected misdemeanour to the police - it’s about inhabiting your neighbourhood beyond the curtains, bringing life to your street with open arms, not closed minds.”
November 11, 2018
Maybe some people are already great at everything and don't need books to tell them what seems like "common sense". For those of us willing to admit our vulnerability and struggle with the hustle and bustle of a metropolis, this book is a great reminder that it's okay to have an empty weekend to recharge your batteries, while also suggesting ways to get the most of a city - have you considered feeling a building? Full of good ideas and not too long a read - I'm keen to discover other titles from the School of Life series.
March 11, 2023
This book is full of reminders about how to stop and smell the roses as a city dweller. The author focuses basically on the US and Europe without saying so and erases class from the experience of city-dwelling. However, it was equally interesting to think through what he chose to include and the things I felt were left out
January 14, 2018
In short, this guidebook is about how we could savour city-living, instead of "passively enduring" the struggle of hustle and bustle. It provided a attitudinal guide, but not on behaviour level step-by-step approach (this could be regarded positive by some and negative by some)
May 4, 2021
Honestly, it acted as more of a comedy reading due to the pandemic, and you can clearly see it was written from a place of privilege. But there were some cute tips in it, and it's interesting to look at how much has changed with the way we look at cities now.
August 1, 2017
I think it will be a good reference point, but it wasn't particularly well written and was very self-helpy.
Decent enough, though.
3.69
Decent enough, though.
3.69
January 19, 2020
کتاب به شدت دوست‌داشتنی‌ای بود.
مبنای علمی‌ای قطعا نداشت، اما انگار توی یک کافه با یک "شهر دوست" نشستی و داره تجربه‌ی شهرنوردی‌ها و زندگی شهری‌ش رو برات تعریف میکنه.
مبنای علمی‌ای قطعا نداشت، اما انگار توی یک کافه با یک "شهر دوست" نشستی و داره تجربه‌ی شهرنوردی‌ها و زندگی شهری‌ش رو برات تعریف میکنه.
March 5, 2023
The only thing this book helped me with was realizing I don't want to live in the city anymore. It's time to move to the countryside.
November 8, 2024
I actually really liked this! Simple but helpful
February 5, 2017
One of the books in the School of Lifes "Toolkit for Life" Volume 3.
A well written book about the different joys and discomforts when living in a city, or as I found it just living a modern life. It touched subjects as being bored, fear of missing out, the people that we see everyday but do not have a bond with, etc.
My two favorite chapters was the second called "How to conduct relationships" and the third called "How to be hard and soft". The second chapter went through what made a good city and neighborhood (its people and the story they create together in the neighborhood) but also had parts about the different relationships one forms in a city and how a city, with all its people, can feel very lonely.
What I liked about the third chapter was the parts about dealing with stress, boredom and laziness that is not solely occurring in cities but throughout modern life.
All and all it held the great quality as the previous School of Life books I have read.
A well written book about the different joys and discomforts when living in a city, or as I found it just living a modern life. It touched subjects as being bored, fear of missing out, the people that we see everyday but do not have a bond with, etc.
My two favorite chapters was the second called "How to conduct relationships" and the third called "How to be hard and soft". The second chapter went through what made a good city and neighborhood (its people and the story they create together in the neighborhood) but also had parts about the different relationships one forms in a city and how a city, with all its people, can feel very lonely.
What I liked about the third chapter was the parts about dealing with stress, boredom and laziness that is not solely occurring in cities but throughout modern life.
All and all it held the great quality as the previous School of Life books I have read.
July 8, 2016
Living in the city: the inescapable torture & pleasure. Modern people's habitat is now the city, no matter what we do, we're modern animals and the city is our jungle. It's an art to learn to be able to embrace your city, to be a wanderer in it. This book is about the art of living in the city.
January 8, 2017
I like the content of this book at the first time I flip the first two pages. It is very recommended for those of you which is sometimes get overwhelmed with the urban living in the city.
January 22, 2017
A bunch of advice based on common sense. Not exactly life changing.
September 2, 2019
A good primer on have a relationship with the city you inhabit. It is an important relationship and a worthwhile thing to contemplate on if you're a big city dweller.
September 26, 2019
Amazing - Hugo captured the importance of harmony within a complex environment and how you can find “your” space
May 7, 2024
I haven’t lived in a city for over 30 years, so reading this little book about living well in the city is part nostalgia and part escapism. Part of my School of Life collection.
April 19, 2017
“The most important relationship you must nurture in the city is the one you have with yourself. It is fundamental to your mental, physical, social and emotional well being.”
MacDonald sums up at one point. He takes on a very considered and creative approach to the idea of the city, coming from the Isle of Skye and now living in the city of London, he is well qualified in looking at a city through fresh and open eyes and often cites his own experience of living in London, where he has had many different addresses.
Drawing quotes and inspiration from the likes of Le Courbusier and Jane Jacobs he applies reasoned analysis and measured introspection. His results might not always be entirely original, but he also manages to steer well away from cliché. He covers many different topics like networking, modern technology and even hygge and FOMO. His restrained prose yet passionate enthusiasm, put me in mind of Rowan Moore and Charles Montgomery who have also written really well on the subject over the last few years. As ever the homework section at the end has an excellent selection of relevant media to follow up on.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews