Urbanized

Urbanized is the final film in Gary Hustwit's trilogy on the impact of visual design in modern life, following Helvetica and Objectified (VL-1/10), which both drew large lessons from smaller artifacts—a specific typeface in the first case and consumer goods in the other. The new documentary paints on a broader canvas, considering how the layout and infrastructure of cities affect the way people live, illustrating the ways in which urban planners, working in conjunction with political leaders, strive to improve the quality of life in metropolitan areas. Hustwit begins with Mumbai—soon to surpass Tokyo as the world's most populous urban area—before moving on to such varied sites as Brasilia, Bogota, Santiago, Brighton, New Orleans, Detroit, and Beijing. These locales are chosen to exemplify problems (overcrowding, sprawl, difficulty of transport, overuse of water and energy) as well as proposed or adopted solutions (some successful, others questionable), ranging from urban gardens covering a few blocks to cities designed completely from scratch. What emerges from this overview—which blends expert testimony and anecdotal evidence with elegant location photography—is an understanding of the need to balance practicality with aesthetics and innovation with tradition, while continuing to meet the human necessities of an ever-growing and increasingly urban population during an economically-challenged era. DVD extras include deleted scenes and additional interview segments. Recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (F. Swietek)