Orchestrating the Mundane: Attending to Basic Needs
What is mundane may often be overlooked until it isn’t there. We are well-advised on what it means to ‘shelter in place’ but that is only possible for days, weeks or months only if basic needs are available where we live.
Long noted among the basic needs of human life, water, food and shelter can go unnoticed until they become scarce or absent altogether. Reality shows that feature survival scenarios have reminded some of us that whether you are in the arctic or on a tropical island, if you lack water, food or shelter, a tough situation can become unlivable.
One of the key advantages of living together in communities and cities is that our common lives stabilize many of the things we need to survive, needs like food, water and shelter. Having that baseline in place allows us to add additional, less survival-oriented needs to be pursued and met. We move to cities looking for opportunities that not only meet those needs but additional supports like energy, digital communication, and education.
Many communities and cities, however, can struggle to ensure that the water people drink and use is clean and safe. Without a good supply of water, life (together or on our own) gets much more difficult. In some locations, there are ample supplies but in all cities, significant municipal effort is required to supply safe water as demands, environmental changes, and pollution increase.
The same is true of the food we eat. A steady, diverse, and healthy supply of food seems to happen automatically in well-resourced cities. If we look closer, however, we will find that even the most developed global cities have areas and communities where good quality, healthy food is scarce. These food deserts can exist near stores and markets that are bristling with activity.
Our need for shelter is constant but the energy and effort to supply it can vary considerably depending on where you live and the conditions that surround you. A roof and basic walls may serve in a mild climate but northern communities and cities need electricity and fossil fuels to make survival possible. Communities that are at peace maybe able to function with more minimal structures while insecure areas require gates, walls and semi-fortified enclosures to keep occupants safe.
It is obvious that even these three basic needs are related to each other and in turn depend on a range of other local dynamics for continuity. None of them alone is sufficient. This is one of the reasons that CitiIQ measurement is composed of significant numbers of interacting variables, or Indicators. These three basic needs affect employment, health, education, security and many other dynamics required for a flourishing community.
If a city lacks infrastructure to deliver water, or provide for a consistent food supply or to deliver shelter for residents, significant human suffering will result. If these can be adequately met across the citizens of a community or city, a great many beneficial dynamics will be set in motion.
For more information contact:
Milton Friesen, General Manager