Prince of the City

As the population declines, urban designers must seek an alternative to the modern-day city in planning the future metropolis, a group of leading urban designers said yesterday.

Charles, Prince of Wales, attended the Gund Hall forum, seated on a dais facing the discussion panel. The crowd, which was searched and checked off from a master list as they entered Piper Auditorium, seemed more interested in the Prince than in the forum, "The Future of the City: The Next 50 Years."

Although the Prince had to leave about an hour before the discussion ended, he did talk about his special interest in areas such as Liverpool where residents have "created small villages among urban decay." Such a design allows for "villages showing the actual style and interest of the people who live there," Charles added.

"The form of the metropolis as it's evolving today in many ways is what some of us have been dreaming of for a long time," said University Professor Martin Meyerson. "We are beginning to see the return of the city center."

Saltonstall Professor of Population Policy William Alonso said, "If we don't have population growth, it is likely that the future of the design of the city will have to deal with preservation. That will require some fairly inventive transformation of design."

Alonso raised a laugh from the audience when he quoted Dan Quisenberry, a Kansas City Royals pitcher, who said, "The future will be just like the present, only it will last longer."

The population policy professor amended the statement, saying, "The future will be like the present in many aspects of the physical city, but the function of the city--the texture of life--will continue to change in fundamental ways."