Rana Dasgupta asks and eloquently answers the question why is the industrialized West suddently so fascinated with third world megacities? I must admit that there is something immensely fascinating and very futurismic about the exuberantly chaotic and creative centers in places like Mumbai or Rio de Janeiro.
2 thoughts on “Megacities In Our Consciousness”
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Good article. I can vouch for the fascination of megacities – I spent a week in Mexico City in the company of some local kids, who showed me parts of it that tourists rarely see, not through there being much danger there (though there is some), but because there are no museums or restaurants etc. And it’s an awesome city; London pales by comparison, the contrast and the chaos are indescribable without seeing it. It has the terrible visual appeal of a road-crash – you hate yourself for it, but you just have to stare and take it all in.
BTW, some great pictures of Mexico City from the air can be seen here.
it’s true, all the glitz and branded glamour of western cities seems bland after the sheer unplanned originality of these megacities you’ve probably never heard of. I for one intend to spend the rest of my life tripping through as many of these fascinating places as I possibly can.