New Patterns of Community Life in an Urbanizing World

The following is adapted from a statement of the Bahá’í International Community to the Third United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III), held 17-20 October 2016 in Quito, Ecuador.

Urbanization in its current incarnation is not a process that can continue indefinitely. Large-scale migration to urban centers has, in many cases, led to social fragmentation, the depletion of limited ecological resources, and profound feelings of isolation and despair. The path forward is not to be found in simply aggregating larger and larger numbers into smaller spaces. Rather, it calls for a holistic approach to human settlements that enables individuals and communities to thrive in urban and rural settings alike, providing for the needs of both and drawing on the strengths of both.

Progress in this direction will require conceptions of life in rural and urban settings to be thoroughly re-imagined, drawing on the accumulated knowledge of the past, the scientific advances of the present, and a compelling vision of the future. Insights from the field of psychology, for example, clearly demonstrate that people thrive in communities that are characterized by trust and interconnection. Human happiness — which impacts productivity, physical health, and mental acuity — is at its peak when personal relationships are strong. The close friendships and sense of mutual reliance among neighbors that have traditionally been associated with rural communities is an element of life that should be strengthened, not forgotten.

Building healthy and prospering settlements is a formidable task that will require learning and effort for generations to come. Cities and villages will need to provide economic opportunities and means for young people to support themselves and build livelihoods according to their skills and talents. Communities of all kinds will also need to nurture many additional aspects of human well-being, such as social inclusion and cohesion, intergenerational solidarity, equitable distribution of resources, and meaningful connections to the land and the natural world.

How are such qualities to be fostered within a population? In the experience of the worldwide Bahá’í community, a number of elements seem critical to the creation of flourishing settlements, whether in urban areas or rural ones.

Reviving the concept of community

Prominent among these is an explicit concern with reviving the concept of community. The idea is virtually ubiquitous in its most basic form, of course; we speak of communities of countless types and varieties. The lived reality of many, however, is not that of a cohesive and interlinked whole, but rather an atomistic collection of largely unrelated parts. This will need to be replaced by communities and neighborhoods in which inhabitants are friendly, trusting of one another, unified in purpose, and attentive to moral and emotional well-being.

If community is to further the progress of society in its own right — complementing the roles played by individuals and social institutions — a much more expansive conception of community life must be actively embraced. New patterns of action and interaction will have to be built, and new forms of relationship and association constructed.

As this work continues, new capacities that facilitate progress toward those very goals will come to the fore. Some of these capacities will include the abilities to forge consensus across a diverse population and foster collective commitment to shared priorities, to strengthen vision of a common future and devise practical steps to pursue it, and to shape and assess action according to an emerging collective conscience about what is right and wrong, acceptable and intolerable, beneficial and harmful.

Not cosmetic integration

Integrating populations that have traditionally — or recently — been at the margins of society is another prerequisite for flourishing human settlements. As the global community faces the large-scale displacement of peoples, as well as the proliferation of various extremist ideologies, the danger of relegating entire populations to conditions of poverty needs no elaboration. Integration cannot be cosmetic or offer certain groups a limited range of choices formulated by agencies inaccessible to them. Instead, decision-making processes must reflect and draw on the talents and views of as wide a cross-section of the population as possible. The input of those who might otherwise be excluded must be not only valued, but actively sought out and embraced. Movement in this direction will require qualitatively different approaches to decision-making. Experience suggests that more effective outcomes are achieved when decision-making is approached as a shared effort to explore the underlying reality of relevant circumstances — a collective search for truth and common understanding. Within such a framework, ideas and suggestions do not belong to any single person or entity. Nor does their success or failure rest on the status or influence of the individual or institution that put them forward. Rather, proposals belong to the decision-making group as a whole, which adopts, revises, or discards them in whatever way conduces to the greatest understanding and progress. Effort is made to ensure that all voices are heard and participation is maximized.

In instances where members of a local population are increasingly functioning as a cohesive, united whole, the Bahá’í community has consistently seen that a sense of common purpose has been critical.

Need for a common vision

A united vision of the future helps harmonize diverse efforts into one coherent movement toward shared goals. As a common sense of purpose takes root among more and more individuals, and understanding of how different efforts can reinforce one another becomes sharper, increasing numbers are able to find the unique contribution they can make. A process begins to take shape by which larger and larger segments of a population come to take active ownership over their own material, social, and spiritual development.

The process of integrating immigrants into new communities, to take one timely example, often falters not because any technical capacity is lacking in the community, but because new arrivals are seen to be “other” by those who are more established, and are treated as such. Successful integration, like many other areas, requires the ability to establish shared priorities and summon the collective will of a diverse and evolving community.

Eduction is central

Education is also central to the construction of thriving communities. Young people — regardless of race, nationality, or degree of material means — long to translate high ideals into practical realities and aspire to make a meaningful contribution to the fortunes of humanity. Thought must therefore be given to the attitudes, qualities, and skills that are to be cultivated in the coming generations. Experience suggests that, if it is to empower growing numbers to contribute to the betterment of society, education needs to enable young people to think deeply about the purpose of their lives and the aims toward which their talents should be directed. And it should empower them to take constructive action, fostering qualities such as ethical leadership, principled action, and moral courage.

Creating healthy human settlements is an endeavor that the international community will be learning about for years to come. But it seems clear that this endeavor must build and draw on the capacity of all populations to contribute to the common good.