Human values between the Renaissance and today have changed drastically. After discussing this topic during class today, I have more ideas of why this change occurred. Florence was originally built with intellectual and cultural values, a Christian worldview, and an emphasis on urban development and community. These values led to public gathering spaces like piazzas, narrow streets designed for pedestrians and promoting one way traffic, mixed use buildings, and cities more contained overall by walls. Today’s values are more aligned with individualism, consumer culture, secularism, and transportation systems. Florence seems to currently be more centered around visitors rather than residents, with the conversion of historic buildings into hotels and Airbnbs. The streets are lined with shops to attract tourists and there are many more cars on the narrow streets. The shift from Renaissance to modern ideals is shaping urbanization in Florence by transforming the historic, social-centered community into a tourism driven environment.
Swanson School of Engineering 