The connotation of the city center as a place of refuse and one that is particularly degraded compared to its surrounding say suburban or metropolitan districts is no good.
As one gets nearer to the crowning promenade of a city one should feel a growing sense of grandeur surrounding oneself. One should notice streets particularly kept; not just cleaner but better paved with more luscious plant-life lining the road, brighter flowers in more beautiful pots that hang from more superfluously adorned street lamps, power washed sidewalks that lack breaks and obstacles, metal used always for fencing; no plastic.
As one begins to look up and find oneself engulfed in monstrous buildings stretching high up into the heavens, one should feel a weightlessness on the ground. One should feel there is at ground level something of a kinder gravitational field, which gives more easily to the skyward pull of these brick & mortar Giants.
The flow of a river is an easy companion to a flight into the stars. A garden of green is an easy companion to a river of blue. A church built in many a years past is an easy companion to a string of vines. A string of diamonds hanging in a show window is an easy companion to a cathedral spire. The twirling of neon lettering is an easy companion to an intricately machined engagement ring. The shimmer of an Aston Martin badge through a showroom window is an easy companion to the blinding brightness of the Marquee. The lights of the arena are an easy companion to the shine of the Spirit of Ecstasy. The aroma of delicious food is an easy companion to the microcosm of the sports stadium. The sound of a street performer is an easy companion to any kindness of the senses. The crude look on the face of a bureaucrat leaving a building is an easy companion of the street performer and their crowd. The elegant dress of a lady is an easy companion to the worn out businessman.
The centre of a civilization ought be its most stupendous place to be. As such the visitors from the providences are provided a hearty sense of nationalism and purpose. They feel their work in the fields in the factories is not so in vain but for the sake of the empire. prosperity throughout the land is vital but without the hallmark of idealism and comradery that is the Capital City there is no real relationship between the outer and the inner districts.
City centers should be the best place not for the sake of being the only good place but because we must put our focus somewhere and that somewhere ought to be in the thick of the population which a good capital city is already. Civilization ought spread outward from the great city as an emanation, like a great light shining bright over humanity and the human endeavor.
J.W. 