This was written during my month-long trip to Germany, during which I visited the historical city of Aachen. It concerns the discourse surrounding the construction of Neualtstädte, or New Old Towns, which are modern reconstructions of the historical city centers of many cities in Germany after their destruction in World War 2. Famous examples can be seen in Frankfurt, Aachen, and Cologne.

I certainly struggle with the debate of the Altstadt and I haven't really made up my mind about it. On one hand it's a luxury to be able to wander through cobblestone streets, tight alleyways, lively squares, and stare up at massive church spires. On the other it's inherently a bit dishonest and fabricated, and one can argue it's imply just a tourist magnet rather than a genuine expression of culture.

I would be willing to bet though that almost any person you ask will say they prefer those old street designs over the modern asphalt grid. There's something about it that just feels more human; a place to gather and live together rather than an urban wasteland built to serve our industrial overlords. Old city designs were inherently human-centric and human-sized.

The Altstadt debate actually has much less to do with arguments of authenticity, but rather what citizens look for in a city. These design layouts and architectural concepts feel old and novel to us because we don't practice them anymore. We always hold this notion that architectural styles are of their own era and once that ends we've left it in the past.

Engineers and artists will of course always seek out the next new concept that hasn't been done before, but I think many people fail to consider that "progress" is not linear and old solutions to timeless problems are still solutions.

The point here is that, yes, reproduction Altstädte are not "authentic" or "original" and cities should be transparent about what is actually old and what is new, but there's nothing wrong with us reconstructing these spaces in an older style simply because we enjoy them. The line between old and new in our understanding of city planning need not be so black and white.