index
Complexity as a value
Complexity does enrich places, but why is this enrichment is something to be preferred? The kinds of intensity available in a complex place are richer and more enduring, and bear repetition better than those in simpler places. Living in complex places offers more opportunities for fuller and more self-conscious life and activities.
Because they are more difficult to take for granted, complex places offer more chances to become aware of our own activities reinterpreting and sustaining social and place norms. Modernity values that self-awareness as a road to greater freedom. It also offers more opportunities to see and work against injustices.