Urbanized is an excellent documentary. It covers a wealth of material and doesn't feel the need to weave it together into an artificial journey. When it presents controversy it challenges you by not telling you how to think. It is a conversation starter rather than a trump-card supplier like Michael Moore's fare.

I particularly enjoyed the mayor of Bogotá talking about their bus and cycle systems, and how the aim was to elevate the status of people using these services. So many great ideas it makes you think.

Gary Hustwit's final film in his design trilogy is a fascinating view on urbanization. Normally what makes Hustwit's films so enjoyable is the wealth of passionate and optimistic people who he puts in front of the camera and fortunatly Urbanized is no different. The film is packed with interesting ideas as well as enthusiastic people and wonderful projects. At times it can feel a little unfocused as it tries to tackle the huge variety of aspects that affect (and are affected by) urbanization, but you really wouldn't want it any other way!

A fitting conclusion to a wonderful trilogy.

A return to form for Gary Hustwit following Objectified — which I found somewhat muddled and unbalanced — this documentary on modern-day urban planning covers a wide variety of topics and locations, from small, post-industrial successes like New York’s reinvigorated High Line park, to social housing projects in Santiago, and further afield to the slums of Mumbai, forecast to accommodate more people than New York and London combined by 2050. Mostly hopeful, the film is at its best when it delves into the tiny details, such as Brighton’s Tidy Street initiative.

bella y deprimente.

además: útil, por coincidencia, para el debate sobre parquímetros: la posibilidad de estacionarse vs el derecho –imaginario– a estacionarse.

ojo también: min 55:07, 'spinette' de arp & anthony moore.

Informative piece on an interesting and important topic, but feels like a college thesis with a large budget.

Out of all of Hustwit's "Design Trilogy," Urbanized is the one whose subject matter I found most interesting. Unfortunately, the film itself is sloppy, disorganized, and disjoint - much in the way a poorly planned city would be.

How can I not fall in love with any film by Gary Hustwit - Truly informative and enlightening.

As insightful as Helvetica and Objectified. A moving piece simultaneously expressing art and design concepts as well as social challenges and policy development.

The main idea of Urbanized is that a "city" is the physical manifestation of the social fabric. This is a very powerful idea, and the documentary goes about explaining it through a series of case studies on different cities. The situations, concepts, and sub-ideas in each case study is very poignant; so much that the transitions between different studies are a bit jarring. You don't have time to process one thing before you're transitioned to another, thus negatively affecting the flow and narrative of the film.

Overall my least favorite of Hustwit's "trilogy", if only because so much of the best stuff is frontloaded. The second half kind of meanders with less interesting ideas.

At any rate Toronto would be wise to clone Bogota's (or Copehagen's, or anyone's really) Mayor and run him against Rob Ford.

Una de las grandes problematicas actuales radica en la planeacion urbana. Las ciudades crecen y las necesidades cambian pero el gobierno enfoca sus recursos en centralizar los sectores comerciales e industriales y por ello se genera una explotacion incontrolable de recursos. "Urbanized" es un documental que nos permite adquirir una perspectiva objetiva del problema con ejemplos alrededor del mundo y mediante entrevistas a arquitectos (tan importantes como Norman Foster, Rem Koolhaas o el recién fallecido Oscar Niemeyer) ademas de planeadores y pobladores.
"Urbanized" es una propuesta informativa y sumamente interesante.

Gegenüber den anderen beiden Dokumentationen von Gary Hustwit, liegt der Schwerpunkt von "Urbanized" (leider) nicht auf ästhetischen Fragen, sondern auf politischen. Städteplanung als Politikum, in dem das Interesse der Community übergangen, eingefordert, erkämpft, oder miteinbezogen wird. Im ganzen ist das zu sehr moralischer Appell zur sozialen Mitarbeit, denn Einblick in den tatsächlichen Prozess der Stadtgestaltung.

Hustwit ends his so called design trilogy with this engaging doc about urban design. For me, this is the least captivating of the three. Unlike Helvetica and Objectified, there's just too much to capture here, and the film barely scratches the surface. it's a very interesting subject, but it doesn't feel as concise as the other two.

Should have been longer and possibly put more emphasis on the historical developments and movements.