metropolis

is a place where, in the long run, the increase in leisure time could lead either to panem et circenses ('bread and circuses') or to otium cum dignitate ('leisure with dignity') depending on how our cultural structure develops.

In the long run the development of the metropolis is likely to be influenced most powerfully by improvements in transportation and communication and by the increase in leisure time. The first may lead to an expansion of the metropolis that will embrace a whole region. The second, depending on future developments in mankind's social structure and culture, may lead to panem et circenses ('bread and circuses') or to otium cum dignitate ('leisure with dignity') Both are possible in the metropolis.

Hans BlumenfeldThinkers

Hans Blumenfeld