Okay — picture this: I’m walking through a small, old city. There’s a moat. There’s a palace. There’s a bell that a swan rings for food. There’s also a goose — a very naughty goose — honking and stealing scarves in a park. Da-da. Da-da. Little question bubbles pop above my head: what makes this place the way it is? And who decided what people do here, and why?
Now we try Augustine, but with a city-planner hat on. Augustine was a thinker who wrote a big book called The City of God. One sentence he wrote is famous and fits like a key: "Two loves have made two cities: the earthly by the love of self even to contempt of God; the heavenly by the love of God even to contempt of self." (Augustine, City of God, Book XIV, ch. 28.)
In plain words for a 13-year-old city planner: what people love — what they care about most — shapes the way their towns and cities look, feel, and operate. If a community loves only money or getting ahead, buildings and rules will reflect that. If people love each other and the common good, public places will help people meet, help, and look after one another.
Augustine’s idea, step-by-step
- Love is a builder. Augustine says our loves (what we put first in life) build cities — not just bricks and streets, but the habits, rules, and symbols of community.
- Cities show priorities. If a city’s spaces are mostly shopping malls and private driveways, we can guess the city values buying and owning. If it has parks, benches, and shared gardens, it values being together.
- Public things teach citizens. Monuments, rituals, animals, and games remind people what matters: they teach duties and encourage care for others.
Case study 1: Untitled Goose Game — mischief as a mirror
Untitled Goose Game (House House, 2019) is a video game where you play a goose causing trouble in a village: stealing objects, honking at people, and setting off little dramas. It sounds silly, but as a mini case study it’s brilliant for a city planner thinking like Augustine.
- The game shows how rules and objects shape behavior. Locked gates, placed keys, and signs create puzzles. The goose’s mischief is possible because of the layout and everyday routines of people.
- Players learn the town’s rhythms: when someone walks, where things sit, which doors are important. That’s exactly what planners must think about: how the built world creates habits.
- Most importantly, the game makes you notice social expectations. Why does stealing a gardener’s thing feel wrong? Why does honking in a shop cause chaos? The game reveals the invisible rules that make a city civil — like kindness, respect, or taking turns.
Augustine would nod: the town in the game has loves (comfort, routine, privacy). The goose doesn’t share those loves, so the city’s order is disrupted. If the town loved being playful or tolerant, the goose’s antics might be welcomed instead of punished. So the game points to the truth: love and values shape how a place responds to people and animals.
Case study 2: Bishop's Palace swans — ritual, care, and a bell
In Wells, England, the Bishop’s Palace sits by a moat where the famous Bishop’s Palace swans have been trained for centuries to ring the drawbridge bell when they want food. The palace writes about this charming tradition: see the Bishop's Palace swans (https://bishopspalace.org.uk/highlights/swans/).
- The swans are part animal, part public ritual: everyone who visits learns about them and the history. They act as small teachers about tradition, responsibility, and shared life.
- Because the community cares for the swans, the public space (the moat, the path, the bell) reflects values: stewardship, continuity, and public delight.
- This tradition helps shape the city’s identity. Visitors remember the swans; locals protect them. That memory helps the city stay gentle and connected.
Putting Augustine into city design (kid-friendly planner steps)
If Augustine were a city planner giving teen advice, he might say: design public spaces that remind people of their duties to one another. Here are practical ideas you can try or sketch:
- Shared benches and low walls: Make seats that invite strangers to sit together. When people sit face-to-face, they talk, which builds care.
- Small rituals and symbols: A bell, a swan, a mural, or a yearly festival — things that teach stories about looking after each other.
- Playful design: Put safe spaces for kids, interactive sculptures (like a bell the swans ring), or a cheeky challenge like Untitled Goose Game’s puzzles. Play shows people that the city values fun and imagination.
- Visible rules that teach kindness: Signs that invite people to share the garden or put bikes away politely — not as bossy orders, but as ways to remind people of duty.
- Care for animals and nature: Protecting swans or community gardens is a public lesson: we’re connected and responsible.
Quick Augustine quote to remember
"Two loves have made two cities: the earthly by the love of self even to contempt of God; the heavenly by the love of God even to contempt of self." (Augustine, City of God, Book XIV, ch. 28.)
For a young planner: replace the word 'God' with 'the common good' if that helps. The main idea stays the same — our deepest loves decide what our towns become.
Final thought (Ally McBeal inner-voice: tiny, dramatic, a bell-ring)
So I sit by the moat, the swans ring the bell — tiny ceremony. Across the square, a goose ruffles a baker’s scarf — comic chaos. The city holds both the bell and the honk. Which wins? The one the city loves most. Design the places that teach the better love: shared care. Da-da. Da-da. And maybe a little honk, too — because a playful city is a living one.