Diver-City: The Big Apple
By Maryori Vivas
As visitors to another place we can easily see how different people can be from one another. Of course, we ourselves can be perceived by the others as different, as well. When we are far from our native environment, we tend to judge the others’ behavior as different or similar to our own.
Women of Saudi Arabia
Some places give us the sensation of homogeneity, and then we feel like we are total strangers there. Other places give us the sensation of astonishing heterogenity making it difficult to define the predominant characteristic of a place because we see so many things.
The latter is the sensation I feel when I visit New York City. It is an excellent example of a city designed by cultural conciliation. There is room for everybody and from everywhere. Artifacts of the diversity abound when we hear Chinese being spoken, or Japanese, Arabic, English, French, Spanish, Italian, Greek, and many other languages. We see Muslim women with their headscarves, Muslim men with their woven hats, Jewish men with their kippahs, Hasidic Jews with the round black hats, African-American women in braided hair, Indian women wearing saris, etc. To witness the mixture is exciting indeed. There are myriad restaurants offering authentic cuisine from almost every corner of the globe as well: from Thai to South African. There are local publications to suit all cultures — whether you’re Jewish or from Latin America. Communities can always find here their own media and communication spaces as well.
Ecuadorian Panama hat
New York has its own rhythm and identity. It’s a city nourished by many different cultures, but it also has a culture of its own. Given time, every immigrant to New York will become a New Yorker.
Off course, there are other major cities in the world, but not all of them give you the freedom to be yourself as you can feel in the Capital of the World. In Paris, Muslim women cannot wear their headscarf if it covers their faces, for example. There are only a few other cities such as London that offer the same openness to diversity as New York.
Diversity reminds us that we are all different. Open environments let you feel that in spite of your origin, you are always welcomed. Therefore, you can be enriched and create value from the multiplicity instead of becoming a barrier to progress.
A Korean traditional winter cap
Which one of our major Latin American cities is as well-prepared to be a such a truly diverse city, or diver-city? Are we prepared to accept all differences and behaviors and bring them all together in the same place as exists in New York or London. Cultural conciliation can be an excellent tool for competitiveness now that we live in a globally connected world. The idea is not to emulate New York, but to learn how to build diver-cities.
Maryori Vivas may be contacted at mv@gugin.com or LinkedIn: Maryori Vivas.
