Growth Through Destruction

In 1906, a powerful earthquake in San Francisco, California, damaged a good portion of the city, causing havoc and distress as 28,188 buildings were destroyed, and over 3,000 people were killed. Curiously, after this tragic disaster, things began to grow again, but this time the built environment came back stronger. Seth Zeren, a founding member of Strong Towns, wrote about this phenomenon last month, and this week on the Strong Towns Podcast, Chuck Marohn and Zeren chat about complexity, and if complex systems can grow stronger through destruction.

• “Do Things Need to Burn for New Things to Grow?” by Seth Zeren, Strong Towns (Feb, 2023).

• Subscribe to Seth Zeren’s Substack, Build the Next Right Thing.

• Chuck Marohn (Twitter).