Landscape Architecture
Modernism's Olmsted
Famed landscape architect Lawrence Halprin died this week at the age of 93. Halprin is highly regarded in his field, but in terms of urban planning many of his designs have not stood up to the test of time. Managing Editor Tim Halbur explores his legacy.
The Gardens of Baghdad
This piece from The New York Times looks at the role of private gardens and public-facing landscaping in the city of Baghdad.
The New York Times
Good Parks Make Good Cities
That's Lynden Miller's motto, an artist and garden designer with a new book, Parks, Plants, and People: Beautifying the Urban Landscape. The Wall St. Journal has a profile.
Wall St Journal
Connecting New York City's Immigrants With Parks
This piece from Urban Omnibus looks at a collaborative effort in New York City to get immigrant populations better engaged in the city's public parks.
Urban Omnibus
Toronto Street Furniture Program Blasted
The city of Toronto is rolling out a new street furniture program. Lisa Rochon calls the new additions to the city's sidewalks an "assault on civic life".
The Globe and Mail
5,000 New Acres of Parks
U.S. cities added 5,000 new acres of parkland over the past year, according to a new study by the Trust for Public Land.
Sustainable Cities Collective
To Save Water, Developers Ditch Lawns
Developers of Sterling Ranch, a proposed master-planned community in Colorado, want its future residents to curb their water use. One way they're ensuring this is by nixing traditional, lush lawns from their plans.
The Wall Street Journal
Reclaiming Alleyways
Office workers in Seattle's Pioneer Square area are claiming their network of alleyways as social spaces.
Northwest Hub
Secrets of Vancouver's Green Streets
The American Society of Landscape Architects interviews Sandra James, City and Greenways Planner with the City of Vancouver, about her city's innovative practices.
ASLA's The Dirt blog
Big Plans in the O.C.
Ken Smith won an international design competition to turn a 1,300 acre former military base in Orange County, CA into an urban park to rival Central Park in NY. His plan is ambitious, and could be sunk by politics and finances.
The Los Angeles Times
Urban Sports Creating New Life in Civic Spaces
Urban sports like bike polo and urban golf are taking off in Germany, and are beginning to bring life back to formerly uninhabited concrete spaces.
Der Spiegel
Park(ing) Day 2009
Last Friday was Park(ing) Day 2009, a growing movement where city parking spaces are transformed into miniature parks as a comment on public space (and the lack thereof). Here's a glimpse into Seattle's version.
Northwest Hub
San Francisco's Fast Park Movement
New parks are popping up with a quickness in San Francisco, where planners have fast-tracked the conversion of street spaces into pedestrian parks.
The Architect's Newspaper
Getting Creative About Finding Places for Parks
New York City is developing a handful of new parks on industrial lands and otherwise underused spaces. Urban Omnibus talks with Adrian Benepe, the city's commissioner of parks and recreation about the new projects.
Urban Omnibus
What Today's Cities Will Look Like in the Future
Imagining cities of the future can bring about some pretty wild predictions. But when they're visions of existing cities, these futuristic predictions can be almost realistic.
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