A contest sponsored by the Vancouver Public Space Network asks the public to find Vancouver's heart, a civic square that best defines the city. Sean Ruthen ponders the city's relationships to the each its primary squares now.
"As I was mentally surveying the existing civic squares in our city while at the Library for the presentation, it occurred to me that Vancouver has a long history of creating publicly recognized civic realms, and subsequently abandoning them. How else to explain the cases of the plaza in front of the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, or Centennial Square just up the street, as well as the aforementioned Library Square. Cornelia Oberlander, while understandably adamant about her refurbished Robson Square - that it will return the civic heart to the CBD - likewise voiced some concern about how those responsible at City Hall have become over the years increasingly negligent of their civic responsibility to support some form of civic pride in the city's great outdoors."
FULL STORY: The search for Vancouver’s real heart
Depopulation Patterns Get Weird
A recent ranking of “declining” cities heavily features some of the most expensive cities in the country — including New York City and a half-dozen in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Pennsylvania Mall Conversion Bill Passes House
If passed, the bill would promote the adaptive reuse of defunct commercial buildings.
California Exodus: Population Drops Below 39 Million
Never mind the 40 million that demographers predicted the Golden State would reach by 2018. The state's population dipped below 39 million to 38.965 million last July, according to Census data released in March, the lowest since 2015.
Google Maps Introduces New Transit, EV Features
It will now be easier to find electric car charging stations and transit options.
Ohio Lawmakers Propose Incentivizing Housing Production
A proposed bill would take a carrot approach to stimulating housing production through a grant program that would reward cities that implement pro-housing policies.
Chicago Awarded $2M Reconnecting Communities Grant
Community advocates say the city’s plan may not do enough to reverse the negative impacts of a major expressway.
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Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
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ULI Northwest Arkansas
Town of Zionsville
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This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
