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The Planetizen News Brief - 4/30/09

30 April 2009 - 5:00am
Smart City Radio

The Planetizen News Brief is a weekly rundown of some of the most interesting and important news and issues of the past week.

The Planetizen News Brief airs every week on the nationally-syndicated radio program "Smart City", which is broadcast in cities across the U.S. Learn more about Smart City and listen to archived shows.

Full Transcript

Planners and urban policy wonks got downright giddy last fall when then-President-elect Barack Obama announced his plans to create a cabinet level office focusing on urban issues. The White House Office of Urban Policy was heralded across the country as a long-missing element of the executive strategy. But now, almost six months after it was announced, the anticipated office has yet to really take shape. The online magazine The Root reports on the lack of action, citing that only two positions in the office have been named. Creating the office was a good idea for Obama, who won over city voters by more than 27 points in the 2008 election. And about 80% of Americans now live in metropolitan or non-rural areas, so there’s definitely a built-in demand for urban policy guidance. And with cities across the country struggling through the economic recession, many say now is exactly the time that an urban-focused office should be kicking into action.

Meanwhile, out in Providence, Rhode Island, a new city park is being called an unlikely success. Critic David Brussat wrote recently in the Providence Journal about the parkspace built beneath a new bridge over the Providence River. Though a dark spot beneath an interstate bridge might not seem to be an ideal place for a park, Brussat writes that the design created a new hidden gem for the city. Primarily concrete, it appears almost brutalist, according to Brussat, but is still able to retain a welcoming feel. The space is not your typical park, but with views of the river and the beautiful new bridge, it actually turns out to be a nice place to spend some time. And in the end, that’s really the only metric you need to evaluate a park.

And in other park news, a new mapping project is hoping to tap into the knowledge of the nation to map out all the playgrounds in the U.S. The “100,000 Playspaces in 100 Days” campaign is calling on people to contribute to a collaborative map of playgrounds, sports fields and skate parks. The intended result is a countrywide map of play spaces, creating a better vision of where park networks exist and where they’re badly needed. According to a recent article from Next American City, the mapping project will turn into a powerful tool for planners and neighborhood activists, especially in cities where parkspaces are lacking. Though generating the funding for park projects may be tough right now, at least communities will know where they should go when they can afford them again.

Stories discussed in this week's Planetizen News Brief

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"To ignore this space is shortsighted." -- Jennifer Wolch, Director of the USC Center for Sustainable Cities
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