Despite the quality of temporary public spaces being created in San Francisco, their use of funding sources and lack of permanence could hurt efforts to build permanent public spaces, according to this piece from the San Francisco Chronicle.
Urban design critic John King reviews temporary projects like the city's Pavement to Parks efforts and worries that focusing on temporary public spaces will work against efforts to create permanent city improvements.
"Unless San Francisco finds the resources to craft resonant lasting spaces, it runs the risk of squandering the promise of the low-budget, high-concept nooks that have been conceived. What now seems innovative could prove to be a fad. The lessons learned so far could gather dust.
This is not a disparagement of the bureaucratic and volunteer effort that went into the five spaces hatched so far in the Pavement to Parks initiative started by the city early last year."
Thanks to ArchNewsNow
Read the full story: S.F. needs to create permanent public spaces
San Francisco to Dismantle its Polarizing Brutalist Fountain
The Vaillancourt Fountain stands as a symbol of the tension between the city’s past and future.
San Francisco Opens Park on Former Great Highway
The Sunset Dunes park’s grand opening attracted both fans and detractors.
San Francisco Development Centers Pedestrians, Public Space
The Mission Rock project eliminates street parking, replacing it with public seating and landscaping.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
Eastern Nebraska is running out of electricity
Data centers and electrification are straining eastern Nebraska’s grid, throttling economic development.
Move over, LA: St. Louis gears up for Olympics, invests millions in downtown redevelopment
The Missouri city will host the 2028 Olympic soccer group stage and knockout matches.
Mass. votes against statewide minimum lot size for single-family homes
Over 2 million residents voted on Question 7; it was decided by just over 30,000 votes.
Maryland’s $15 billion bridge project gains key approval
The Maryland Transit Authority said the project will create over 60,000 jobs and add $23 billion to the local economy.
‘No clear next steps’ for Chicago's permanent festival grounds
Eleventh Ward Ald. Nicole Lee has suggested Soldier Field as a possible location for the permanent event space.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority