Michael Kimmelman looks at the wave of 'cheap, quick, temporary and D.I.Y.-style approaches' that are introducing a more successful means of creating public space than traditional trickle-down techniques.
"Cities need public spaces like plazas," says Kimmelman. "For years they have mostly been planned from the top down. In New York, zoning laws have carved many of these spaces from commercial developments, which have been given bonuses to include them. Mayor Bloomberg is pushing a new proposal to rezone east Midtown, near Grand Central, that is a variation on this same old trickle-down theme."
"But fresh thinking has focused on cheap, quick, temporary and D.I.Y.-style approaches to creating public space — among these, curbside 'parklets' in San Francisco and a communal farm on what had been a derelict parcel in the middle of Phoenix," he explains. "And guess what? A beer garden made out of freight containers on an empty plot turns out to be a lot more popular and better for a city than a sad corporate atrium with a few cafe tables and a long list of don’ts on the wall."
"As more and more educated Americans, especially younger ones, are looking to move downtown, seeking alternatives to suburbs and cars, they’re reframing the demand for public space," Kimmelman continues. "They want elbow room and creative sites, cooked up by the community or, like [New York City's] plaza program, developed from a democratic mix of top-down and bottom-up governance."
FULL STORY: A Streetcorner Serenade for the Public Plaza
DIY Urbanism and Top-Down Planning
Though projects tend to be hyper-local and temporary, Do It Yourself, Tactical, or Guerrilla Urbanism is an endorsement of the top-down planning model, rather than a repudiation.
Opinion: Support Citizen-Led Public Space Projects
A public space advocate outlines how Philadelphia’s city leaders could support the parklets, plazas, and other public space conversions that proliferated during the pandemic.
As Parklets Bloom, SF Stays True to its Roots
As the number of completed parklets in San Francisco nears three dozen, after debuting only two years ago, "the latest trend in urban placemaking" has entered the planning mainstream without losing its grassroots origins.
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.
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.
Chicago to Turn High-Rise Offices into Housing
Four commercial buildings in the Chicago Loop have been approved for redevelopment into housing in a bid to revitalize the city’s downtown post-pandemic.
Houston Mayor Pauses Complete Streets Projects
The move raises concerns among road safety advocates who point out that traffic deaths continue to rise.
Twin Cities Trains Move to Fewer Cars, Higher Frequency
Headways will drop from 15 minutes to 12 minutes.
DC Bikeshare System Breaks Ridership Record
Capital Bikeshare users took over 20,000 rides on one day in March.
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HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
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