Parks
Parks Are Cash Cows
A new report claims that Central Park in New York added $1 billion to the economy in 2007, and the new High Line park added $4 billion in new real estate developments.
ASLA's The Dirt blog
The Importance of the Informal Playground
Unstructured play is a mainstay of childhood. But dense urban areas offer fewer opportunities for free-form playtime, writes Alex Marshall. Kids have to take what they can get, and often it's not much more than an empty parking lot.
Regional Plan Association
Kickflips in Kabul
A nonprofit program started in 2007 is teaching kids in Kabul, Afghanistan how to skateboard. This slideshow from the Los Angeles Times takes a look.
Los Angeles Times
Park Built On Top of Contaminated Site
New public space has opened in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in an unlikely place. The new park sits a few feet above the contaminated grounds of a deactivated municipal incinerator.
Metropolis
Budweiser Beach, CA?
With the new California budget slashing state park funding, as many as 100 parks and beaches could close. Park officials are seeking funding to keep parks open, including corporate sponsorship opportunities.
Los Angeles Times
Largest Park in Newark Opens, 30 Years Late
Nat Turner Park is Newark's newest, and largest, city-owned park. The city bought the lot in the 1970s but didn't get around to developing it until now.
Newark Star-Ledger
Prague's Temporary Beach Offers A View of the City
Prague's temporary riverfront beach gives locals a summer destination and a view on the city's iconic architecture.
The New York Times
Art and Public Space Highlighted By New St. Louis Park
This post from The Architect's Newspaper looks at the park that just opened in St. Louis, and finds it effective at emphasizing the public art and public space that exist in the city -- even beyond the park's edges.
The Architect's Newspaper
The Planetizen News Brief - 7/16/09
4:30 minutes (4.13 MB)
L.A. uses park lights to fight crime, New Orleans debates tearing down a freeway, and New York turns abandoned homes to affordable housing -- all on this week's Planetizen News Brief, airing weekly on the nationally-syndicated radio show "Smart City". Read, listen or download.
Lighting Fighting Crime
Fighting gang crime in Los Angeles is as easy as leaving the lights on at neighborhood parks.
The New York Times
Making Temporary Use of Empty Development Lots
Empty lots are scattered throughout San Francisco, sites of would-be towers that have been temporarily put off by the building bust. Instead of letting these lots sit empty until construction, some are finding ways to utilize them in the meantime.
San Francisco
St. Louis Opens New Art Park
Two vacant lots in downtown St. Louis have been revived as an urban art park, featuring works by world-renowned artists.
ArchNewsNow
Good Parks Good for Urban Economies
Anne Schwartz compiles recent studies on the economic value of parks, describing how an investment in parks by the city will result in a healthier urban economy.
Gotham Gazette
Small Park Brings Big Wave to New York City
A segment of New York City's High Line elevated park is set to open this week. New York Magazine looks at the real estate and architecture booms that's accompanying it.
New York
The Planetizen News Brief - 6/4/09
4:40 minutes (4.28 MB)
Unexpected cities for jobs, parks facing funding trouble in California, and the new U.S. Energy Secretary says to paint the world white, all on this week's Planetizen News Brief, airing weekly on the nationally-syndicated radio show "Smart City". Read, listen or download.
$10 Million Individual Donation to High Line Project
Barry Diller, IAC, and his wife, Diane Von Furstenburg, a well-known fashion designer, have donated $10 million to the Friends of the High Line, which is a non-profit group that manages the project.
THE DIRT
San Francisco's Instant Public Space
The San Francisco Chronicle's John King looks at the city's new public plaza -- a successful "small move" in the face of unrealized "big plans".
San Francisco Chronicle
Working With Local Business to Take the Poo Out of Parks
Frustrated with dog poop in his neighborhood park, a Denver resident has initiated a program that places locally-sponsored poop bagging and disposal kiosks in parks throughout the city.
The Denver Post
Public Parks Seeking Private Funding in Jacksonville
Jacksonville, Florida is hoping private funding will come through to save the city's parks, which officials say they can't afford to build or maintain.
The Florida Times-Union
At Long Last, A Park on the Passaic?
A park proposed for Newark's Passaic River waterfront has been an unfulfilled vision for at least a decade. But city officials say the Trust for Public Land will help radically speed up plans for a park.
Newark Star-Ledger
Planetizen picks
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TECH-320: Advanced SketchUp Webinar
Advanced SketchUp Webinar
Wednesday, December 2, 11am PST/2pm EST
$49.95 (includes 30-day access to video recording)
Learn More:
TECH-320: Advanced SketchUp - Modeling Buildings
- Filling In The Holes From The Big Dig
- World Bank's Urban Strategy Misses Mark
- Dockside Green: 'Lightyears Ahead' in Sustainability
- Krier Pulls No Punches
- Aging Sewers and Growing Cities Mean Troubled Waters
- San Antonio Tries Bus Wi-Fi
- Could a Saharan Forest End Global Warming?
- Front Yards Are For Lawns, Not Cars, City Says
- Boomburb Growth Must Go Up, Not Out, To Retain Viability
- Denser Neighborhoods Could Save Bay Area $31 Billion
"Hoboken Daylighting" In Lieu Of Bump-Outs -- Ian Sacs
Learning from TTI -- Michael Lewyn
Automobility and Freedom: Conflicts and Resolutions -- Todd Litman
Somewhere Between Blight and Gentrification... -- Diana DeRubertis
The Future of American High Speed Rail: Regional and Slow -- Robert Goodspeed
Student Writing Competition - Deadline Extended!
APA Urban Design and Preservation Division
Nov 20, 2009
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