A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
The Make Autorail Great Again Act would withhold federal funding to the system until the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), rebrands as the Washington Metropolitan Authority for Greater Access (WMAGA).
Steven Snell has over ten years of professional urban planning experience with a focus on conservation policy. He has a master’s degree in urban design and is a novelist of How Soon We Fall From Love. Connect with him on Twitter @stevenpsnell or Facebook stevenpsnell. The views expressed are purely those of the writer and may not in any circumstances be regarded as stating a position of his employer.
The short-sightedness of overarching proclamations for the right city form obscures the very context in which cities are built and expanded. City planning must become reconnected to its environmental context.
Some argue that if something is not directly contributing to our public coffers, why protect it? Perhaps it’s worth broadening our understanding of the services – and tax implications – provided by parks.
Parks have long been likened to "the lungs of the city." But to better capture the totality of parks' role in our urban milieu a more apt metaphor is necessary.
Broadening our definition of parks to recognize their role in preventative health care and promotion will only expand our awareness on how important they are to good neighbourhood design.
