Landscape Architecture

Queens and Brooklyn homeowners may soon be prohibited from converting front yards into parking pads if a set of regulations is approved. The loss of street parking from new curb cuts was cited as a reason, along with aesthetics.

November 23, 2009 - New York Times-N.Y./Region (blog)

Landscape architecture is in the spotlight, as planners and officials place increasing amounts of energy and emphasis on the creation of shared public spaces.

November 22, 2009 - The Age

St. Louis' Citygarden Sculpture Park is already being compared to NYC's High Line for its success in revitalizing a previously unused parcel of land.

November 19, 2009 - Fast Company

The ban on billboard advertising in Sao Paulo, Brazil, is showing pressure cracks, as continued opposition to the citywide policy has some lawmakers considering a repeal.

November 10, 2009 - The Independent

A new rating system for open and planted spaces has been created, offering a way to identify the most sustainable landscapes.

November 10, 2009 - USA Today

Put the chief planners of seven of North America's most progressive cities in a room and ask about their challenges, they inevitably point to the overriding role of the political leaders they serve. Expanding public open space also was raised.

November 9, 2009 - S.F. Streetsblog

Cities across the globe are rediscovering their waterfronts. As this piece from Places discusses, revitalization of these former industrial areas includes more than just green space.

November 8, 2009 - Places

This week's Smart City features discussions with Harvard economist Ed Glaeser about shrinking cities, and with urban design critic Randy Gragg about interactive art and urban design projects.

November 8, 2009 - Smart City

This piece from The New York Times looks at the role of private gardens and public-facing landscaping in the city of Baghdad.

November 3, 2009 - The New York Times

October 29, 2009 - Tim Halbur

That's Lynden Miller's motto, an artist and garden designer with a new book, Parks, Plants, and People: Beautifying the Urban Landscape. The Wall St. Journal has a profile.

October 20, 2009 - Wall St Journal

This piece from Urban Omnibus looks at a collaborative effort in New York City to get immigrant populations better engaged in the city's public parks.

October 18, 2009 - Urban Omnibus

The city of Toronto is rolling out a new street furniture program. Lisa Rochon calls the new additions to the city's sidewalks an "assault on civic life".

October 18, 2009 - The Globe and Mail

U.S. cities added 5,000 new acres of parkland over the past year, according to a new study by the Trust for Public Land.

October 16, 2009 - Sustainable Cities Collective

Developers of Sterling Ranch, a proposed master-planned community in Colorado, want its future residents to curb their water use. One way they're ensuring this is by nixing traditional, lush lawns from their plans.

October 15, 2009 - The Wall Street Journal

Office workers in Seattle's Pioneer Square area are claiming their network of alleyways as social spaces.

October 8, 2009 - Northwest Hub

The American Society of Landscape Architects interviews Sandra James, City and Greenways Planner with the City of Vancouver, about her city's innovative practices.

October 5, 2009 - ASLA's The Dirt blog

Ken Smith won an international design competition to turn a 1,300 acre former military base in Orange County, CA into an urban park to rival Central Park in NY. His plan is ambitious, and could be sunk by politics and finances.

October 2, 2009 - The Los Angeles Times

Urban sports like bike polo and urban golf are taking off in Germany, and are beginning to bring life back to formerly uninhabited concrete spaces.

September 26, 2009 - Der Spiegel

Last Friday was Park(ing) Day 2009, a growing movement where city parking spaces are transformed into miniature parks as a comment on public space (and the lack thereof). Here's a glimpse into Seattle's version.

September 22, 2009 - Northwest Hub