An ambitious and innovative infrastructure program can multiply benefits for cities willing to take bold steps.

Kathryn Firth writes an op-ed for Next City:
[A]s conversations continue about the need for a Green New Deal and overdue upgrades to the nation’s infrastructure, we also have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reimagine the role that infrastructure can serve in cities. Infrastructure should be conceived as a community asset, both providing equitable new public space and contributing to the beauty of cities, at a time where pressure on urban land is at a premium and civic pride often waning.
Firth, urban design director at NBBJ, cites Victorian Era London as an example of society that took advantage of a similar opportunity—same with the Works Progress Administration in the 1930s and 40s in the United States.
As to how the United States, at the dawn of the 2020s, can achieve similar successes in repositioning the role of infrastructure in cities, Firth suggests several strategies, such as celebrating the utilitarian, balancing safety and security with public access, creating productive tension, getting creative with budgets, and engaging the community.
FULL STORY: Formerly Hidden, Beautiful Infrastructure is Now Back in the Limelight

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

San Diego Adopts First Mobility Master Plan
The plan provides a comprehensive framework for making San Diego’s transportation network more multimodal, accessible, and sustainable.

Walmart Announces Nationwide EV Charging Network
The company plans to install electric car chargers at most of its stores by 2030.

Seattle Builds Subway-Sized Tunnel — for Stormwater
The $700 million ‘stormwater subway’ is designed to handle overflows during storms, which contain toxic runoff from roadways and vehicles.

Feds Clear Homeless Encampment in Oregon Forest
The action displaced over 100 people living on national forest land near Bend, Oregon.

Is This Urbanism?
Chuck Wolfe ponders a recommended subscription list of Substack urbanists and wonders — as have others — about the utility of the "urbanist" moniker.
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