This post is a few weeks after the fact but the recent APA conference only solidified my resolution to say something. In early April Teddy Cruz gave a lecture here in Philly at the School of Design. For those of you not familiar with his work, he has a unique and thoughtful perspective on the relationships between culture, planning and design.
This post is a few weeks after the fact but the recent APA conference only solidified my resolution to say something. In early April Teddy Cruz gave a lecture here in Philly at the School of Design. For those of you not familiar with his work, he has a unique and thoughtful perspective on the relationships between culture, planning and design.
His hour + lecture described the informal economies that have evolved between San Diego and Tijuana while categorizing how the two cities directly and indirectly influence one another. Although an architect, very little of the presentation focused on form. It was instead a lecture on what inspired him as a designer. Interestingly, what emerges from his reading of the region in which he works is a dire need for regional planning as well as new tools to address informal economies (what i might call micro-planning).
I went to the lecture because I wanted to see him speak about his work and his process beyond what I could discern from the articles I've read. But I also went because I've been making a concerted effort to attend lectures sponsored by all departments in the School of Design. What hit me noticeably about the Teddy Cruz lecture was the absence of planners. Now this is not an issue just with planners as I rarely see architects at planning lectures either. (and before you ask, i don't expect planners and architects to wear a shirt with a big "P" or "A" on it to identify themselves but having worked here a long time and with connections to Penn, I am confident in my perceptions).
Is this an issue in tone? If I can over-generalize (and i will here), the vast majority of planning lectures have focused more on the City as a problem to solve. The flip side as represented by many lectures in architecture and landscape architecture has an emphasis more on the City as inspiration. Two very different, but equally important aspects of cities to take into account. What's interesting in a lecture like Teddy Cruz's as well as a growing body of international work is that the inspiration often derives from a very pragmatic response to real problems. It would be wonderful if we could better bridge the chasm between professions which I don't think is as conceptually far apart as the attendance at lectures suggests.
Planning Lessons from an Olympic Beauty Contest
Last week, my home city, Los Angeles, lost out to Chicago for the right to represent the United States in the international competition to host the 2016 Olympics. Since an Olympic city selection represents the ultimate inter-urban beauty contest – dare I say, a kind of urban “International Idol” – what did this process tell us about the state of urban planning in two of America’s largest cities?
Why Some Affordable Housing Managers Are Running Education Programs
Many housing organizations are finding that educational programs are a logical — and valuable — addition to their offerings.
Strength in Diversity: Crafting an Affordable Housing Coalition in Cincinnati
The city’s longtime champions of housing for low-income residents joined forces with an array of allies to establish a sustainable source of funding for affordable housing.
Amtrak, CN end decades-long dispute with eight-year agreement
The new operating agreement establishes an updated framework for the companies to work together, including processes to resolve disputes.
Judges permit Denver to divert 77,000 acre feet from the Colorado River for reservoir expansion
Overuse and climate change have caused the Colorado River’s water levels to plummet.
Nation's most wind-powered state turns to coal as data centers increase energy demand
For the first time in decades, Iowa has increased its generation of coal power.
Boston has spent millions making the Green Line more accessible — and there’s no end in sight
While the city has invested millions into expanding and adding platforms to the Green Line to make it more accessible, new train cars set to arrive next year will be too tall for disabled passengers to board without raising the current platforms.
Idaho may see an 18% drop in federal surface transit funding — the largest estimated cut in the US
Transit systems in rural communities are much more reliant on federal funding to provide their services.
How ‘post-disaster gentrification’ alters neighborhoods after natural calamities
After hurricanes, fires or other calamities, the original residents of a community are often replaced by younger, wealthier residents.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Wisconsin Rapids
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
KFH Group Inc.
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
