Landscape architecture firm dlandstudio is taking the stench out of the Gowanus Canal by building a new public park that is beautiful as well as functional.
"Brooklyn's Gowanus Canal has long been known as a stinky body of liquid contaminants, but a landscape architecture design firm and community advocates are aiming to transform its shores into a "sponge" park between the Third Street and Carroll Street bridges.
The eco-friendly public park would reduce contaminants flowing into the canal by putting the water through a sponge system. Rainwater would be absorbed by the plants, reducing the amount of storm water entering the sewer system.
The use of different plants, some of which can filter heavy metals out of contaminated water, and other aquatic organisms that absorb or break down heavy metals and toxins would create a natural filtering system for the canal and make it an aesthetically pleasing public park.
'The Gowanus Canal is a nearly forgotten piece of New York that is gradually becoming part of people's mental maps and is famous for having been an environmentally awful place,' the vice chairman of the Gowanus Canal Conservancy, John Muir, said. 'Now it is being slowly but progressively renewed and cleaned up, and there's great interest in redevelopment of the neighborhood as a place for people to live.'"
FULL STORY: 'The Smell' of Gowanus Canal May Be Sponged Away

Alabama: Trump Terminates Settlements for Black Communities Harmed By Raw Sewage
Trump deemed the landmark civil rights agreement “illegal DEI and environmental justice policy.”

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

The 120 Year Old Tiny Home Villages That Sheltered San Francisco’s Earthquake Refugees
More than a century ago, San Francisco mobilized to house thousands of residents displaced by the 1906 earthquake. Could their strategy offer a model for the present?

In Both Crashes and Crime, Public Transportation is Far Safer than Driving
Contrary to popular assumptions, public transportation has far lower crash and crime rates than automobile travel. For safer communities, improve and encourage transit travel.

Report: Zoning Reforms Should Complement Nashville’s Ambitious Transit Plan
Without reform, restrictive zoning codes will limit the impact of the city’s planned transit expansion and could exclude some of the residents who depend on transit the most.

Judge Orders Release of Frozen IRA, IIJA Funding
The decision is a victory for environmental groups who charged that freezing funds for critical infrastructure and disaster response programs caused “real and irreparable harm” to communities.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Clanton & Associates, Inc.
Jessamine County Fiscal Court
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions
Salt Lake City
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service