Kerwin Datu suggests that transit in cities of the future should no longer be organized around a distinct center. "Rather than think of a city as a centre surrounded by suburbs, think of it as a patchwork of specialised districts woven together."
Datu asks "what is the center?" Often it is a historical, commercial or financial district but he pointedly argues that there is no need for either of these to be "at the centre of a large city, nor in the same place, and it would make for better planning if we abandoned the myth of the city centre altogether."
He argues that the importance of the city center around the world is more often than not the result of a self-fulfilling prophecy. Most older city centers have been subject to an upward spiral of infrastructure investment which has fortified their hollow pre-eminence within the metropolis.
Datu states that rather than reduce congestion, increased public transport merely increases a city's commuting capacity, most often with an intense centralizing effect.
"Large cities today need to be planned not in concentric circles, but as tapestries. We still need differing degrees of intensity across urban areas, but these should be planned as an orderly modulation of intensity throughout the metropolis."
Read the full story: A City Doesn't Need A Center! (But It Does Need Realistic Planning)
Learning loss and urban schools, part 2
Did test scores in progressive cities drop more post-COVID than test scores in moderate ones?
Flood Resilience Through Green Infrastructure
Cities like New York and Los Angeles are moving to build green infrastructure as the need for spongier urban spaces becomes more apparent.
Second Anniversary of the COVID-19 Pandemic
March 11 marked the second anniversary of WHO's declaration of the pandemic and the beginning of its third year. Cases continue to plummet in the U.S. and plateau globally while war in Europe has overshadowed the virus that has killed 6 million.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
US buildings threatened, destroyed by fires set to triple by 2060
Researchers found a high fire risk for socioeconomically vulnerable neighborhoods in the American West.
LA residents may be allowed to paint their own crosswalks
Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky put out a motion instructing the Los Angeles Department of Public Transportation to study the feasibility of allowing volunteers to paint crosswalks.
Dallas moves to overhaul its zoning code
The city's zoning reform will allow more multi-family and mixed-use developments.
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 Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority