The increase in outdoor music festivals, guerrilla gardening, temporary restaurants, cinemas and pop-up shops are all examples of "a growing appetite for transforming our apparently prosaic, profit-led landscape into something else."
In Britain, there is a burgeoning desire amongst citizens to change the unused public space around them. Generally, spaces are recreated to be "more playful, less predictable, even slightly utopian," writes Andy Beckett.
"For at least half a century, Britain has been a center for experiments in land use: city squats in the 60s, rural free festivals in the 70s, raves in the 80s, anti-roads encampments in the 90s. These experiments have often been an irritation to the authorities, but they have also subtly shifted official thinking about public places."
Beckett thinks the way Britons treat public space has changed for good: "We have a limited amount of countryside and indifferent weather, so there is only so much mileage in our natural sublime. It is in the built environment that much of our potential lies. And one based on driving and shopping, besides being environmentally disastrous, will always be a bit too boring to keep us all occupied."
Read the full story: The New Public Space: How Britons Have Reclaimed the Streets
The Racial Reckoning in Public Spaces
Following George Floyd’s murder in 2020, there was an explosion of anti-racist street art across the country. “When we allow ourselves to release our emotions, oftentimes what is produced out of that is art.”
Trafalgar Square Shows How to Reuse Pedestals Where Statues Once Stood
Baltimore tore down its Confederate monuments, now they have an opportunity to showcase the city's artists.
Does the High Line Signify a New Era of Urban Design?
Sue Illman thinks so. And in this editorial for The Guardian, she argues that the success of the High Line signifies a new era in which the quality of our parks and public spaces, rather than our skylines, makes our towns and cities stand out.
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