An art gallery in New York City currently has an installation called Park Here, which is an indoor parkspace made up of fake grass, trees and sunlight.
"It's not truly a park, at least not in any sense that the parks department might recognize; it is the simulacrum of a park, an indoor copy that in weather like this becomes more real than the city's broad but dormant expanses. The pseudopark, which occupies the Openhouse Gallery through the end of the month and which is open to the public every day from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., beckons visitors with a vibrant gardenlike environment and a warm, sunny glow (along with, at certain hours, food vendors like Luke's Lobsterand Mexicue).
Image courtesy of Openhouse Gallery
It's no great feat of agricultural engineering. The floor covering is artificial turf, not sod, despite the example that "The New York Earth Room," just a few blocks away, has set for decades. The trees are plastic foliage stapled to wooden trunks. The sunlight emanates from light boxes designed to treat seasonal affective disorder. The birds chirp through a sound system."
For snow-addled New Yorkers, even a fake park has served the purpose of providing a place to go.
Read the full story: The Grass Is Fake, but the Splendor Real
Historic Queens park is getting a $120M upgrade
The borough's largest park will undergo significant upgrades for accessibility, flood mitigation and historic preservation.
Manhattan Waterfront Parking Lot to Become Public Park
A lot that has served as parking for decades will add a much-needed public amenity to the East River waterfront.
Designs Revealed for Manhattan's First Public Beach
A designer was chosen in January, and conceptual rendering were released in July. Project boosters are also pushing an ambitious timeline that would start construction in late 2020.
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.
Los Angeles just elected an urban planner as its mayor
Transportation analysts are optimistic that Raman will be more aggressive in addressing transit issues than Bass.
Mamdani’s pied-à-terre tax survives legal challenge
A panel of judges found that the plaintiffs failed to demonstrate injury as a result of New York City's implementation of the tax.
Eastern Nebraska is running out of electricity
Data centers and electrification are straining eastern Nebraska’s grid, throttling economic development.
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
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority