Plan for Haiti Unveiled

Trans_City Architecture and Urbanism have unveiled a comprehensive plan for Jacmel, Haiti. Highlights of the plan, which took a year and a half to draw up, include prefab homes that work around the city's "topographical challenges."

1 minute read

September 21, 2011, 5:00 AM PDT

By Judy Chang


Alison Furuto explains:

"The urbanism proposes an ecologically sustainable planning for a topographically challenging tropical site. We have divided the site into three basic zones, depending upon their topographic qualities.

1) Steep hillsides, which are not buildable, are to be reforested.
2) Valley bottoms, which are also not buildable due to flash-flood dangers, will be terraced and converted to middle intensity agriculture for local consumption.
3) Ridges and plateaus are inhabitable for the built environment.

An essential objective of the planning was the construction of an affordable, ridge-top road network that linked the built-up areas with each other as well as to the access road Route 204 connecting to Jacmel."

Monday, September 19, 2011 in International Business Times

Chicago Intercity Rail

Amtrak Ramping Up Infrastructure Projects

Thanks to federal funding from the 2021 infrastructure act, the agency plans to triple its investment in infrastructure improvements and new routes in the next two years.

September 25, 2023 - Smart Cities Dive

Google maps street view of San Francisco alleyway.

Ending Downtown San Francisco’s ‘Doom Loop’

A new public space project offers an ambitious vision—so why is the city implementing it at such a small scale?

September 26, 2023 - Fast Company

Google street view of yellow "End Freeway 1/4 mile" sign on 90 freeway in Los Angeles, California.

Proposal Would Transform L.A.’s ‘Freeway to Nowhere’ Into Park, Housing

A never-completed freeway segment could see new life as a mixed-use development with housing, commercial space, and one of the county’s largest parks.

September 26, 2023 - Los Angeles Times

Historic brick sugar refinery building redeveloped with glass office tower inside and yellow Domino Sugar sign

Former Brooklyn Sugar Refinery Reopens as All-Electric Office Tower

A historic building was reimagined as a 15-story office tower powered by renewable energy.

41 minutes ago - Untapped Cities

Car crash scene with overturned car, emergency vehicles, and firefighter standing at left.

NHTSA: Traffic Fatalities Decline for Fifth Straight Quarter

Traffic deaths were 3.3 percent lower in the first half of 2023 than the same period last year, but not all states saw the same results.

1 hour ago - ABC News

Yellow electric excavator digging at construction site in Los Angeles, California.

LA Rail Project Testing Electric Excavator

The battery-powered excavator could replace diesel-powered machinery to reduce construction emissions and noise.

October 1 - Skanska

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.