Richard Louv says we're drowning in a "sea of circuitry" and in desperate need to reconnect with greenery and nature in our living spaces to sooth our souls.
Neal Peirce considers Louv's proposals for bringing green spaces into cities:
"He suggests replacing our cities' thousands of redundant shopping centers with 'eco-villages' that include parks with native vegetation and connections to wildlife corridors. And that we celebrate and expand the nation's growing wave of urban agriculture, now sprouting in greenhouses and backyards, on rooftops and balconies. Plus the start of farm operations in abandonment-hit cities such as Detroit."
Pierce also looks at the new book Making Healthy Places: Designing and Building for Health, Well-being, and Sustainability
Read the full story: ‘Greenscaping’ for Health
‘Quiet Parks’ Highlight Importance of Silence for Public Health
The initiative recognizes parks and other areas that preserve natural quiet in a world full of noise pollution.
Why Social Infrastructure Matters
The pandemic highlighted the importance of parks and public spaces for maintaining both the physical and mental health of urban residents.
Serpentine Maze: Pop-Up Parks in the Pandemic
If the combined effects of winter's cold and the pandemic has you bummed, check out this community-building exercise in the frozen North.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
Amtrak, CN end decades-long dispute with eight-year agreement
The new operating agreement establishes an updated framework for the companies to work together, including processes to resolve disputes.
Judges permit Denver to divert 77,000 acre feet from the Colorado River for reservoir expansion
Overuse and climate change have caused the Colorado River’s water levels to plummet.
NYC DOT wants faster, more permanent street upgrades
The city is examining ways to build more concrete infrastructure without getting entangled in 'decades-long' projects.
'Something we’ve never seen before:' rising utility rates could strain city finances nationwide
Data centers, climate change and other factors have caused utility rates in the United States to increase by 38% since 2020.
Trump to overrule local leaders, lease millions of acres of America’s Pacific Island territories’ seafloors to mining companies
International law says that the Indigenous people of America’s territories have a right to prior and informed consent regarding projects that impact their countries.
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.
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
KFH Group Inc.
Greater Baltimore Committee
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello