Chuck Wolfe summarizes a major tenet of his new book and suggests we risk ignoring the back story of urban forms and functions by failing to truly understand the traditional relationships between people and place.
Summarizing his new book Urbanism Without Effort, Wolfe emphasizes the importance of first isolating spontaneous and latent examples of successful urban land use, before applying any prescription of typologies, desired ends, or governmental initiative. He suggests "urbanism without effort" as the the basis for a clean, multidisciplinary slate for reinvigorating the way we think about urban development today.
Simply stated "urbanism without effort" is what happens naturally when people congregate in cities.
Rather than assume that the popular and touted is readily adaptable, or readily subject to metrics or labels, Wolfe argues that we should return to first principles and isolate the fundamental, vernacular relationships between city inhabitants and what surrounds them:
We need to look, analyze, and discern, until we remember what a basic sort of city life looks like. While we consider these inherent factors that shape spaces and their use, we also must remember that there is a certain, spontaneous magic attributable to good urban places that can awaken them, but will only occur when they are locally relevant and embraced.
FULL STORY: The Dynamic Potential of Urbanism Without Effort
Tactical Urbanism Reshaping Nashville's Broadway Ave
Nasvhille's embrace of temporary urban interventions is producing amazing results that are capturing the imagination of both locals and tourists alike.
What is a 'Placemaker' (Besides an Overused Buzzword)?
Placemaking is an overused term and under-comprehended subcategory of the urban design and planning fields. Howard Blackson explains what it means and how it has evolved in his own career.
The Importance of Inter-Urban Walkability
In his third "place-decoding" essay from France, Chuck Wolfe recalls all that we can learn from walking between settled places.
New York Governor Advances Housing Plan Amid Stiff Suburban Opposition
Governor Kathy Hochul’s ambitious proposal to create more housing has once again run into a brick wall of opposition in New York’s enormous suburbs, especially on Long Island. This year, however, the wall may have some cracks.
Rethinking the Role of Parking in the American City
In cities big and small, the tide is turning against sprawling parking lots, car-centric development, and minimum parking mandates.
Friday Eye Candy: 20 AI-Generated Cityscapes
AI-generated images are creating new landscapes and cityscapes, capable of inspiring awe or fear.
Biden Designates a New National Monument in West Texas
The Castner Range National Monument in West Texas is the second of two new national monuments announced by President Joe Biden this week.
Study: Autonomous Cars Won’t Solve the Parking Problem
In hyper-dense cities where incentives to reduce car use and eliminate parking are already high, mass adoption of AVs won’t significantly reduce parking demand.
Proposed Pool Would Make an Olympic-Sized Play Area in the San Francisco Bay
The San Francisco Bay is usually an undesirable place to swim, except for a hearty few. A development proposal seeking assistance at the state level would add a pool to the Bay’s waters to make the idea of going for a swim more appealing.
Princeton Planning
City of College Park
Houston-Galveston Area Council
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Spearfish
City of Lomita
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.
