The $176 million Phase I design concept for Navy Pier unveiled last week promises a "parklike" feel along the banks of Lake Michigan.
The Chicago Tribune's Kathy Bergen and Cheryl Kent report: a design team led by landscape architect James Corner is envisioning the "the Spanish Steps in Rome" on the banks of Lake Michigan. Corner, whose design of the High Line in Manhattan highlights a distinguished career in the design and planning of public parks and open spaces, presented "a much-needed refurbishment of a facility with unsophisticated aesthetic qualities."
"For those who walk out to the east end of the 3,000-foot pier, raised lookout platforms will provide lake views, and a water feature will create a cloudlike mist that visitors can walk through," say Bergen and Kent of some of the “softened” Pier’s key design elements. Plans extend to the interior of the facility as well, redesigned by Gensler's Chicago office to "be de-cluttered and given a more open, contemporary feel."
Initial reaction from the design community has been positive: "’Anything that makes it more parklike is all to the good,’ said eclectic Chicago architect Stanley Tigerman. ‘It can only go up, architecturally.’"
FULL STORY: Plan aims to turn Navy Pier into more of a park

Rethinking Redlining
For decades we have blamed 100-year-old maps for the patterns of spatial racial inequity that persist in American cities today. An esteemed researcher says: we’ve got it all wrong.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

California High-Speed Rail's Plan to Right Itself
The railroad's new CEO thinks he can get the project back on track. The stars will need to align this summer.

Santa Clara County Dedicates Over $28M to Affordable Housing
The county is funding over 600 new affordable housing units via revenue from a 2016 bond measure.

Why a Failed ‘Smart City’ Is Still Relevant
A Google-backed proposal to turn an underused section of Toronto waterfront into a tech hub holds relevant lessons about privacy and data.

When Sears Pioneered Modular Housing
Kit homes sold in catalogs like Sears and Montgomery Ward made homeownership affordable for midcentury Americans.
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.
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions