Since it was begun in the late 1950's, Paris's La Defense business district 'has always worked better in architectural theory than in anthropological practice,' says Georgi Kantchev. A new plan seeks to humanize the spaces between its tall towers.
"Rather than the Parisian business hub its founders described, it often seems more like the isolated end of a spoke that has highlighted a crucial flaw in urban planning — a concern with making architectural statements — rather than an affinity for the people in and around the buildings," observes Kantchev.
"When non-French planning experts assess La Défense, they say it shares the same problems as the Canary Wharf complex in London, where developers have tried to supplant the City with Big Architecture and whose artificial origins may be hard to overcome. The experts look more favorably on the somewhat organic mix of business and residential of Lower Manhattan, which has evolved over the last century."
"The public agency that manages the complex has hired an architectural firm to draft a new master plan in hopes of making the grandiose vision for La Défense a livable reality."
Read the full story: Plan Aims to Enliven Paris’s Financial District, Long Called Soulless
Biking in Paris grew by 240% in 5 years
The city saw a significant rise in bike use thanks to data-driven policy changes.
Paris Opens Europe’s Longest Aerial Gondola Line
The new cable car line, France’s seventh, is expected to carry roughly 11,000 passengers per day.
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.
San Francisco supervisor looks to establish city’s first department of housing
The proposed agency would coordinate planning and financing around housing, as well as support affordable housing production.
South Chicago development proposal would 'upzone' neighborhoods to increase density
The South Chicago Land Use Framework plan also aims to promote pedestrian and transit-oriented developments.
Boston has spent millions making the Green Line more accessible — and there’s no end in sight
While the city has invested millions into expanding and adding platforms to the Green Line to make it more accessible, new train cars set to arrive next year will be too tall for disabled passengers to board without raising the current platforms.
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 Wisconsin Rapids
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
KFH Group Inc.
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello