Should you pay alcoholics in beer? This is the ethical dilemma thrown up by a city project in the famously liberal city of Amsterdam.
"In Amsterdam, the Rainbow Group Foundation is running a pilot project where it will pay 20 chronic alcoholics to help clean up the city," writes Rich Heap. "The idea is to reduce antisocial behaviour caused by alcoholics in public park Oosterpark, and it is being funded by public money and donations. The element that has attracted most interest is that the daily pay is five cans of beer, half a pack of rolling tobacco, and €10 (US$13)."
"Gerrie Holterman, who leads the project, told French news agency Agence France-Presse that these alcoholics 'were causing a nuisance in Amsterdam’s Oosterpark: fights, noise, disagreeable comments to women' and that this project has helped to reduce that:
'You have to see things like this: everyone benefits… They’re no longer in the park, they drink less, they eat better and they have something to keep them busy during the day.'”
Read the full story: Amsterdam Gives Alcoholics Beer to Clean City
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Chicago breaks ground on $3 billion megadevelopment
The new neighborhood, titled Foundry Park, will one day host 3,700 residences.
Satanic place names
From streams and lakes to valleys and canyons, I mapped more than 1,000 places named after the Devil.
California High-Speed Rail Authority CEO resigns after $600,000 scandal
Under Ian Choudri, the authority used taxpayer dollars to fund first class flights and trips to nightclubs.
Want to study the Missouri River? Soon, you may need unanimous approval from 10 states
Legislation would require 10 governors’ permission to study or build projects moving water outside the basin.
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 Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority