A Treehugger column picks up on the historic idea of the "Linear City" as a counter point to the current pressures to build up in cities around the world.
"There is a lot of talk these days about Vertical Cities, the idea we should build supertall buildings that include all necessary functions of a city, and surround them by green space for park and agriculture," writes Lloyd Alter, "but there is another alternative that I always thought made more sense, the linear city."
Alter goes on two provide a brief history of the idea, starting from the Jersey Corridor Project, proposed by Michael Graves and Peter Eisenman in 1965. The current Michael Graves exhibition, Past as Present, showing at Grounds for Sculpture in New Jersey through April made the video below to describe the Jersey Corridor Project.
Alter concludes by arguing for the pertinence of the idea to the current development climate: "All over North America, lots of money is being spent on rail and transit infrastructure; perhaps the linear city is an idea whose time has finally come, and could help pay for it all."
FULL STORY: Instead of Vertical Cities, should we be thinking about Linear Cities?
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Gallatin County Department of Planning & Community Development
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
JM Goldson LLC
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Jefferson Parish Government
Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Claremont