A 2,100 square foot park on the banks of New York City's Gowanus Canal is part of a plan to catch pollutants from storm off from draining into the already polluted waterway.
The New York City Department of Environmental Protection is investing $1.5 million in a pilot project that will see the creation of a so-called "sponge park," designed by landscape architects at DLANDstudio. The project is part of a 20-year plan that hopes to protect local waterways through similar ecological approaches. Lisa W. Foderaro of the New York Times reports that the park will be designed to absorb water through selection of plants and inclusion of "a network of sand beds and soils." If successful, the park may serve as a model for other cities.
The park is part of a larger effort in New York City and urban areas across the country to prevent polluted storm water from flowing directly into rivers or overloading sewage treatment plants. With combined storm-sewer systems like New York’s, in which one set of pipes handles both sewage and storm water, even moderate rainfall can overwhelm treatment plants, causing raw sewage to spew into waterways.
Foderaro writes that the park will be quickly assembled using modular pieces during the spring, with completion in about eight weeks.
FULL STORY: A Park to Sop Up Pollutants Before They Flow Into the Gowanus Canal
The Mall Is Dead — Long Live the Mall
The American shopping mall may be closer to its original vision than ever.
The Paradox of American Housing
How the tension between housing as an asset and as an essential good keeps the supply inadequate and costs high.
Report: Las Vegas, Houston Top List of Least Affordable Cities
The report assesses the availability of affordable rental units for low-income households.
Understanding Affordable Housing Lingo
20 key terms in the affordable housing discussion.
Undoing Biden's EV Rule
The partisan divide over how government should reduce greenhouse gas emissions was on full display after the Biden administration finalized its emissions standards rule for light and medium duty vehicles on March 20.
Boston Moves Zoning Reform Forward
The ‘Squares + Streets’ plan creates form-based zoning templates for neighborhoods that promote mixed use and denser housing near transit.
City of Yakima
City of Auburn
Baylands Development Inc.
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Birmingham, Alabama
City of Laramie, Wyoming
Town of Zionsville
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.