Philadelphia Inquirer Architecture Critic Inga Saffron digs into the facts and fictions about innovation districts, as the city reveals a third splashy project touting its innovation district bonafides.
Inga Saffron turns a critical eye to the urban innovation district concept, especially as its being proffered in Philadelphia. Saffron's column follows recently revealed plans by Drexel University and its development partner, Brandywine Realty Trust, "to shape 14 acres on the west side of 30th Street Station into a conglomeration of offices, labs, apartments, shops, and landscaped public spaces where the Steve Jobses and Bill Gateses of the future can invent stuff and recreate together." Schuylkill Yards, as Drexel University's proposal is called, comes with a pricetag of $3.5 billion.
Schuylkill Yards is not alone among the development proposals on the table in Philadelphia. There's also, according to Saffron, the Science Center's new uCitySquare and the University of Pennsylvania's Pennovation campus in Gray's Ferry.
Saffron tempers the optimism inherent in these development proposals. More likely than high-rise towers, says Saffron "is that we will see some of the modest, and less costly, parts of these plans come to pass." The remainder of the article serves as more of an explainer, describing some of the characteristics (i.e., "authenticity") that separate innovation districts from the more traditional central business districts that define the core of most large cities.
Pennsylvania Mall Conversion Bill Passes House
If passed, the bill would promote the adaptive reuse of defunct commercial buildings.
Planning for Accessibility: Proximity is More Important than Mobility
Accessibility-based planning minimizes the distance that people must travel to reach desired services and activities. Measured this way, increased density can provide more total benefits than increased speeds.
World's Largest Wildlife Overpass In the Works in Los Angeles County
Caltrans will soon close half of the 101 Freeway in order to continue construction of the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing near Agoura Hills in Los Angeles County.
Eviction Looms for Low-Income Tenants as Rent Debt Rises
Nonprofit housing operators across the country face almost $10 billion in rent debt.
Brightline West Breaks Ground
The high-speed rail line will link Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area.
Colorado Bans No-Fault Evictions
In most cases, landlords must provide a just cause for evicting tenants.
City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Tufts University, Department of Urban and Environmental Policy & Planning
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
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.