Current trends in the design community require a pointed question: "When everything is characterized as 'world-changing,' is anything?"
Allison Arieff takes the occasion of a book review to write a critique of the design ethos of the disrupters and tech innovators of the contemporary economy. Arieff writes:
In this way, innovation is very much mirroring the larger public discourse: a distrust of institutions combined with unabashed confidence in one’s own judgment shifts solutions away from fixing, repairing or improving and shoves them toward destruction for its own sake.
Those words inspired by a recently published book by Jessica Helfand, titled Design: The Invention of Desire. Although the book's themes apply to more technological innovations than the Airbnbs and Ubers of the world (i.e., new technology directly related to planning, land use, and transportation), a book calling for a renewed attention to the humanist disciplines of design does apply to the world of planning—which more and more often adopts the moniker "urban design" before anything else.
And the questions Arieff asks certainly apply to the examples of urban design, rural design, architecture, landscape architecture, or all these other possible manifestations of the design works confronting planners every day: "Are we fixing the right things? Are we breaking the wrong ones? Is it necessary to start from scratch every time?"
FULL STORY: Solving All the Wrong Problems
Pennsylvania Mall Conversion Bill Passes House
If passed, the bill would promote the adaptive reuse of defunct commercial buildings.
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.
U.S. Supreme Court: California's Impact Fees May Violate Takings Clause
A California property owner took El Dorado County to state court after paying a traffic impact fee he felt was exorbitant. He lost in trial court, appellate court, and the California Supreme Court denied review. Then the U.S. Supreme Court acted.
Minneapolis as a Model for Housing Affordability
Through a combination of policies, the city has managed to limit the severity of the nationwide housing crisis.
Indy Bikeshare System Turns 10, Expands to E-Bikes
Pacers Bikeshare riders logged over 700,000 rides since the system launched in 2014.
Coming Soon to Ohio: The Largest Agrivoltaic Farm in the US
The ambitious 6,000-acre project will combine an 800-watt solar farm with crop and livestock production.
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.