The architectural firm SCAPE plans new paths through Lexington, Kentucky’s downtown using the city's buried water and karst formations as its key features.
There's water flowing underground. Not just in Talking Heads songs, but all over Kentucky. Porous limestone is shaped and passed through by water. This topology is called karst, and it's going to be a key feature in a new series of bike and walking paths in Lexington, Kentucky.
In an article for The Architects Newspaper, Zach Edelson reports the multi-use path, "Will carve pedestrian and bike paths through the heart of Lexington, creating new green spaces and linking with regional trails at both ends. To create freshwater pools—SCAPE calls them “karst windows,” in reference to similar naturally occurring formations—the design will tap old culverts (essentially large pipes) that previously kept Lexington’s karst water out of sight."
While the project is yet to break ground, the designers hope to gain support for the project by tying it to a key feature of Kentucky, the karst topology is what bluegrass sits atop.
FULL STORY: SCAPE turns Lexington, Kentucky’s long-buried water into an asset
Lexington, Kentucky Passes Urban Growth Plan
The city’s new master plan sets out requirements for mixed-use development.
Support for Shrinking the Nation's Oldest Growth Boundary
Lexington, Kentucky's growth boundary survived a comprehensive plan update in 2019, after years of controversy. A housing crisis, a growing city, and a broken land use system are rearranging the political arithmetic behind the greenbelt.
Cleveland Bike Path Plan Leaves Some Locals Unhappy
Change was slow to come to a neighborhood in Cleveland, but not everyone is pleased with what a new riverside bike path will bring with it.
Florida Considers Legalizing ADUs
Current state law allows — but doesn’t require — cities to permit accessory dwelling units in single-family residential neighborhoods.
HUD Announces Plan to Build Housing on Public Lands
The agency will identify federally owned parcels appropriate for housing development and streamline the regulatory process to lease or transfer land to housing authorities and nonprofit developers.
Manufactured Crisis: Losing the Nation’s Largest Source of Unsubsidized Affordable Housing
Manufactured housing communities have long been an affordable housing option for millions of people living in the U.S., but that affordability is disappearing rapidly. How did we get here?
Report Outlines Strategies for Resilient Wildfire Recovery in LA
Project Recovery offers a roadmap for rebuilding more sustainable and climate-resilient communities after wildfires and other disasters.
New Executive Order Renews Attack on Public Lands
An order issued late last week pushes for increased mineral extraction on federally owned public lands.
Study: Larger Vehicles Lead to More Congestion
New research links large SUVs to lower traffic throughput.
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.
Florida Atlantic University
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
City of Piedmont, CA
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
City of Cambridge, Maryland