From warehouse to art studio to luxury loft: the SoHo model of industrial-zone gentrification has become familiar around the world. A team of New York-based designers developed a proposal for spreading the benefits of economic growth in these areas.
Last year, the nonprofit Institute for Public Architecture asked participants in its fellowship program to consider the design implications of New York City mayor Bill de Blasio’s pledge to create 1,500 affordable live/work spaces for artists and entrepreneurs. Amritha Mahesh, Thad Pawlowski, and Despo Thoma decided to focus on the relationship between economic growth and displacement in New York's gentrifying industrial zones. What would it take for these areas to be able to absorb new kinds of people and activities without land values rising to levels that only the super-wealthy can afford, they wondered?
The resulting proposal includes a new development model run by mission-based organizations, along with a building typology catering to small businesses and artists.
Read the full story: Mission-driven gentrification?
Artists' Housing, Beyond the SoHo Loft Model
New York has promised to create 1,500 affordable live/work spaces for artists. Architect Emma Fuller believes that careful consideration of building typologies could make it easier to reach this target.
NYC has Lost 4% of its Resident Artists Since 2019
Advocates argue the city should build more affordable housing reserved for artists, who are being increasingly priced out.
A Bronx Community Fights to Have its Voice Heard
After organizing and giving input for decades, the community around the Kingsbridge Armory might actually see it redeveloped — and they want to continue to have a say in how it goes.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
California city breaks ground on transit connector
The project includes three mobility hubs and a pedestrian bridge.
After public outcry, Massachusetts city releases housing development tracker
Cambridge’s tracker currently shows 250 housing projects in various stages of development.
40 years after approval, Chicago breaks ground on new park
The park honors Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, the city’s first permanent non-native settler.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority