Urban Design

Let’s face it, we all get into planning ruts. A public meeting gone awry, a discontented client, a community that just doesn’t get it.  I like to call it planning fatigue, and up until a month ago, I was headed down that path. But a meeting of the minds which converged in my hometown, Miami, brought me a little closer to god, the planning god, that is. Joe Riley, the mild mannered and poignant mayor of Charleston brought me to planning euphoria. If you’ve heard him speak, then you know what I mean.  If you haven’t, well let me bring you up to speed. 

April 20, 2010 - Melissa Hege

  Walkable Los Angeles. Casual visitors may be surprised to learn that this is not an oxymoron.

April 10, 2010 - Diana DeRubertis

As cities like Long Beach and Santa Monica get more focused on urban design, their general plans become more and more proscriptive.

April 3, 2010 - The Architect's Newspaper

Downers Grove, IL has won accolades for being the first residential subdivision to install a hybrid solar-wind powered street lighting system, reports TribLocal.

March 24, 2010 - TribLocal (Chicago Tribune)

A picture's worth a thousand plans - at least when it's a "photo-realistic visualization." Designer Steve Price's detailed 3D flash animations show towns what empty streetscapes and drab buildings could look like with a little bit of planning.

March 8, 2010 - Grist.org

Dr. Marc Schlossberg of the University of Oregon developed a series of tools for mobile GIS devices, and set community members loose to use the technology to collect data about their streets and improve their neighborhood livability.

March 8, 2010 - Dr. Marc Schlossberg

The new urban design review board once again deems that a publicly backed project doesn't do enough to encourage activity on the street and sends the Downtown Improvement District back to the drawing board.

February 27, 2010 - Omaha World Herald

In Anchorage, Alaska, planners are rolling out a substantial new version of their zoning code, which includes some design requirements like no blank walls. Business owners are up in arms over the proposed changes.

February 21, 2010 - Anchorage Daily News

An interdisciplinary team of urban designers, architects, and analysts have proposed a neo-retro-futurist scenario for making downtown Portland nearly car-free by 2050.

January 18, 2010 - Hugeasscity

This essay from Urban Omnibus calls for greater collaboration in urban design -- both amongst designers and architects, and with the surrounding community.

December 30, 2009 - Urban Omnibus

This article looks at the influence of the bus rapid transit system of Curitiba, Brazil, and how it is becoming a major aspect of urban design in other Latin American cities.

December 22, 2009 - Brazzil Magazine

Urban designers Terri Chiao and Deborah Grossberg Katz take on the problem of homelessness in New York proactively, rather than waiting for RFPs to come in.

November 12, 2009 - Urban Omnibus

My classmate was up in front of everyone, flapping and flailing, pleading his case and getting shot down at every turn. It was a bit like watching a train wreck in slow motion. It was also kind of like looking in the mirror. I’m just more than halfway through a planning school studio project working on the beautiful (no, really) Lower Schuylkill River in Philadelphia. They’ve teamed up about 15 planner/urban designers with about 45 landscape architects, who, as I mentioned last time, are reasonably bonkers. That was about a month and a half ago; since then, I’ve begun to think maybe I’m the one needing a room with padded walls.

November 9, 2009 - Jeffrey Barg

If you’ve ever worked in distressed communities, you’ve faced the dilemma that there simply is no private market for what you want to see built.  You can chip away at the problem of vacant land with thoughtful affordable housing developments or, if you’re lucky, a new recreation center but by and large, large amounts of vacancy remain and impact the psyche of those that live nearby.  So working closely with residents, and really listening, has sparked a whole new sub-discipline in our world of urban planning and design - temporary use.  The shrinking cities movement shined a light on the potential of ad-hoc reuse and programming some time ago but so too has groups like the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society

November 6, 2009 - Scott Page

Some excellent video illustrations of how including an element of fun can change people's behavior, including the 'World's Deepest' Trashcan.

October 15, 2009 - thefuntheory.com

Raleigh planner Dan Douglas has some bold proposals for the city, including nine new public squares, green roofs, and a new Grand Central Station-style transit hub.

October 11, 2009 - The Independent Weekly

Forgive me Olmsted, for I have sinned. I have strayed. I have coveted. I have had doubts. I have thought about kicking urban design to the curb like a mangy puppy.

September 21, 2009 - Jeffrey Barg

Christopher Hume talks to Joe Berridge, a Toronto planner who has been appointed to Britain's Commission on Architecture and the Built Environment, about the power of urban design.

September 15, 2009 - The Toronto Star

This week's episode of Smart City features a discussion with planner Larry Beasley about how love can be an economic driver for cities, and how planning around emotions can improve cities.

September 6, 2009 - Smart City

The Philadelphia neighborhood of Francisville is about to get an urban makeover, but two competing visions have very different ideas of what that means.

July 28, 2009 - The Philadelphia Inquirer