urbanism without effort

Vancouver Chuck Wolfe

A Twitter Feed that Sings About Placemaking

"My twitter stream is alive with the sound of placemaking," writes Chuck Wolfe. While preparing for this week's Placemaking Week in Vancouver, he explains the importance of PPS-led programming and hopes for various panels, proceedings and events.

September 12, 2016 - The Huffington Post

Visioning Edges in Cities, and the Spaces Beyond

In an inspirational essay about the undeveloped boundaries of the public domain (such as street-ends), Chuck Wolfe urges innovation in city spaces where we "blend the familiar with the edge of the unknown."

April 9, 2015 - The Huffington Post

Using Urban Observation to 'Ghost-Bust' Cities

Chuck Wolfe champions urban observation, emphasizing "ghosts" that are important to the authenticity of today's urban change, like oral histories among indigenous peoples passing on cultural traditions from one generation to the next.

March 27, 2015 - The Huffington Post

Dublin Skyline

Reading Cities Cover to Cover, and Why

Chuck Wolfe underscores the importance of a holistic view of urban places, referencing themes of common experience, aesthetics, feelings of happiness, safety, or security—a basic narrative of the city that often goes beyond first impressions.

February 11, 2015 - The Huffington Post

The Human Dimension of the Physical City

In his latest two contributions from the south of France, Chuck Wolfe reminds urbanists of the backdrop of the human dimension of affinity, conversation and daily rituals that stand behind the physical, human scale.

November 18, 2014 - The Huffington Post

Recalling Our Basic Pride of Place

In the fifth of his "place-decoding" series from France, Chuck Wolfe recalls how we carry with us the ability to mine pride from place, even in places that are, perhaps, least expected to shine.

October 25, 2014 - The Huffington Post

Exploring the 'Finesse of the Avenue'

In his fourth "place-decoding" essay from France, Chuck Wolfe illustrates how a traditional placemaking intervention is especially powerful when underlying urban fundamentals align.

October 9, 2014 - Huffington Post

The Look and Feel of 'Inherently Urban'

Greek orators, current solution-based efforts, and 25 photographs remind us of the central role of human opportunity in the urban environment.

October 1, 2014 - The Huffington Post

The Importance of Inter-Urban Walkability

In his third "place-decoding" essay from France, Chuck Wolfe recalls all that we can learn from walking between settled places.

September 25, 2014 - The Huffington Post

The Option of Sensing the City

In his second Huffington Post article on "place-decoding," Chuck Wolfe argues for considered attention to enhancing people's abilities to discern the city around them.

September 13, 2014 - The Huffington Post

Learning to 'Place-Decode' the Elements of Urbanism

Chuck Wolfe champions the role of France's attachment to place as a laboratory for decoding the essential elements of urbanism.

September 5, 2014 - The Huffington Post

Interpreting the 'Timeless and Time-Bound' in Cities

In his latest essay on interpretation of the urban environment, Chuck Wolfe suggests that if we take away context clues cities become matrices -- with blank cells to complete -- where each of us personalizes how space meets time.

August 21, 2014 - The Huffington Post

Elfreth's Alley

Revisiting the Common Sense Elements of City Life

Chuck Wolfe revisits five instances of how we can learn from the urbanism we already have.

August 8, 2014 - The Huffington Post

Walkable Street

The Underlying Patterns of Urban Street Design

Based on empirical study, J. Alexander Maxwell and fellow University of Strathclyde researchers, in collaboration with Chuck Wolfe, argue for recalling historic patterns of pedestrian city settings in contemporary urban design and policies.

March 20, 2014 - London School of Economics and Political Science - American Politics and Policy Blog

Seattle SUper Bowl Parade 12th Man Flag

Placemaking Lessons Learned from Seattle's Super Bowl Parade

Last Wednesday, an estimated 700,000—more than the city's population of 635,000—welcomed the Seahawks home, without major incident. Writing in The Atlantic Cities, Chuck Wolfe describes five lessons for placemaking through words and photographs.

February 8, 2014 - The Atlantic Cities

The Mythical Search for 'Congruity' in the City

In the eighth installment of the Urban Juxtapositions series profiled in Planetizen on January 16, Chuck Wolfe asks if we are using the right language when it comes to densifying urban spaces.

February 1, 2014 - myurbanist

Nice Tramway

Three Everyday Ways to Inspire Urban Change

Chuck Wolfe suggests three, perhaps non-traditional ideas for how to inspire acceptance of change in our cities through accessible experiences.

June 23, 2013 - The Huffington Post

Urban Ruins and the High Line Next Door

Chuck Wolfe suggests we all have the inspiration within us to envision how to remake our cities--from the conjecture of a Seattle restauranteur about Seattle's monorail to neighborhood examples of "we used this before, let's use it again".

May 26, 2013 - Crosscut

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