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With revenue from cinema and streaming falling in recent years, income from Disney’s “experience” division is soaring, and property development is the next logical step. Disney tried it before in Florida, first with utopian plans for Epcot (the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow), followed by the quaint town of Celebration, but Storyliving takes the branded living experience to the next level. — Oliver Wainwright, The Guardian
Writing for The Guardian, critic Oliver Wainwright reflects on plans for a major Disney-themed development at Rancho Mirage in the California desert. As we reported initially in 2022 and in a follow-up last year, the 2,000-home Storyliving by Disney scheme will include a... View full entry
The Boston City Council passed a measure Wednesday to shift planning authority away from the Boston Planning and Development Agency, a body that's reshaped much of the city in the 20th century and has faced criticism for the power it wields over building and urban renewal.
The newly minted Boston Planning Department will assume many of the responsibilities, property and staff currently under the old agency, which will retain oversight of large developments.
— WBUR.org
As per WBUR, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu has been adamant about phasing out the current planning system during her time in office, calling it "an anachronism plagued by lack of transparency and misguided priorities." Other critics have amplified her call, arguing that it inculcates structural racism... View full entry
Zaha Hadid Architects has designed a waterfront master plan for downtown Muscat in Oman. Under the plans, named the Al Khuwair development, the existing administrative and industrial areas will become an urban district with an expected population of 64,500. Image credit: X UniverseCG... View full entry
The City of Toronto recently completed a groundbreaking study of its ‘thermal comfort’ done by Buro Happold and Dialog. The work will provide valuable lessons to urban planners, developers, and other stakeholders as the country’s largest metropolitan area prepares a strategy to suitably... View full entry
Details of a new comprehensive master plan by Cooper Robertson for the University of Maryland’s flagship campus in College Park were revealed Tuesday by the firm following its initial announcement in March of last year. By prioritizing strategies for “holistic growth,” the university says it... View full entry
New research from two U.S. universities has drawn a link between socially vulnerable populations and urban heat island effect. The team, drawn from the University of Texas at San Antonio and Pennsylvania State University, used Philadelphia as a case study to summarize how more vulnerable people... View full entry
Details of a new master plan from Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) for Bhutan’s future Gelephu Special Administration Region have been made public this week in the South Asian country. ‘Mindfulness City’ is a multifaceted economic hub designed by the firm’s Landscape and Urban Design Team to... View full entry
The Urban Land Institute (ULI) has today announced Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo as its selection for the 2023 ULI Prize for Visionaries in Urban Development, one of the industry’s leading honors for community building and development worldwide. “La Dauphine,” as she is better known to the press... View full entry
The University of Miami School of Architecture has announced its participation in a master planning project that will help develop a smart city in the capital region of Guyana, South America. Both students and faculty from the school will join with others in UM’s Advanced Study of the Americas... View full entry
MVRDV and Orange Architects have announced a new master plan for a mixed-used district in Kyiv, Ukraine, that's meant to spark a revitalization of the capital’s downtown commercial area. The design for the NUVO complex calls for a five-building mix of new structures united by a central shared... View full entry
A master plan project at Harvard University from Studio Gang, Henning Larsen, SCAPE, and Utile has begun construction in the Boston neighborhood of Allston. The 36-acre Enterprise Research Campus (or ERC) will coalesce an area across the Charles River from the Ivy League campus into a new... View full entry
Noise pollution often underestimated but significantly impacting our lives, has become a pressing concern in major cities worldwide. From the bustling streets of Brussels to the vibrant ambience of Paris, urban dwellers are increasingly raising their voices against incessant noise. — Brussels Times
Exposure to noise pollution above an annual average of 53 decibels has been shown to shorten lifespans for city dwellers. Brussels, where 70% of residents are at-risk, has begun experimenting with pleasing “soundscapes” among other, more practical interventions that include lower speed limits... View full entry
A group affiliated with New York Mets franchise owner Steve Cohen has revealed a proposal for a new mixed-use entertainment district and casino that would occupy a transforming portion of the Willets Point, Queens neighborhood if approved. The $8 billion proposal covers 50 acres (20 of which will... View full entry
Austin on Thursday became the largest city in the country to stop requiring new developments to have a set amount of parking — a move aimed at both fighting climate change and spurring more housing construction amid the city’s affordability crisis. The Austin City Council voted 8-2 Thursday to wipe out minimum parking requirements for virtually every kind of property citywide. That includes single-family homes, apartment buildings, offices and shopping malls. — The Texas Tribune
As noted by The Texas Tribune, housing advocates, developers, and climate activists have increasingly advocated for the erasure of parking requirements, which have been found to drive up housing costs and fuels a dependency on cars. Cities across the country in recent years, including Portland... View full entry
Foster + Partners has unveiled its design for a new master-planned center for the Chinese city of Hangzhou. Organized around a central landscaped axis, the master plan is described by the firm as a “green and interconnected mixed-use quarter.” Image credit: Foster + Partners The central axis... View full entry