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The city has changed. The city is always changing, but COVID-19 has accelerated the process. From New York and Hong Kong to Brisbane, Manaus and Copenhagen, the pandemic is reshaping the ways we think about urban space. “In a matter of just two or three months, people have completely... View full entry
This post is brought to you by TerraViva Competitions TerraViva Competitions launches TACTICAL URBANISM NOW!, a new architecture and design competition focused on the transformation of contemporary public spaces. Prizes up to 4.000 € will be awarded to the winners... View full entry
We can see our cities for the first time without the choking traffic, dirty air and honking horns that have so often made them intolerable.
Throughout the world, the coronavirus has forced extreme changes in our behavior in just days. And we’re already seeing the impact of those changes: On Monday, for example, Los Angeles had the cleanest air of any major city in the world.
— The New York Times
In today's NYT Opinion piece, Allison Arieff attempts to look at the benefits of the global social distancing experiment, from the cleaner city air through unprecedented street access for pedestrians and cyclists to potentially lasting design interventions in the public urban space. "Covid... View full entry
Pandemics [...] are anti-urban. They exploit our impulse to congregate. And our response so far — social distancing — not only runs up against our fundamental desires to interact, but also against the way we have built our cities and plazas, subways and skyscrapers. They are all designed to be occupied and animated collectively. For many urban systems to work properly, density is the goal, not the enemy. — The New York Times
Michael Kimmelman, architecture critic for The New York Times, waxes wistfully over the inherent collectivity of urban life as the COVID-19 pandemic shuts down cities around the globe. Describing the current state of affairs, Kimmelman writes, “Today’s threat is altogether another... View full entry
We've covered a sprawling variety of urban planning stories on Archinect this year, but as the new decade is mere hours away from the land of the densification-averse, we'd like to raise our glass and salute the fine people at Planning Peeps for tirelessly brightening our days with the memes even... View full entry
The NYC has announced that Group Project is the winner of the BetterBin Competition, which called for designers to reimagine New York City's classic green, wire mesh waste basket. The two finalist each produced 12 prototypes that were tested in three NYC neighborhoods over a 90 day period... View full entry
When tracking the performance of cities across the United States, various factors come into play. Growth in population and employment are often the first to be researched and analyzed. However, not all cities are seen and discussed in the same light. CityLab co-founder and... View full entry
Deborah brings extensive experience to Van Alen in successfully mobilizing professionals across various sectors —architecture, urban design, ecology, public health--—to take an interdisciplinary approach that effects positive change, particularly among underserved communities. — Van Allen Institute
Deborah Marton has been selected to lead the New York City-based Van Alen Institute as the group's new executive director. Marton will replace David van der Leer, who announced plans to step down in October 2018. Marton is currently the executive director of the New York Restoration Project... View full entry
These are all elements of what planner James Rojas calls “Latino Urbanism,” an informal reordering of public and private space that reflects traditions from Spanish colonialism or even going back to indigenous Central and South American culture.
Rojas, who coined the term “Latino Urbanism,” has been researching and writing about it for 30 years. His Los Angeles-based planning firm is called Place It!
— Streetsblog
Streetsblog interviews MIT-trained, LA-based urban planner James Rojas. When asked if and how principles of Latino Urbanism are being applied to traditional, tactical urbanism, Rojas says: "A lot of it is based on values. As a Latino planner, our whole value towards place is, 'How do you survive... View full entry
University of Southern California School of Architecture appointed associate professor Alison Hirsch as the new director of the Master of Landscape Architecture + Urbanism program, effective August 2019. As a landscape theorist, designer, and historian, Hirsch’s work focuses on how the... View full entry
In dire need of urban planning memes on this last Friday of the year? Have we got a link for you: Planning Peeps has compiled 2018's gems trending among city planners and urbanism disciples. Check out some of our favorites below and visit Parts 1 and 2 of the full list. All images via... View full entry
In a bold move to address its affordable-housing crisis and confront a history of racist housing practices, Minneapolis has decided to eliminate single-family zoning, a classification that has long perpetuated segregation. — NYT
More speculation on the always-relevant subject of "Old People in Big Cities Afraid of the Sky." #futurism #urbanism #demographics #climatecrisis #Mid21C — McKinsey & Company
Joe Frem, Vineet Rajadhyaksha and Jonathan Woetzel report on four major forces (the competition for talent, an increasingly connected world, the Anthropocene age, and technology’s ever-expanding role) shaping today’s cities and offer a 14-point vision for thriving cities of the future. h/t... View full entry
To create a better general culture of understanding around architecture, urban design and urban development issues, we need to use all of the narrative tools that we have at our disposal, claims Cassim Shepard in the interview we did with him entitled "Understanding Urban Narratives: What Cannot be Measured" for this new issue of MONU, "Narrative Urbanism". — http://www.monu-magazine.com/news.htm
“To create a better general culture of understanding around architecture, urban design and urban development issues, we need to use all of the narrative tools that we have at our disposal, claimsCassim Shepardin the interview we did with him entitled“Understanding Urban Narratives: What Cannot... View full entry
Maurice Cox grew up in Brooklyn, a borough whose name has since become a global shorthand for gentrification. An urban designer, architectural educator, and former mayor of the City of Charlottesville, VA, in 2015 Cox became head of the planning department of Detroit, where he hopes to prevent the forces that have reshaped his childhood home from taking over the Motor City. [...] Cox is using design to catalyze growth that’s incremental and closely in line with the city’s strong sense of self. — Urban Omnibus
Urban Omnibus presents an insightful conversation between Maurice Cox, Director of Planning and Development for the City of Detroit, and Marc Norman, founder of the consulting firm “Ideas and Action” and Associate Professor of Practice at UMich's Taubman School of Architecture and Urban... View full entry
