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A new "Manifesto for a Better Built Environment" has been published by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), calling on the country’s policymakers to make more urgent priority of the need for better safety, quality, and sustainability in the design and construction of buildings... View full entry
The National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) has just announced a milestone change to the Architect Registration Examination (ARE) process that will affect the ARE 5.0 and any subsequent versions to follow. The organization says it will now do away with its... View full entry
A pair of unprecedented changes to the UK’s Architects Act 1997 has been announced jointly by the British Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and Architects Registration Board (ARB), ending the reciprocal acceptance of qualifications for EU-trained architects that has been... View full entry
The U.S. central bank signaled on Friday it may be getting ready to join international peers in incorporating climate change risk into its assessments of financial stability, and may even take it into account when setting monetary policy. — Reuters
Despite the Trump administration's unabashed rejection of climate science, the United States Federal Reserve is moving in the opposite direction. The shift could impact how America's central bank assesses financial metrics like interest rates and how entities like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac... View full entry
Last week, a coalition of homelessness advocates, non-profits, and tenant groups in San Francisco secured an initiative for November’s ballot that, if passed, would almost double the city’s spending on homeless shelters using an increased gross receipts tax. [...] This news comes just weeks after Seattle—home to companies like Amazon and Starbucks, along with the third-largest homeless population in the country—capitulated on a similar plan. — CityLab
After the swift defeat of Seattle's “Amazon Tax”, big tech cities in California like San Francisco and Mountain View are working on similar initiatives that charge higher taxes on large companies to raise more money for affordable housing. Despite some skepticism, these initiatives might... View full entry
An architecture policy sets an aspirational goal for what we value about the built environment, and helps create a framework for that contribution to culture. The Ordre des architectes du Québec (OAQ) is actively consulting with the government on the establishment of a provincial architecture policy. This is a positive move and shows leadership in the preservation of Canadian culture. It is an example that our federal government should follow. — theglobeandmail.com
Canadian architecture needs the support of a national policy in order to survive the global competition. Canada's architecture must be seen under the umbrella of cultural policies that support local arts, culture, and businesses. As it stands, the country has no architectural policy to speak of... View full entry
The decision was a long time coming for both immigrant- and small-business advocates, who for decades had been pushing for legalization, but the presidential election was a clear galvanizing factor. In L.A., a sanctuary city, the majority of vendors are Central American immigrants who, if they’re undocumented, could face deportation for a misdemeanor charge under President Trump. — Amelia Taylor-Hochberg for CityLab
Los Angeles was the last of the 10 largest American cities to decriminalize vending in February of 2017. There are, however, still many questions to resolve—finer points of vending, such as how much control neighborhoods will have over local vendors, the cost of permits, and staff to enforce... View full entry
"The Conservative Party’s manifesto outlines its vision to further empower communities. Whoever forms the next government should ensure that plans to build high quality housing and infrastructure are linked with industrial and devolution strategies to encourage more jobs and a better quality of life for people across the country." — RIBA President Jane Duncan
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has responded to the publication of the Conservatives manifesto, published earlier today."The RIBA welcomes the Conservatives’ acknowledgment that the UK’s architects are the finest in the world. This is recognition of the vital role that good... View full entry
"I am pleased to see that the Liberal Democrats have recognized the key role of the built environment sector in tackling issues such as energy demand, climate change and urban flooding through their plans for infrastructure and housing.
“Proposals for new housebuilding should be balanced with ambitions to deliver high quality, well designed and sustainable homes across the country.”
— RIBA President Jane Duncan
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has responded to the publication of the Liberal Democrats manifesto, published earlier today. On Brexit:“I warmly welcome the commitment from the Liberal Democrats to protect the rights of existing EU citizens in the UK, and UK citizens in the... View full entry
What are the likely policy goals of a neurosurgeon appointed secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development by a man who can't stop disappointedly tweeting at Alec Baldwin? "There’s not a dearth of qualified Republicans for that job, so if you choose somebody with no background in... View full entry
Part of the challenge throughout California and plenty of other communities...is that we tend to make local policy — and housing policy in particular — as if the only people who matter in a community are the ones who go to bed there at night.
We don't think of people who work but don't "live" there, or who'd like to live there but can't afford to, or who once lived there but had to leave, or who could access better jobs if only they could move there, or who commute through there...
— the Washington Post
You may effectively live your life within, say, San Francisco or Washington, D.C., going to school there, working there, dropping your children at day care there, spending your money and your waking time there. But if, at the end of the day, you go sleep somewhere else, you are invisible to the... View full entry
To help ease California’s housing crisis, Gov. Jerry Brown and state lawmakers are turning to people’s backyards.
Multiple bills with the endorsement of Brown are moving through the Legislature to make it easier for homeowners to build small units on their properties, whether in their garages, as additions to existing homes or as new, freestanding structures.
[Mayor] Eric Garcetti and other supporters hope the relaxed rules will spur backyard home building to combat a housing shortage..
— Los Angeles Times
For more on Los Angeles' major housing crisis, check out these links:Los Angeles sues property owner who allegedly evicted tenants for Airbnb flipLA has a housing crisis – but the problem isn't those fancy new towersMeditating on the "Past Future Housing" of Los Angeles with Morgan Fisher and... View full entry
Today, the New York City Council unanimously passed a set of bills requiring free menstrual-hygiene products in public schools, prisons, and shelters, making it the first city in the nation to pass so-called "menstrual equity" legislation. The city will budget for tampons and pads just like it does for toilet paper and hand soap. — New York Magazine
"Tampons and pads are not currently covered by public-assistance programs and some school-aged girls stay home or use products longer than they should when they get their periods. Women in prisons face rationing and degrading treatment from corrections officers."For more public health-related... View full entry
The Los Angeles Police Commission approved a new policy directing LAPD officers to treat homeless people with “compassion and empathy.”
The policy was meant to be a broad statement – a “philosophy more than it is the nuts and bolts,” [Cmdr Todd] Chamberlain recently told police commissioners. More specifics will come in future directives, he added.
But the new statement [unsurprisingly] was met with some skepticism from homeless advocates.
— Los Angeles Times
“Gary Blasi, a retired UCLA law professor who studies homelessness, said it would take more than a policy to improve interactions between officers and those living on the city’s streets. To do that, he said, the city should limit laws that unfairly criminalize situations involving homeless... View full entry
Self-Driving Coalition for Safer Streets, a lobbying group with the express purpose of advocating autonomous driving. [...]
"Self-driving vehicle technology will make America's roadways safer and less congested," [David Strickland, a former administrator of the NHTSA] said [...]
"The best path for this innovation is to have one clear set of federal standards, and the Coalition will work with policymakers to find the right solutions that will facilitate the deployment of self-driving vehicles."
— theverge.com
Lyft has also been in talks with General Motors (which is not a part of the Self-Driving Coalition) to put out its own group of autonomous for-hire vehicles. Models for Google's vehicles include both bespoke prototypes and Lexus SUVs, and Uber is developing its own testing grounds for self-driving... View full entry
