Posts Tagged ‘urban planning’
The 50-Year Anniversary of “Death and Life of Great American Cities”
2011 has thus far passed largely unmarked as the 50th anniversary of the publication of Jane Jacobs’ influential book on urban planning, The Death and Life of Great American Cities. In 1961, the book was as close to a blockbuster as the topic of [...]
Shareable | Architectural Myopia: Designing for Industry, Not People
In the last half-century, the clear result of “architectural myopia” is buildings whose makers have been so concerned with the drama of their appearance that they fail on the most fundamental human criteria. They isolate people; they do not [...]
The Atlantic Cities | Debunking the Cul-de-Sac
Earlier neighborhoods were literally built on a scale for the human body, with architectural embellishments at eye level and blocks and sidewalks designed for foot travel. The human measuring stick hasn’t changed much over the last 200 years, and [...]
The Public Realm at 11th & Pearl
This article describes a few of my observations, questions and ideas related to the recent concept submittal for the 11th and Pearl redevelopment project (available here -- 15 mb pdf). I read about the project in the newspaper a few weeks ago, and [...]
New Urban Network | Cities for People
The biggest mistake in creating public spaces is to make them too large, Gehl says. His motto: “When in doubt, leave some yards out.” .... That rule has often been disregarded by modernist designers, who tend to make buildings and public spaces [...]
NYTimes.com | Across Europe, Irking Drivers Is Urban Policy
Store owners in Zurich had worried that the closings would mean a drop in business, but that fear has proved unfounded, Mr. Fellmann said, because pedestrian traffic increased 30 to 40 percent where cars were banned. Read the entire article at [...]
Extending Boulder’s Urban Farming Heritage
Elizabeth Long, circa 1917-1924 (Carnegie Library) The Boulder City Council met recently to explore the possible purchase of a conservation easement on the Long's Gardens site at 3240 Broadway, Boulder. The site consists of 25.1 acres which is [...]
In Search of the Magic City: Making Pedestrian Places in an Automotive Culture
I'm looking at the April 1961 issue of Road & Track ("the motor enthusiasts' magazine") which I bought when I was twelve. Above the cover photo, a time-lapse shot of the ocean-front highway in nighttime Santa Monica (white and red streaks [...]
CSMonitor | Downtown need a makeover? More cities are razing urban highways
"For people who live and work around , they always had huge negative side effects: They broke up the urban fabric, were noisy, and divided cities," says Ted Shelton, a professor of architecture at the University of Tennessee who has studied urban [...]
The Atlantic | City Limits: A Conversation With Edward Glaeser
Edward Glaeser is high on cities. Very high, in fact. In “How Skyscrapers Can Save The City” The Atlantic, February 2011 the Harvard economist puts the high-rise at the heart of a newly accessible, affordable, vital and sustainable metropolis. [...]
