January 27th, 2012
Urban Planet is a daily roundup of blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We’ll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues.
Highways can carve up and scar urban neighbourhoods, which is why many North American cities are looking for ways to cover this infrastructure and restore community. The Chicago Tribune explores the experience of Columbus, Ohio which saw increased pedestrian traffic and business for local stores following the installation of the "Cap at Union Station". But with a $10 million+ price tag, is the cap a viable option for other centres?
Image from PlasticsSafety
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January 26th, 2012
Gorgeous! Now, what time is the next bus back to town?
Editor's note: continuing on this week's theme, today's post is from a Spacing Ottawa contributor who has recently relocated to another city. Like Adam Bentley in Edmonton, David McClelland has taken his curiosity and urbanist point of view with him to a new home in the Niagara region.
A geographer by training, Dave was also the editor of the excellent "Ottawa Project", now in hiatus while he works through a a post-graduate certification in Environmental Management and Assessment at Niagara College.
I came across this article in the St. Catharine Standard last week, and it's been on my mind since then. In the fall, when I first moved to the area, the Regional Municipality of Niagara introduced a regional transit system, which runs between the major urban areas in the region: St. Catharines, Niagara Falls, Welland, Port Colbourne, and Fort Erie. In theory, it seems like the perfect place for such a system, as these five cities contain a total of approximately 313,000 people, including over 30,000 post-secondary students. But the buses are extremely quiet, and I've seen some criticism on the Internet that the system is just a waste of money. So what to do? Does it make sense to continue throwing money into a regional transit system that has seen very slow ridership growth? If you know me, you may not be surprised to learn my answer is "yes." Continue reading this post
Urban Planet is a daily roundup of blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We’ll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues.
Spiegel speaks with starchitect Rem Koolhaas about the magazine's new building, generic urban design, the changing role of the architect and the negative outcomes of commercial and bureaucratic impulses.
Image from Spiegel
For more stories from around the planet, check out Spacing on Facebook and Twitter. Do you have an Urban Planet worthy article you'd like to share? Send the link to urbanplanet@spacing.ca
January 25th, 2012
Urban Planet is a daily roundup of blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We’ll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues.
We often think of architecture as a permanent art form, but temporary installations are becoming more and more pervasive. Think pop-up shops, post-disaster shelters, mobile food carts, streets cafes and pocket parks. Allison Arieff at the New York Times considers the challenges and advantages that temporary architecture poses to buildings and the planning process.
Image from Alliance for Downtown New York
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This just hit the Spacing Ottawa inblox from the organizers of SAW City Debates:
Wednesday, January 25, 2012 at 7PM
Galerie SAW Gallery
Screening and Panel Discussion: $5 / Students and Seniors: $3 / Members: Free
Galerie SAW Gallery will launch its new multidisciplinary speaker series entitled SAW City Debates with the Ottawa premiere of the feature-length documentary Urbanized by New York City- and London-based filmmaker Gary Hustwit (director of Helvetica and Objectified), which will be followed by a no-holds-barred debate with invited speakers Andrew Cohen from the Ottawa Citizen, Deborah Margo from the University of Ottawa and Barrie McKenna from The Globe and Mail. They will discuss their ideas for the future of Ottawa's cityscape. Continue reading this post
January 24th, 2012
Urban Planet is a daily roundup of blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We’ll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues.
When trying to plan pedestrian environments, the answer may be to follow the crowd. Mehdi Moussaid of the Max Planck Institute and Dirk Helbing of ETH Zurich study pedestrian behaviour. Using computer models and particle theory, they analyze decision making patterns of people travelling by foot. When encountering an oncoming pedestrian, will you choose to pass on the left or right? It turns out that factors such as density, culture and grouping have a significant impact on such decisions. As The Economist points out, understanding this behaviour could improve everything from traffic control to emergency evacuations to the haj.
Image from Omar Chatriwala
For more stories from around the planet, check out Spacing on Facebook and Twitter. Do you have an Urban Planet worthy article you'd like to share? Send the link to urbanplanet@spacing.ca
Editor's note: This past fall Spacing Ottawa contributor Adam Bentley moved to Edmonton to take up a position with the provincial government. Adam was well-known in Spacing Ottawa circles as the creative mind behind concepts such as Ottawa's Transit Map Of The Future and the inter-city Urban Gondola.
Adam has had several months to form some impressions of his new home, and he recently posted the following piece to The Charette, Edmonton's planning and design blog. It is cross-posted here with the author's permission.
I remember one of the first things I noticed when I moved to Edmonton this past fall was a local interpretation written on a bench of the Van Morrison quote that said “Edmonton. Don’t like it? Get the fuck out”. That comment encapsulated the initial conversations I had with Edmontonians of various political and cultural stripes about urban planning in the city. Edmonton is what it is. Edmonton is not meant to look good or sound exciting. Its purpose is to provide the basic necessities for the individual to prosper—at least financially. However as I learned more about my new home city, I realized Edmonton is a breeding ground for progressive ideas about ecologically sustainable living. As a new resident and urban planner, I would like to share with you my initial observations and suggestions about Edmonton’s land use patterns, built form, and transportation infrastructure. These observations are not based on much background research. I apologize in advance if I pass judgment without knowing the context. Continue reading this post
January 23rd, 2012
Urban Planet is a daily roundup of blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We’ll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues.
If there's too much congestion, why not build more roads? The laws of congestion and transportation demand management aren't necessarily intuitive. Which is why Brent Toderian, chief planner for the City of Vancouver, was so pleased to see comic book hero The Flash discuss the law of congestion in a recent issue (see it on Planetizen). Toderian considers cities that have heeded Flash's call to scale back road construction and the role that pop culture can play in communicating complex messages to a broad audience.
For more stories from around the planet, check out Spacing on Facebook and Twitter. Do you have an Urban Planet worthy article you'd like to share? Send the link to urbanplanet@spacing.ca
