Meanwhile over on Instagram

#afternoonwalk #coalharbour #downtown #vancouver

A post shared by Cherish (@cherish2028) on May 26, 2017 at 8:04pm PDT

Sprawl vs. density

"This combination of faster population growth in outlying areas and bigger price increases in cities points to limited housing supply as a curb on urban growth, pushing people out to the suburbs. It’s a reminder that where people live reflects not only what they want — but also what’s available and what it costs."



"A few large metro areas did, in fact, become more urban between 2010 and 2016. "



from: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/22/upshot/seattle-climbs-but-austin-sprawls-the-myth-of-the-return-to-cities.html

New ways to build shopping malls

"Hong Kong’s urban mall developments have become the envy of other cities—including Shenzhen and Shanghai—that are looking for ways to build compact, transit-oriented, lucrative developments. The Asian hyper-dense urban mall is also making an appearance in American cities. Miami has Brickell City Centre, a five-story mall in the heart of the city. Covering three city blocks, it’s topped by three high-rises (and was built by a Hong Kong developer). New York City is building a seven-story mall attached to two skyscrapers in Hudson Yards, America’s largest private development. The Santiago Calatrava-designed Oculus—the centerpiece of the World Trade Center—has a mall with over 100 stores, with its white-ribbed atrium attracting an army of tourists taking pictures with selfie-sticks. Since the hub connects office buildings with train and subway stations, the stores are also “irrigated” by the 50,000 commuters who pass by each weekday. In short, the mall isn’t “dead”—it’s just changing."



from: https://www.citylab.com/design/2017/05/decline-of-shopping-malls-hong-kong-design/526764

Street design guide

"One of the central arguments made by the guide is that most street design prioritizes private motor transport over not only every other mode of transit but also over use of street space that does not involve transport. In contrast, the guide lays out a hierarchy of user priority that sees pedestrians as the most important users to consider with cyclists and transit, people doing business and providing services and users of personal motorized vehicles following in descending order."



"In the foreword to the guide, NACTO chair and former New York transportation commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan said, “For the last century, streets around the world have been built around automobiles. Wide lanes for traffic and little room for people became the rules of the road in most corners of the globe, dividing cities, stifling economic growth and creating dangerous congestion. This guide marks the next step toward changing the old road hierarchy, with designs that save lives, prioritize people and transit, reflect diverse communities, and better serve everyone on the street.”

from: http://architectureau.com/articles/Free-global-street-design-guide-launched/

Better mental health through urban design

"Individuals residing in cities are more likely to develop a mental illness such as depression, anxiety or schizophrenia than those that live in rural areas. When individuals are suffering from a mental health illness, it affects more than just the individual - it impacts their surroundings as well. In this article we explore how cities not only affect mental health but also how designers can help reduce mental health illnesses related to urban design."

from: https://caddetailsblog.com/post/2017/3/20/xzf1wv7lsiu03d6npru0dexj31b5hj

also from:  https://qz.com/934976/mental-health-problems-of-people-who-live-in-cities-need-to-be-solved-by-both-urban-designers-and-health-professionals/

"But urban planners can design the urban environment in ways that systematically address mental-health opportunities. For example:

• Expanding access to green spaces—such as parks, street trees, or even office-window views of nature—has been proven to benefit mental health.
• “Active design” is not simply a physical health effort: Because regular exercise can be an effective way to address some forms of mild depression (as well as reducing anxiety and some of the symptoms of dementia, ADHD, and even schizophrenia), interventions like creating walking circuits in a park or installing safe cycling infrastructure can have substantial mental-health benefits.
• Positive social interaction increases self esteem and feelings of belonging as well as mitigating loneliness and anxiety. In order to encourage this, public spaces can install features like benches and chess tables to facilitate social interaction and provide settings for community activities."

Cities - Melbourne, Australia

"Melbourne in Motion is a time-lapse video which will take you on a journey through Melbourne. The distinctive style of this video is intended to stimulate the feeling of traveling through time and space in Melbourne."



"This time-lapse video is 4 minutes in duration, and features more than 40 different locations in Melbourne with about 20,000 images which were edited and composited in 3 months. Regardless of whether you are new to Melbourne or have lived in the city for a long time, this time traveling experience will provide you with new visual perspectives for this vibrant city."

Happy streets and sidewalks!

"Public space designs that provoke fascination can boost human wellbeing. We are excited to share with you the results of our latest groundbreaking public space in public space psychology."





"Can more fascinating public space designs actually boost human wellbeing?" Apparently.
"Our results suggest that cities can build health and happiness by pursuing a set of design methods we have come to call Restorative Urbanism."

from: http://thehappycitylab.com/project/shore-to-core/