Visualizing Density

"What Makes Density Compatible?

Some quick observations about the examples above and key elements that make them appear more or less livable or attractive.

• Good streetscape;
• Vehicular access elements;
• Building design; 
• Façade massing;
• Façade materials & detailing;
• Variety."

from: https://www.theurbanist.org/2017/05/04/visualizing-compatible-density/

Front Yard Businesses

 Video of the week:

"How do we add mixed uses in single detached neighbourhoods? People have some ideas…"

Implementation can be as simple as:

1. Use corners first;
2. Expand on what's already happening;
3. Create social spaces, and;
4. Create agreements between neighbours.

Video of the week - Green Roofs in New York City

"We took a field trip to the largest green roof in New York City. Then we imagined what the city could be like if all of its roof space was green."

Post pandemic urban planning

"From Auckland to Bogota, urban planners are already adapting our cities to lockdown. But will the changes last, and which more radical design proposals -- be it sewer monitors or "epidemic skyscrapers" -- will shape the post-pandemic city?"



“Six feet could be the new unit we use when we think about cities and public parks.”

from: https://www.cnn.com/style/article/cities-design-coronavirus/index.html

Maps of Canada

"It’s always a surprise when people first learn that the very tip of southwestern Ontario is at a lower latitude than parts of California—which got us wondering: How do other parts of the country line up with the rest of the world? Here are the results, using Earthtools.org. Most of the cities on this map, and their global counterparts, lie within less than 50 km of each other, latitudinally speaking, of course. Only Quebec-Ulan Bator and Fort McMurray-Moscow are a full degree apart."



"Here’s a different way to look at Canada’s population. The circles represent the relative population density of each province. And yes, we know people do live in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, but there are so few of them, and their geographies so vast, that you’d have to go a couple of decimal places before they’d register."



from: http://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/putting-canada-on-the-map/

30 years of building transit in China

"30 years of transportation data on display, makes the development of the past few decades seem all the more mind-boggling."

"The boom in China’s metro construction is likely to continue. In 2016, the national government also eased the rules on which cities could build metro projects, in the hopes of accommodating increasing urbanization. Previously, construction had been limited to cities with 3 million people and $1.53 billion in annual revenue."

from: https://www.inverse.com/article/31849-china-metro-gif-visualization

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

Fun Friday Links

http://www.placemakers.com/2013/05/09/identifying-the-sabermetrics-of-urbanism/


10 steps
http://buildabetterburb.org/ten-steps-toward-pedestrian-friendly-suburbs/

Zombies
http://vanishingnewyork.blogspot.ca/2016/08/zombie-urbanism.html

The future of cities
"What does “the future of cities” mean? To much of the developing world, it might be as simple as aspiring to having your own toilet, rather than sharing one with over 100 people. To a family in Detroit, it could mean having non-toxic drinking water. For planners and mayors, it’s about a lot of things — sustainability, economy, inclusivity, and resilience.
Most of us can hope we can spend a little less time on our commutes to work and a little more time with our families. For a rich white dude up in a 50th floor penthouse, “the future of cities” might mean zipping around in a flying car while a robot jerks you off and a drone delivers your pizza. For many companies, the future of cities is simply about business and money, presented to us as buzzwords like “smart city” and “the city of tomorrow.”


from: https://medium.com/@oscarboyson/the-future-of-cities-ba4e26c807fe#.3yf4y3ni6

https://pricetags.wordpress.com/2016/07/06/the-true-story-of-the-rise-and-fall-of-the-country-lane/



http://www.citylab.com/cityfixer/2016/12/a-chat-with-the-mayor-of-roundabout-city-usa/511466/

and:



"LEED is everywhere you go—just look around. In your neighborhood, your office building, your local school, your church and beyond, the LEED green building rating system is changing how you live, learn, work and play."

Housing typologies

... for Quebec:

"Why Québec? Because (...) Québec has a special focus on low-rise developments lacking in a lot of North America."

Side note: low rise is usually under 6 storys. Reference: https://www.portlandoregon.gov/bps/article/564018

from: http://urbankchoze.blogspot.ca/2017/03/a-catalog-of-density-quebeccanada.html

Tall buildings and barren plazas in 1986

"In 1986, CIVITAS initiated a study, No More Tall Stories, which makes the case for lower buildings, with the same heights as their neighbours, and elimination of plazas along Upper East Side avenues. Paul Newman narrates the video illustrating the issue. For more information about this and other CIVITAS initiatives, visit our website: www.civitasnyc.org"

New York view

"Times Square, New York, USA. A view from below"

from: https://brightside.me/article/100-best-photographs-without-photoshop-46555/

New study about bike shares

"Here's a remarkable fact: Not a single person has died using bike share in the United States."

"Bike sharing has seen explosive growth since 2007, with systems in at least 94 cities and more than 35 million trips taken. There have been some serious injuries, yes. But — knock on wood — we've seen zero US deaths from bike sharing so far1. Contrast this with the overall estimated cycling fatality rate of 21 deaths per 100 million trips."

from: http://www.vox.com/2016/4/3/11349856/bike-share-safety

Privately Owned Public Spaces

"The Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections (SDCI) has wrapped up review of the city’s extensive network of privately-owned public spaces (POPS). The current tally of POPS stands at 40 stretching from the University District to West Seattle."

"Privately Owned Public Spaces (POPS) are open to the public, and include plazas, arcades, atriums, hillclimbs, and green streets. These spaces are allowed or required by rules in the Seattle Land Use Code that have been in place for several decades, and are generally located in Seattle's Center City. Other POPS may be open to the public as a result of a street vacation (permanent closure of a street). These spaces can be located in neighborhoods throughout Seattle, wherever a public space is created as a public benefit ."

from: http://www.seattle.gov/dpd/toolsresources/pops/default.htm

"POPS come in many shapes and sizes from plaza, hillside terraces, and pocket parks to hill climb assists, atriums, and mid-block connections. The City has had incentives and requirements on the books for more than a few decades now to develop POPS in exchange for additional development capacity and street vacations, the latter of which is typically the result of a public benefits package. In either case, development proponents voluntarily choose to offer POPS as part of development proposal."

from: https://www.theurbanist.org/2016/11/04/seattles-update-on-privately-owned-public-spaces/

This process requires oversight and proper planning since its ultimate goal is to apease both developer and everyday user. "In New York, planning officials in the late 1950s began offering private developers additional height and density in exchange for light and public open space. This “incentive zoning” generated hundreds of plazas, arcades, walkways and pocket parks owned and maintained by property managers. New York journalist Adee Braun has described the Big Apple’s POPS as “urban nesting dolls [that] were built to provide the public with shortcuts, shelter and gathering spaces.”

from: http://spacing.ca/toronto/2015/04/21/parks-crisis-part-6-privately-owned-public-spaces-answer-parks-deficit/

More info here from a past blog post:
http://civilizedurbanplanning.blogspot.ca/2016/05/privatization-of-urban-planning.html

Books for City Lovers!

How many have you read?

"The range of city living books we found is wide, consisting of both fiction and non-fiction. The books focus on individual stories within a city, specific cities around the world, economies that sprout from and sustain cities, and so much more. Several of the books focus on a specific aspect of city living like green or sustainable design, while other books give the history of how cities came about and why so many people gravitate towards them."



"Updated with a new Introduction by the authors and a foreword by Richard Florida, this book is a comprehensive guide book for urban designers, planners, architects, developers, environmentalists, and community leaders that illustrates how existing suburban developments can be redesigned into more urban and more sustainable places. While there has been considerable attention by practitioners and academics to development in urban cores and new neighborhoods on the periphery of cities, there has been little attention to the redesign and redevelopment of existing suburbs. The authors, both architects and noted experts on the subject, show how development in existing suburbs can absorb new growth and evolve in relation to changed demographic, technological, and economic conditions."

"The American Dream of a single-family home on its own expanse of yard still captures the imagination. But with a growing population —100 million more people expected in the United States by 2050—rising energy and transportation costs, disappearing farmland and open space, and the clear need for greater energy efficiency and a reduction in global warming emissions, the future built environment must include more density. Landscape architect and land planner Julie Campoli and aerial photographer Alex S. MacLean have joined forces to create a full-color, richly illustrated book to help planners, designers, public officials, and citizens better understand, and better communicate to others, the concept of density as it applies to the residential environment."

from: http://www.bookscrolling.com/best-books-living-city/

The golden goose of urban economics and development

How do we build a place which works for all?

"Globally, the United Nations estimates that the number of humans populating the planet in 2100 will range from as few as 6.2 billion—almost a billion less than today—to as many as 15.8 billion on the high end."

from: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/human-overpopulation-still-an-issue-of-concern/

Population densities

In the same vain as this post, have a look at these maps for Australia and Europe.

First, Australia:



"The 3 areas in blue above, contain roughly 50% of Australia’s population, which means that the area in white contains the other 50%."

from: http://brilliantmaps.com/50-50-oz/

and Europe:





"As difficult as it is to believe, the black and blue areas above, each have exactly the same number of people living in the them."

from: http://brilliantmaps.com/european-population-density/

Example of a complete neighbourhood

"Vancouver Urbanism: Walkability, Bikability, the Public Square, District Energy, and Urban Agriculture"

"Dense mixed residential and commercial mean there’s always people about. Pubs, coffee shops, and restaurants abound. Architecture and public amenities draw people together."

from: http://www.keanegruending.com/urban-sustainability/vancouver-urbanism-walkability-bikability-the-public-square-district-energy-and-urban-agriculture/

Instagram pick 3

Even when there is #greyskies, there are still #prettyflowers

A photo posted by Cherish (@cherish2028) on Aug 9, 2016 at 1:16pm PDT

Innovative density in residential

"The following ten projects—all completed over the past five years—model strategies for making micro housing more livable, minimizing the apparent density of new developments in low-rise areas, using modular construction to save costs, incorporating significant amounts of foliage and green space, and providing expansive communal areas."

"Bestor Architecture grouped the two- and three-story dwellings, each measuring less than 1,920 square feet (178 sq m), into a total of nine volumes to conceal their actual density. Most of the volumes also have pitched roofs, blending in with the surrounding single-family houses. The units are placed around a pedestrian-friendly street, which provides room to park cars and doubles as a plaza for residents; a few units have enclosed garages. Close to public transit lines, Blackbirds was completed in 2015."

"To shorten the construction schedule and thereby cut costs for a seven-story residential building in upper Manhattan, local architecture firm Gluck+ and local developers Jeffrey Brown and Kim Frank opted to take advantage of modular construction. Fifty-six modules were prefabricated and factory-finished off site in Brooklyn while construction workers poured the concrete foundation. On top of the first floor, which houses commercial space, the modules were stacked to form 28 residential units, ranging from studios to three-bedroom apartments. The process took ten months, shaving six months off the construction schedule for a traditionally built multifamily residence of the same size. Completed in 2014, the individual apartments were pushed back or pulled forward slightly to vary the street facade. A central courtyard brings in natural light, and many of the units have private terraces and outdoor space. Twenty percent of the units are designated as affordable."

from: http://urbanland.uli.org/planning-design/ulx-innovative-density/