Is this a better way to build communities?

"It's time to rethink how we build the suburbs." The video of the week examines the flaws of suburban development and how to design neighbourhoods with "more options for more people! 

The video compares a typical suburban development to house 1,000 people versus what could have been with a mix of housing types, introducing mixed-use, and preserving pedestrian connectivity while preserving land, introducing affordable housing, and building financially sustainable neighbourhoods.

Walkability and density isn't just a big city thing - it can be designed well into suburban communities.

Ingredient list for walkable communities

 Walkable communities should have:

1. Small block size;
2. Buildings fronting the street;
3. Mixed land use;
4. Connected streets;
5. On-street parking;
6. Street trees; 
7. Sidewalks; 
8. Narrow streets;
9. Lower traffic speeds, and;
10. Traffic volumes.

from: https://www.cnu.org/publicsquare/2023/12/22/ten-features-walkable-communities

Do you agree? What would you add?

Video of the week: What makes a place beautiful?

 It's not what you think!

"What makes buildings and cities beautiful, and why is beauty so important? How to design for beauty? I was always wondering why everything was getting so ugly, and why beauty doesn't seem to be valued anymore. So in this video, we take a deep dive into the topic of beauty - to hopefully learn some lessons from it. From the design disconnect to biophilia and deeper brain structures, no stone is left unturned to solve the puzzle: how can we build more beautiful, and why does that matter?"

Which place do you prefer to walk in?

From the archives - walkability

"Walkability" is a word urbanists throw around, often with different ideas as to what it really means, or why we care about it. As a literal descriptor, being “walkable” simply means a place can be walked, in the same sense that “readable” means it can be read. There are different levels of walkability just as how asentencewithoutspaces is still readable, just less readable than a sentence with spaces."

"To measure if a trip is walkable, there are four factors we should consider: safety, distance, convenience, and comfort."

from:

https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2018/8/6/what-makes-walkability

The right to walk

"Every person has the right to walk. Choosing to move on foot — to work, school, or the market — should be safe and easy for urban residents. Yet city streets are increasingly being built for high-speed, personal vehicles, with hazardous intersections and narrow or nonexistent sidewalks. In many cities, simply getting anywhere by foot has become a dangerous: thousands of pedestrians are killed on the world’s roads each week."



from: http://spacing.ca/vancouver/2018/02/08/video-vancouver-right-walk/

Shared space on roads

"Some cities in Europe are undergoing a fascinating transformation: they’re getting rid of all of their road signs. That’s thanks to a design concept called “shared space,” where urban planners drastically lessen the presence of traffic lights, signs, and barriers, encouraging all forms of transportation to share the road."



"There’s evidence that drivers often totally ignore road signs, so the heightened risk forces commuters to remain on high alert as they pass through an intersection, in theory leading to safer travel. But by stripping cities of their traditional traffic control systems, they leave disabled residents in the dark — and that’s sparked a powerful debate of how to balance ease of movement with all residents’ needs. "

Places for people downtown

"Rethinking alleys matters because livable gathering places in the heart of city blocks sparks neighbor-to-neighbor engagement, and cities grow healthier with more person-to-person interaction in public spaces full of life."

from: http://alleyactivation.org/

Alleys acts a thoroughfares for pedestrians. They are mid-block connections and can become livable spaces, acting like make-shift parks and places for public art and more.

The City of Vancouver is looking for ideas from the public to improve its downtown places. "Vancouver’s public spaces – our plazas, squares, streets, laneways, pathways, and waterfront – are where public life happens."

from: http://vancouver.ca/home-property-development/places-for-people-downtown.aspx

Alley Oop is only of those places:

#pink and #yellow #downtownimprovement in #vancouver #placesforpeoplevan

A post shared by Cherish (@cherish2028) on Jul 20, 2017 at 2:30pm PDT

For more information, see: http://hcma.ca/project/more-awesome-now/

And it is not just Vancouver. "2017 seems to be the “Year of the Alley Activation” in Seattle. Two separate alley activation projects just wrapped up in Chinatown and the University District, and two more projects are still on the way for Pioneer Square later this year. The most successful and beloved active alley known to Seattleites and visitors alike is Post Alley, which weaves its way through the Pike Place Market Historic District featuring a mix of restaurants and specialty shops, the famous gum wall, and its iconic namesake signage."

from: https://www.theurbanist.org/2017/06/30/alley-activation/

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/

The 20-minute neighborhoods

Definition:
"20-minute neighborhoods are places where residents have easy, convenient access to many of the places and services they use daily including grocery stores, restaurants, schools and parks, without relying heavily on a car. They are characterized by a vibrant mix of commercial and residential uses all within an easy walk. They have higher concentrations of people and are complete with the sidewalks, bike lanes and bus routes that support a variety of transportation options."

from: https://www.eugene-or.gov/1216/What-is-a-20-Minute-Neighborhood

Or comparing a neighbourhood using the three D's method:

• "Distance: how far can you walk in 20 minutes?
• Destinations: is everything you need on a daily basis within that distance?
• Density: are there enough people in the area to support the businesses and facilities you need for daily needs?"

"No one has to give up their car, or walk, bike, or take the bus to anywhere they want to go. Instead, they're aimed at making life easier for those who do want to walk, bike, or use transit -- by strengthening those modes."



"Important, too, the 20-minute neighborhood concept is aimed at meeting the broader strategic goals of Portland being a "high performance city."



from: http://plannersweb.com/2013/07/distance-destinations-density/

Density, short blocks, address the street, social gathering places, and biophilic design

"American cities are pretty much made for cars, which means they're not very easy for humans to navigate. And when you consider that cities are supposed to be made for humans to live in -- and that by 2050, two-thirds of the global population will live in cities, which already account for 70 percent of the planet's carbon emissions -- that's a bit of a problem."

"We talked to Dan Burden, walkability expert, on what factors are most important to transform our cities into places that are easier and more fun to live in, and less impactful on the ol' climate at the same time."

8-80 cities and Pedestrians First!

"8 80 Cities improves the quality of life for people in cities by bringing citizens together to enhance mobility and public space so that together we can create more vibrant, healthy, and equitable communities."

from: http://880cities.org/

Pedestrians First from Knight Foundation on Vimeo.

Walkability

"What makes a neighborhood walkable?

• A center: Walkable neighborhoods have a center, whether it's a main street or a public space.
• People: Enough people for businesses to flourish and for public transit to run frequently.
• Mixed income, mixed use: Affordable housing located near businesses.
• Parks and public space: Plenty of public places to gather and play.
• Pedestrian design: Buildings are close to the street, parking lots are relegated to the back.
• Schools and workplaces: Close enough that most residents can walk from their homes.
• Complete streets: Streets designed for bicyclists, pedestrians, and transit."

from: https://www.walkscore.com/walkable-neighborhoods.shtml

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

Better intersections

"If you think the only purpose of intersections is to move cars past each other, you solve problems like a plumber: with bigger pipes. But wide, barren streets full of traffic don’t make a livable city. One solution would be nothing. No lights, no curbs, no sidewalks—just colored pavers. It works. Accidents decline, traffic slows, and property values rise. “You’ll never do as good a job as two ­people using body language and eye contact,” says Sam Goater, a senior associate at the Project for Public Spaces. But don’t rip out the infrastructure just yet. Urban designers have a good set of tricks to turn a city intersection into something more like a plaza and less like a freeway interchange. Cars pass, people walk, bikers bike, and everyone’s lives flow more smoothly."



from: https://www.wired.com/2016/10/how-to-design-better-cities/

Land use affects exercise levels

"Four land use factors were found to be directly and independently significant with respect to exercise. In each case, the greater the presence of the land use characteristic, the more the subjects engaged in physical activity, on average:

• Residential density. It takes a critical mass of homes in a neighborhood to support economically viable shops and amenities within walking distance.
• Intersection density. Well-connected streets tend to shorten travel distances and put more likely destinations within walking distance.
•  Public transport density. More transit stops within walking distance make it more likely that residents have transit options and will elect to use them.
• Access to parks. Parks serve not only as places where people exercise but also as destinations people walk to and from, getting exercise as they do."

from: http://www.placemakers.com/2016/09/06/four-characteristics-of-active-healthy-neighborhoods/

Both sides of superblocks

"Modern cities are ruled by cars. Streets are designed for them; bikers, pedestrians, vendors, hangers-out, and all other forms of human life are pushed to the perimeter in narrow lanes or sidewalks. Truly shared spaces are confined to parks and the occasional plaza. This is such a fundamental reality of cities that we barely notice it anymore."



"Rather than all traffic being permitted on all (nine) streets between and among those blocks, cordon off a perimeter and keep through traffic, freight, and city buses on that. In the interior (of that superblock), allow only local vehicles, traveling at very low speeds, under 10 mph. And make all the interior streets one-way loops (see the arrows on the green streets below), so none of them serve through streets."





from: http://www.vox.com/2016/8/4/12342806/barcelona-superblocks

It is an interesting idea but in the past, planners have tried to design cities without superblocks. On one hand, the plan below of the Hudson Yards maintains the street grid and fronting the buildings to the street, but some developers defend superblocks - "while it may be a disservice to the city to have a large, island-like superblock - traffic flow is disrupted, walking and bicycling trips are made more difficult -- to the developer, a superblock allows for wide floor plates, campus-like settings and a level of land use control that would not otherwise be possible." 

from: http://www.streetsblog.org/2008/02/22/lets-chop-up-superblocks/

However, according to a ULI article, "developers in China are accustomed to developing superblocks, which can house thousands of people, largely cut off from the surrounding city. “Five thousand units [of residential space] creates fear and alienation because people don’t know each other, kids don’t know each other,” Calthorpe said. And that fear leads people to wall off their superblocks, creating private courtyards and other amenities solely for the use of residents, much like gated communities in the United States." Peter Calthorpe "urged development of Asian cities at a more human, walkable scale, replacing massive two-way streets with one-way street couplets that carry more traffic more efficiently."

Why plan for walkability

"Mobility is intrinsic to the quality of life experienced in cities. But for the past century, the car has dominated how we plan and grow our urban areas. We must now seize the opportunity to place people back at the heart of our cities and drive a human focused approach to the design of the built environment. With a growing desire to create more liveable streets, walkability should be used as a catalyst for developing sustainable, healthy, prosperous and attractive cities."

from: http://www.arup.com/cities_alive/towards_a_walking_world

Green districts

"Our definition of a green district is a densely populated and geographically cohesive area that is located within a city and employs technologies and design elements to reduce resource use and pollution. In general, green districts deploy design principles that lead to dense, transit-oriented, mixed-use developments; they also consider using renewable energy sources."

from: http://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/sustainability-and-resource-productivity/our-insights/building-the-cities-of-the-future-with-green-districts

Converting big boxes

Integrating big box stores in an urban area is important because blank walls reduce walkability. "Large retailers have adapted to a densely populated, foot-oriented urban area."



"One key to walkability is to have as many destinations as possible within walking distance. In an urban area like Hoboken or Manhattan, a fine grained block can fit over 40 or so destinations. Single destinations - a large retailer, a museum, or a cathedral - that take up an entire city block reduce the number of destinations within that block to one."



"The Home Depot is unintrusive because it is surrounded by plenty of other retailers both big and small, so there are plenty of destinations within walking distance in this neighbourhood, and The Home Depot itself is comfortable to walk past. The reason this works is because these large retailers are the exception. If every store in this area had a such a large footprint, there would be significantly less destinations (less things to do, less reasons to be there, less within walking distance, thus less activity) in the area."



from: http://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2016/7/12/big-box-stores-in-the-city

Creative Crosswalks

"Whether for safety, art or celebration, pedestrian crossings in cities around the world have been transformed with colourful or unusual designs – from rainbows and piano keyboards to french fries and bullets."

from: https://www.theguardian.com/cities/gallery/2016/jul/14/creative-crosswalks-pedestrian-zebra-crossings-around-world-in-pictures

from: http://weburbanist.com/2008/11/14/street-art-pedestrian-crosswalks/

“Our streets are the largest public space in our city, representing one quarter of our land. They should be pleasant and safe places that foster community and business, and that’s what we are doing here through this public-private partnership,” says Treat. “Together, we are delivering a safer and more inviting crossing. This creative project is a small investment with a big return.”

from: http://www.citylab.com/design/2015/06/portland-debuts-rain-themed-creative-crosswalks/395495/