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Designing Successful Neighborhood Squares. Part 6. Surrounding building heights/proportions

By Suzanne H. Crowhurst Lennard

“In ancient times… public squares, or plazas, were… of prime necessity, for they were theaters for the principal scenes of public life.” Camillo Sitte[1].

“… there must be open spaces that provide a fitting stage for the drama of daily life.” August Heckscher[2].

54th Conference in Santa Fe - eConference

Did you miss the conference in Santa Fe but wish you could still read the papers and view the slideshows? Perhaps you attended the conference but didn't get a chance to see all the presentations and wish you could fill in the gaps. In either case, the eConference is your ticket!

Designing Successful Neighborhood Squares. Part 5. Entrances, thresholds

By Suzanne H. Crowhurst Lennard

The entrance into a neighborhood square is designed to create the experience that you have arrived at the heart of the community, and that you need go no further. A vista into the square from an adjacent street should reveal the life on the square, the sunlight, bright umbrellas, children playing, a couple enjoying a glass of wine, etc. It should not reveal that there is any destination beyond the square.

Designing Successful Neighborhood Squares. Part 4: The Community’s Living Room

By Suzanne H. Crowhurst Lennard

To be successful, a neighborhood square must be designed for people. It must feel like the community’s living room - lively, safe, comfortable and hospitable. It must facilitate social interaction and foster a sense of community identity. To achieve these goals, enclosure, sunlight and shade, protection from inclement weather, and from noise, danger and pollution are essential factors.

Designing Successful Neighborhood Squares. Part 3. Size and Shape

By Suzanne H. Crowhurst Lennard

Size
It is important to decide on the size of the square in relation to two interdependent factors: 1) the social functions and population for which the square is designed; and 2) the height of surrounding buildings.

Safe Public Spaces

Every day, there are people who leave their home and feel unsafe in the world. They experience inescapable threats to their lives and livelihood from the system that has been built up around them, forced to move through spaces that feel at best uninviting and at worst mortally dangerous. These people are not abstractions. They are your friends and your neighbors, members of your community, your loved ones.

Early Alert: the 55th IMCL Conference

IMCL is delighted to announce that the 55^th IMCL Conference will take place in Ottawa, May 14-18, 2018, with the very active partnership of the City, and will focus on the immensely important theme of Healthy, 10-Minute Neighborhoods.

Efforts are under way around the world to create healthy neighborhoods where walking, biking and public transit are more attractive, reducing dependence on the car. We all know this is the most important way to assure an active, sustainable future for our grandchildren, and to fight climate change.

Designing Successful Neighborhood Squares. Part 2: Accessibility

By Suzanne H. Crowhurst Lennard

At the crossing of pedestrian ways
A neighborhood square must be located at the central crossing point of a network of interconnected pedestrian routes through the neighborhood. As local residents walk through the square on their way to work, school, shopping, running errands, or to catch transit to the city center, their paths cross, affording the chance for a greeting or extended conversation. When people pass each other on a regular basis in the same place, the “stranger” becomes a “familiar”, and gradually the “familiar” may become a friend, or member of one’s circle.

Thoughts on a St. Louis Suburb

By Taylor Campi

I spent a large portion of my recent 4-day trip to St. Louis, Missouri, in the suburbs west of the city. As is true in the majority of American suburbs, the development and activity in this part of town revolve heavily around the use of cars. I first noticed this on my 6-minute walk from the Metro Link light rail stop to my hotel. The hotel is a massive 8-story rectangular structure that juts noticeably from its rather flat surroundings, and is clearly visible from the light rail stop (photo below). To reach it, however, one must cross under the interstate and through a number of large parking lots.

Feeling safe on two wheels

By Hannah Jarman-Miller

Sunday Parkways was hosted in my neighborhood this past weekend. Organized in partnership by the City of Portland and Kaiser Permanente, Sunday Parkways is a free event where streets are entirely or partially closed to car traffic so that community members can discover and engage in active transportation in a safe and welcoming space. It is an amazing feeling to move through a street where pedestrian safety and mobility is the clear priority. Families with young children learning how to be on a bicycle in the public realm, and not feeling threatened by a vehicular presence.

Thank you!

We just wrapped up the 56th Conference in Portland, a huge thanks to those of you who attended and made this conference so special. We’re working on making the slides and photos available to the attendees, and we hope you’re connecting with those you met on social media.

"I know of no other conference which provides the international expertise."

Sylvia Sutherland, former Mayor, Peterborough, Ontario

"A wonderful Conference. I truly believe this is the best Conference on cities."

Mayor Joseph P. Riley, Jr., City of Charleston

"The most important continuous conference dialogue on making the world's cities and towns more livable for all of their inhabitants."

Dr. Sven von Ungern-Sternberg, Governor, State of South Baden, Germany

"The conference holds a magnifying glass to the world's best cities, revealing why, and how they work."

Benjamin Thompson, FAIA AIA Gold Medalist

"Love for our cities unites all of us in this unique, impressive conference, with participants from different countries, with different professional backgrounds, but with one purpose: making our cities more livable."

Antonio Casellati Former Mayor, City of Venice, Italy

"Ive learned more from this conference than any other conference that I've ever gone to. I've been a city councillor now for twenty years, and I'm so glad I went to that first one twenty years ago."

Kim Richter, City Councillor, Langley, BC

"Well-structured, extremely well-organized and super-high quality of both the presenters and materials presented."

Dr. Mirela Newman, Coordinator, Urban Studies Graduate Program, S Conn St. University

What people say about the IMCL....

“The best conference on cities.” - Joseph P. Riley, Jr., former Mayor, Charleston, SC

“The most important continuous conference dialogue on making the world's cities and towns more livable for all of their inhabitants.”
- Dr. Sven von Ungern-Sternberg, former Mayor, Freiburg, Germany

“I know of no other conference which provides the international expertise.”
- Sylvia Sutherland, former Mayor, City of Peterborough, Ontario

“The Conference holds a magnifying glass to the world’s best cities, revealing why and how they work.”
- Benjamin Thompson, FAIA, AIA Gold Medalist

“Love for our cities unites all of us in this unique, impressive conference, with participants from different countries, with different professional backgrounds, but with one purpose: making our cities more livable.”
- Antonio Casellati, former Mayor, City of Venice, Italy

“These conferences were and I’m sure are still game changers. My first conference was in around 2003 or 2004 in Sarasota. It was pivotal for me as a new CAO of an Ontario municipality having emerged from the public works and engineering area. It helped to shape our town, Newmarket.”
- Bob Shelton, CAO, Newmarket, Ontario

“I've learned more from this conference than any other conference that I've ever gone to. I've been a city councillor now for twenty years, and I'm so glad I went to that first one twenty years ago.”
- Kim Richter, City Councillor, Langley, BC

“A truly invigorating event. I was inspired by being able to connect with so many wonderful people from around the world who are all passionate about the creation of great places."
- James Dougherty, Director of Design, Dover, Kohl & Partners

"The diversity of the audience, the excellent presentations - and importantly, the passion of the movement - have influenced my thinking and next steps.”
- Candance Kokinakis, Ph.D., Sr. Director of Safe Routes to School, Michigan Fitness

“One of the best professional events I have ever attended. Well-structured, extremely well-organized and super-high quality of both the presenters and materials presented.”
- Dr. Mirela Newman, Coordinator, Urban Studies Graduate Program, Southern Connecticut St. University

“The lively exchange of ideas and the opportunity to communicate with colleagues as well as civic decision makers made the sessions extremely successful… Both new and, I am sure, lasting friendships have been formed.”
- Professor Derek Drummond, McDonald Professor of Architecture, Vice Principal, McGill University

“Architects, community organizations, city administrators, planners, urban designers, landscape architects, social scientists and developers committed to making cities livable, all attended. Participants came from places as close as San Francisco and the U.S. Eastern seaboard, to as far away as Samarkand, Russia; Prague, Czech Republic; Germany; The Hague; New Guinea; Switzerland; Australia; Venice, Italy; Austria; United Kingdom; Canada; Belgium; and Hong Kong. These international forums provide the yeast and inspiration to apply ideas to one’s own hometown.”
- M. Elizabeth Martin, Director, San Francisco Beautiful

“Mr. Speaker, I would like to call to the attention of the Members of this body the work of the International Making Cities Livable conference… a forum for hundreds of speakers and participants from 37 states and 11 countries to present ideas.”
- The Hon. Walter E. Fauntroy, U.S. House of Representatives

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