By Kai Bates – IMCL Urban Design Consultant A new trend in urban real estate development has been sweeping through the nation’s biggest cities in recent years. This trend, if left unchecked and not properly managed, could significantly hurt quality of life in our cities, potentially causing a disastrous return to the suburbs. The trend … Read more
By Suzanne H. Crowhurst Lennard, Ph.D.(Arch.), Director IMCL “… cities must be regarded as more than engines of wealth; they must be viewed as systems that should be shaped to improve human well-being.” I read Happy City with surprise and delight. Finally, a book that reveals to a broad audience the essence of what it … Read more
The Monster-Builder is a new comedy by Amy Freed that is having its world premier in Portland, OR, January 28 – March 2, 2014, amid rave reviews, (here, here, and here) interviews, and serious discussions about the impact of architects on our lives. The play begins as a farce, and happily transports the audience into … Read more
We’re excited to hear John present ideas and designs from the fantastic, recently released book, Street Design, which he co-authored with Victor Dover. John, an architect and board member of the Congress for the New Urbanism, says that he designs buildings with a human scale that look like they were made by human hands. He values craftsmanship … Read more
We’re thrilled to have George Ferguson, Mayor of Bristol, England, as one of our Keynote Speakers at this year’s conference! George is a very interesting guy. Not only is he the first elected Mayor of Bristol (elected in 2012), but he is also an international champion of placemaking, sustainability, and cities for people. Oh, and, … Read more
By Kai Bates – IMCL Urban Design Consultant In May 2007, the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, announced that the city would be implementing a city-wide low-emission zone (LEZ) that would take effect in February of 2008. The initial plan was to use cameras to photograph license plates of trucks and buses to check whether … Read more
By Suzanne H. Crowhurst Lennard, Ph.D.(Arch.), Director, IMCL This book is exactly what we need at this time – a guide for how to design streets that are human scale, hospitable to people, and designed to enhance the public realm. It is sure to become an instant classic. In the 1950s, city planning and transportation planning became specialized fields, whose … Read more
“When colors came out everywhere, a mood of change started transforming the spirit of the people … People started to drop less litter in the streets. They started to pay taxes. They started to feel something they’d forgotten … Beauty was giving people a feeling of being protected. This was not a misplaced feeling — … Read more
By Katrina Johnston-Zimmerman One day not long ago (by history’s standards), streets were populated by a friendlier form of transportation: the bicycle. Accompanied by horses, trolleys, and masses of pedestrians as well, the bicycle was the first form of personal transportation before automobiles were even prototypes. Bicycles helped women to become emancipated by providing them … Read more
Streets and squares have always been the most important places in our cities. We have always wanted, nay, needed to come together, meet and socialize, buy and sell, gossip, celebrate and work together, and this all began in public places. Meeting and spending time with other people in a beautiful place is pleasure, it makes … Read more