By Suzanne H. Crowhurst Lennard, Ph.D.(Arch.), Director, IMCL For decades, the significance of public urban places and their role in facilitating public life was ignored by those responsible for shaping the modern city. It was only when cities all over the world were inundated by cars and threatened by the loss of the public realm, that … Read more
By Kai Bates – IMCL Urban Design Consultant As more and more cities throughout North America come to terms with growing threats such as obesity and climate change, many are looking for ways to address these problems. While the issues can be confronted in various ways, one of the quickest and cheapest approaches is to … Read more
By Suzanne H. Crowhurst Lennard, Ph.D.(Arch.), Director, IMCL The rapid profusion of high-rise investment condos around the world is widening the gap between rich and poor and leading to a worldwide housing bubble, according to economists. Global billionaires are demanding sky-high properties as safe real estate investments to store their surplus dollars. As of March, … Read more
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