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“report card urbanism”: Benfield’s 2008 smart growth challenge
When I started contributing to local publications in 2009, one clear role model was Kaid Benfield, the Natural Resource Defense Council’s (NRDC) Director of Sustainable Communities and Smart Growth....
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re-visioning neighborhood and the city, then and now
Today’s efforts to recreate elements of the city, of whatever prescription of urbanism (e.g. “new”, “landscape” or “ecological”) often turn on issues once considered in design competitions long...
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urbanism chasing utopia
Generally speaking, the description of any Utopia that involves many details is apt to be an unconvincing way to present a principle which can be applied effectively in practice with immense...
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from the clippings drawer: the public plaza of old
From the clippings drawer, here is a memory of how downtown public plazas were described some thirty years ago in Seattle, contemporaneous with William H. Whyte’s classic study of the use, non-use and...
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using adaptive reuse to scale the urban future
How will the city of tomorrow reflect adaptive reuse of the city of today? I don’t think we ask that question broadly enough, and our day-to-day, property-specific incrementalism can easily overshoot...
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scaling the urban future by blending the urban past
How will the city of tomorrow reflect adaptive reuse of the city of today? I don’t think we ask that question broadly enough, and our day-to-day, property-specific incrementalism can easily overshoot...
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what can we learn from five principles of people and place?
In my own writing, I enjoy finding layered, historical illustrations of how people relate to the built and sociocultural communities around them. I have explained before how this exercise is not...
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finding urban ‘tethers’ in city places
In London’s Russell Square one recent morning, I saw the human-scale “tether” illustrated above. Whether for safety or togetherness, parent and child traversed the square, each with strap in hand. “Is...
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how attention to overlays enhances our understanding of cities
Second in the new series, in the urban world, juxtapositions matter On New Year’s Day, I suggested that juxtapositions, or overlays, are key to an understanding of cities, and offer focal points for...
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why urban history matters
Going forward, let’s not discount the influence of history’s recurring themes in how we redevelop the urban realm. So many discussions about cities today look only forward, without fully considering...
View Articlepublic space in motion, from Nice, France
On Saturday, September 13, the 2014 multi-day (and always provocative) Seattle Design Festival features a “Public Space in Motion” panel. Here, almost live from France, is the panel’s opening...
View Articlecities and the plot: stay tuned
For five years, myurbanist has focused on the organic, naturally occurring aspects of urban development and placemaking. Several myurbanist entries became the basis for last year’s Urbanism Without...
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using ‘plot-based urbanism’ to reclaim the basic unit of the city
Background In recent years, urbanists have decried suburban developments on large greenfield properties in favor of a return to diverse, close grain urban fabrics. This granular form of development...
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learning from a one-stop, urban epic–and why
Spoiler alert: I love epic stories with universal meaning for varied audiences around the world. In sum, that is why I think Jonathan F.P. Rose‘s new book will become a must-read classic. And, if...
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why urban history [still] matters
[Republished five years after original posting, upon today’s visit to Edinburgh from London. This post was named The Guardian Cities‘ web article of the week in early March, 2014.] Going forward,...
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