Artwork stating 'Education Destroys Barriers', 'We Demand Treatment', and 'I Need A Chance'

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  • The First Quieter Megacity, Thanks to Electric Vehicles

    August 30, 2018 |

    Bloomberg |

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    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: China, Shenzhen

    Massive investment in electric vehicles has reduced noise and air pollution in China. The megacity of Shenzhen, for example, is surprisingly quiet with its fleet of electric buses and ban on gas-powered motorcycles. However, the country’s reliance on coal means that EVs still plug into a dirty grid.

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  • What If All Community Development Started with Local Arts and Culture?

    August 30, 2018 |

    Next City |

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    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania

    An Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania art project "gently" demolished a historic, vacant building and reassembled it as a communal space. This is an example of "creative placemaking," a method to both preserve the character of a community and help address vacancies and the need for development.

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  • Tel Aviv tries to connect an isolated neighborhood

    August 29, 2018 |

    Bloomberg CityLab |

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    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: Israel, Tel Aviv

    The goal of The Platform, a new entrepreneurship and coworking hub in a struggling area of Tel Aviv, “is to start solving big as well as local urban problems through social-technological entrepreneurship.” The tech accelerator it offers has spurred the development of an app intended to bring neighbors together as well as a special type of motion sensor that helps people with physical disabilities. The coworking space portion provides a gathering and event space for skills training and more. The founders are even hoping other cities will adopt this model.

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  • No helmets, no problem: how the Dutch created a casual biking culture

    August 28, 2018 |

    Vox |

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    Over 3000 Words

    Response Location: Netherlands

    Most people in Holland ride a bicycle every week thanks to a widespread public commitment to a biking culture and infrastructure where everyone feels welcome. That includes very visible dedicated bike paths designed for the most sedate cyclist, courses teaching children safe cycling skills, and connections to combine biking and transit. Most Dutch don't need helmets because rather than making bicyclists dress to confront danger, the country has made the environs safer for cyclists.

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  • Sparking a Mini-Movement of Worker Cooperatives in Southeast L.A.

    August 28, 2018 |

    Next City |

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    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Los Angeles, California

    COOP LA in Los Angeles is a commercial space featuring business commonly found across the city but with a distinct difference: they are all worker cooperatives. These cooperatives effectively create jobs and develop locally owned businesses as well as accomplish this without the neighborhood falling prey to gentrification.

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  • Why your favorite bench might be there to thwart a terrorist attack

    August 27, 2018 |

    The Washington Post |

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    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Washington, District of Columbia

    How do you make a public space inviting so people will gather, but also safe from the growing danger of attackers using vehicles to ram large numbers of people? Many cities have responded to such attacks with concrete bollards and other barriers. But designers and architects are increasingly innovating other options that protect people via planters, fountains, trees, bike racks, steps and traffic calming designs to stop or slow down vehicles.

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  • Global initiatives focus on child-friendly spaces

    August 24, 2018 |

    Business Day |

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    Under 800 Words

    Response Location: South Africa, Johannesburg

    Some urban planners argue that urban spaces should be designed around children because that makes a livable, walkable space for everyone, and also contributes to healthy early brain development. Several initiatives are underway in and around Johannesburg, South Africa to redesign public spaces and make them more welcoming. At least one community group is working with children, teenagers and people who work with children to identify places that could be improved for better child protection.

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  • The Other Side of “Broken Windows”

    August 23, 2018 |

    The New Yorker |

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    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

    By cleaning up thousands of abandoned buildings and vacant lots, the city of Philadelphia caused sharp declines in violence and other crime in a program that has become a model for cities nationwide. The cleanup program became the subject of two long-term experiments comparing the "treated" buildings and lots to those that remained signs of blight. In one study, gun violence dropped 39% in and around cleaned-up buildings. The 5% decline associated with cleaned-up vacant lots was much smaller but still meaningful. Neighbors praised the sense of safety they gained in the improved areas.

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  • A Divided Neighborhood Comes Together under an Elevated Expressway

    August 20, 2018 |

    Next City |

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    Over 3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, New Orleans, Louisiana

    Community organizing may be the key to a comeback along New Orleans’ Claiborne Avenue. Once home to a booming block of African American-owned businesses, many left once a new expressway demolished the street in the 1960s. Now, community input is essential in rebuilding. A new master plan included 11 meetings with residents to share their priorities. The painted murals, live jazz performances, and local gatherings still happening show that the Claiborne Corridor will remain home to its long-time residents, even in a new format.

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  • How Trees Can Cool Dallas's Concrete Jungle

    August 20, 2018 |

    Bloomberg CityLab |

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    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Dallas, Texas

    In a Dallas neighborhood, environmental organizations are teaming up to plant a tree canopy that will address multiple environmental and public health concerns, while also cooling down the city's urban heat island effect. The solution is focused on helping those who are most vulnerable: seniors, minority residents, and students.

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