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Design Hacks Will Dominate the Coronavirus Recovery Landscape

Amanda Hurley

June 23, 2020 |

Bloomberg CityLab |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

Covid-19 created space for everyday citizens, who are not trained architects, designers, or urban planners, to alter how public spaces are used. Known as tactical urbanism, everyday people are using inexpensive and creative ways to change behaviors and stop the spread of the virus. Examples include homemade signs and makeshift barriers to maintain distance. At a protest in Israel participants maintained social distancing by staying on spray-painted Xs two meters apart. Some homemade design hacks do not inspire confidence, but others may become a part of the long-term landscape of changes caused by the virus.

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In Seattle, Protests Over Racial Equity Turn to Land Ownership

Gregory Scruggs

June 23, 2020 |

Bloomberg CityLab |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Seattle, Washington

Over 1000 community members gathered to demand officials keep a 2016 promise to give a vacant publicly-owned fire station to the Africatown Community Land Trust. The station is in a historically Black and quickly gentrifying neighborhood and the trust wants to turn it into a resource center to develop the next generation of Black entrepreneurs. As citywide protests for racial equality spread, the city abruptly agreed to turn it over. The group also wants more unused properties turned over to Black community ownership and for the city to develop an anti-gentrification land acquisition fund.

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The long road to a zero-carbon country

Jocelyn Timperley

June 01, 2020 |

BBC |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Costa Rica, San José

The capital city of San José in Costa Rica is taking steps to become greener and less dependent on cars. By focusing on public transportation initiatives like city bikes and bike lanes, a green esplanade, and an electric passenger train, the city is hoping to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and help the country reach net zero-carbon by 2050. While the cost of these projects can be pricey, many residents are strong advocates for making the city more sustainable.

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'Cool pavement' experiments help urban planners find ways to ease rising temperatures

Erin Stone

May 15, 2020 |

AZ Central (The Arizona Republic) |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Los Angeles, California

To combat the effects of rising temperatures due to climate change, Los Angeles piloted an experiment called “cool pavements,” where they coat streets with a light-colored sealant to reflect heat. Researchers are studying how effective this method is at reducing the urban heat island effect. Using a mobile sensor station, they found mixed results: While the surface temperature of the road was cooler, a person could feel warmer on the reflective roads. Figuring out how to balance different heat-mitigating strategies could be helpful as cities like Phoenix figure out how to implement cooling infrastructure.

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The best trees to reduce air pollution

Vittoria Traverso

May 04, 2020 |

BBC |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Canada, Oakville, Ontario

New technology is helping urban planners and developers better identify which trees could help cities reduce air pollution. In Ontario, the city of Oakville adopted a new software that resulted in planners halting the planting of one type of tree after learning it had little benefit on the air quality, while another digital tool designed in London is helping citizens determine which plants help remove particulate matter.

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How do you build a city for a pandemic?

Harriet Constable

April 26, 2020 |

BBC |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

Major populated cities such as New York and London were once regarded as "death traps," but a series of deadly outbreaks led to structural changes that worked to improve the public health outcomes for those living there. From sewer systems to therapeutic gardens, the health of those living in cities has improved in a variety of ways, however, that has not stopped densely populated areas from turning into hotspots for coronavirus. To address this, local governments are experimenting with even more structural changes such as turning city streets into walking and biking paths.

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Minneapolis Funding Its Parks With an Eye to Equity

Zoe Sullivan

April 09, 2020 |

Next City |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Minneapolis, Minnesota

The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board has approved a new scoring system to prioritize parks that are most in need of an investment, from the limited funds available, based on equity measures such as race, income, population density, and crime. This data-driven system is used in conjunction with the park board's judgment of a park's infrastructure and has pinpointed parks which were not typically on the park board's radar for renovation.

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This tool is helping cities find the neighborhoods most vulnerable to coronavirus

Adele Peters

March 24, 2020 |

FastCompany |

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Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, San Francisco, California

A new urban planning tool called Urban Footprint is helping governments to map out their most vulnerable neighborhoods and populations. Originally designed in 2018 to help city planners make sense of large data sets and understand the implication of potential policies on traffic, energy use, or multiple other factors, Urban Footprint was easily adapted to pull in data from the CDC and other inputs for COVID-19 considerations.

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Beside a Vast Graveyard, a New City Rises in Haiti

Jacob Kushner

March 21, 2020 |

Pacific Standard |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Haiti, Canaan

A survivor of Haiti's earthquake sought out a new home on an unclaimed plot of land which is home to one of the country's largest cemeteries. Madame Roy built a neighborhood from the ground up with the help of architects and funding from people who wanted to be residents of the future city. Roads, homes, a cistern, a soccer field, and a school were all built without the help of the Haitian government. 200,000 residents who lost everything in the earthquake have found a chance to start over in the new city of Canaan.

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Pour It On: How Dutch Cities Are Soaking up Rain and Reducing Flooding

Tristan Baurick Tegan Wendland

March 10, 2020 |

The Times-Picayune |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Netherlands, Rotterdam

A green roof initiative is one of the projects Rotterdam, a city in the Netherlands, is working on to capture and store more rainwater; a solution that might work in Louisiana. With heavier rains and more intense storms due to climate change in both places, the amount of rainfall coming down can overwhelm drainage systems. Although the price tag can be high to build these green roofs, Rotterdam boasts 100 acres of green roofs that have increased the city’s water storage capacity by about 1.6 million gallons.

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