Archive for Density
October 21, 2011 · Filed under Authenticity, Creative Cities, Density, Diversity, Grassroots, Great Streets, Public Space
In Japan, ‘public’ is more of a mental construct than a physical presence” and the concept of ‘privacy’ has never taken hold. The closest native Japanese approximation of private-public may be uchi (family, clan, group)-soto (that which is not uchi) where uchi extends the Western ‘private’ to ‘other private’ plus ‘public’. A history and present of close quarters, paper-thin walls and sliding doors that open onto the street evoke the permeation of daily life into public space. Memory and current practice/conception regard whole neighbourhoods as ‘home’, with parks as multifunctional common yards.
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Popularity: 1% [?]
September 19, 2011 · Filed under Active Transportation, Cycling, Density, Planning, Traffic
Can there be too many bikes in a city for safety? It’s not a question usually asked: the received wisdom, supported by research and backed by campaigning groups, is that the more cyclists there are, the safer the roads become for everyone.
But in Copenhagen – one of the most bike-friendly cities in the world in which 36% of its inhabitants cycle to work or school, and which has committed to increasing that figure to 50% by 2015 – there are controversial voices coming from unexpected places.
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Popularity: 1% [?]
September 8, 2011 · Filed under Climate Change, Density, EcoCities, Ecosystems
Our fractured metropolitan regions are the big problem in creating sustainable solutions for climate challenges. High-towered, dense city living is only a small part of the solution, which is to develop “ecological urbanisms.”
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Popularity: 1% [?]
August 25, 2011 · Filed under Architecture, Density, Economics, Parking
Land assembly is tough in Tokyo; families often have owned little tiny plots for generations. These become their main source of income and they rarely sell them, to develop them, they often build really silly and inefficient sliver buildings with minuscule footprints. This one, by Martin Van Der Linden of Van Der Architects, has a floor area of 74.4 square meters, or 800 square feet. What is also fascinating, and depressing, is that it makes more economic sense to build a parking tower than an apartment building.
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Popularity: 1% [?]
December 21, 2010 · Filed under Density, Diversity, Economics, Megaregions, Social Networks
“If you ask people why they move to the city, they always give the same reasons,” West says. “They’ve come to get a job or follow their friends or to be at the center of a scene. That’s why we pay the high rent. Cities are all about the people, not the infrastructure.”
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Popularity: 1% [?]
July 16, 2010 · Filed under Active Transportation, Density, Diversity, Pedestrians, Real Estate
Jennifer and Andrew Greenberg didn’t fall in love at first sight with the 1950s ranch house they just bought in Portland, Ore. But they did feel that way about the neighborhood. They saw people out walking and noticed how close the house was to coffee shops and wooded paths. So they chose the home that needed more work over a comparably priced but more upscale option in another area. “When it came down to it, we weren’t willing to compromise on walkability,” says Ms. Greenberg, a 37-year-old event planner.
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Popularity: 55% [?]
May 14, 2010 · Filed under Creative Cities, Density, Economics, Planning, Shrinking Cities
“Are you moving poor people out of their houses?” a Detroit woman asks Jay Williams, mayor of Youngstown, at a recent symposium at Wayne State University in Detroit.
Williams was speaking about Youngstown 2010, a citywide plan adopted in 2005 that focuses on making Youngstown, a city east of Akron near the Pennsylvania border, relevant and alive. Youngstown’s population is shrinking, and downsizing, right-sizing, or whatever you want to call it, is a major component of the plan. The question of how to relocate people is huge. The thought of closing neighborhoods, cutting services and moving the widow Mrs. Jones out of the house she raised her children in touches a nerve.
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Popularity: 89% [?]
May 14, 2010 · Filed under Density, Economics, Traffic, Transit
In cities across the United States, you can find examples of “streetcar suburbs”—enclaves of mostly single-family homes built between the turn of the century and the 1930s. These are often good-looking, tree-lined places full of heterogeneous character and history, in many ways so different from contemporary suburban sprawl.
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Popularity: 39% [?]
May 4, 2010 · Filed under Architecture, Density, Diversity, Economics, Real Estate, Tall Buildings
Why in the world should there be a “proper density”? A good case can be made that cities succeed by offering a diverse menu of neighborhoods that cater to a wide range of tastes. Some people love Greenwich Village, and that’s great, but I was perfectly happy growing up in a 25-story tower, and I don’t see anything wrong with that, either.
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If you love cities, then you should want more people to be able to enjoy them, and that means embracing, not eschewing, densities over 200 units per acre.
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Popularity: 49% [?]
April 27, 2010 · Filed under Architecture, Density, Housing, Urban Design
There is no question that sustainable land use requires, among other things, neighborhood density. Smart growth based on walkable neighborhoods, transportation choices, nearby amenities and the accommodation of an increasingly diverse society is the only way we can limit per-capita impacts, and thus total impacts, to a manageable level.
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Popularity: 42% [?]
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