Urban Studies and Planning Commons^™

Expanding Planning’S Public Sphere: Street Magazine, Activist Planning And Community Development In Brooklyn, Ny 1971-75, Laura Wolf-Powers

Laura Wolf-Powers

During the late 1960s and early 1970s, a paradigm of activist planning or critical city planning became a new “tributary” feeding the stream of the planning profession. STREET Magazine, published from 1971 to 1975 by the Pratt Institute Center for Community and Environmental Development in Brooklyn, NY, offers a lens through which to examine the expansion of the profession to encompass a range of ideas associated with this paradigm. This article, drawing on an extensive review of STREET magazine’s content within the historical context in which it was produced, as well as interviews with people involved with the publication, argues …

The Road Not Taken, Michael E. Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

Defends Jacksonville's annexation of its Duval County suburbs, and compares Jacksonville's post-annexation fate with that of less elastic southern cities.

Circular Logic, Michael E. Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

Criticizes cul-de-sacs on the ground that they detract from neighborhood walkability, and proposes a variety of alternatives.

Summary Of 2008 Homeland Security Symposium At The National Academies: Fostering Public-Private Partnerships, George H. Baker, Cheryl J. Elliott

George H Baker

Recent U.S. high consequence events have made clear the importance of government collaboration with industry. The benefits of such collaboration were clearly seen as a lesson from Hurricane Katrina. The resources owned and controlled by American industry dwarf those available to local, state and even the federal government departments. Better agreements and incentives to bring the full capabilities of industry squarely into the national response agenda will be indispensable in effectively responding to large-scale catastrophes. General Russel Honoré who led the National Guard response to Katrina has said, “We need the partnering between local, state, and federal governments; but the …

Lots Of It, Michael E. Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

Criticizes municipal minimum parking requirements.

Ojo: Le Estamos Filmando, Fernando Carrión Mena

Fernando Carrión Mena

Las políticas de seguridad ciudadana se hacen cada vez más complejas –entre otras razones– porque la violencia también se ha expandido. En este proceso, llama la atención el creciente desarrollo del componente tecnológico, lo cual ha levado a una disputa también en ese campo. Son tecnologías sofisticadas y de punta que se ponen al servicio de las políticas, muchas de las cuales se han generalizado significativamente.

Dentro de este proceso sobresale con peso propio los instrumentos de video vigilancia, que inicialmente estuvieron circunscritos al es-pacio privado (casas comerciales, bancos) para cumplir con dos fines explícitos: vigilar la calidad productiva y …

Ordenanza Metropolitana De Protección Del Patrimonio Natural, Fernando Carrión Mena

Fernando Carrión Mena

El Concejo Metropolitano de Quito

Considerando

Que por mandato del número 16 del artículo 14 de la Ley Orgánica de Régimen Municipal y del número 3 del artículo 2 de la Ley Orgánica de Régimen para el Distrito Metropolitano de Quito, es función primordial del Municipio prevenir y controlar la contaminación del ambiente;

Que la ampliación de los espacios verdes del Distrito Metropolitano de Quito, es fundamental para el logro del fin indicado;

Que para ello deben establecerse sistemas que aseguren la participación de la comunidad; y,

En ejercicio de la atribución que le confiere el número 1 del artículo …

Civil Liberties And The Regulation Of Public Space: The Case Of Sidewalks In Las Vegas, Evelyn Blumenburg, Renia Ehrenfeucht

Renia Ehrenfeucht

Conflicts over the nature of and rights associated with public space have a long history and have prompted numerous regulatory responses. Perhaps nowhere in the USA has the regulation of public space been as far-reaching as in Las Vegas, Nevada, where the financial stakes associated with sidewalks are enormous. This study examines how local officials mediate among varied and competing uses of the sidewalk. In defining the function of the sidewalks narrowly, and passively deferring questions of civil liberties, local officials have effectively controlled almost all aspects of public behavior. In recent years, cities have invested in major commercial revitalization …

Pedestrian Safety Is Not A Tort, Michael E. Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

In recent decades, American state and local highway officials have built wide streets and roads designed primarily to accommodate high-speed automobile traffic. However, such high-speed streets are more dangerous for pedestrians and bicyclists than streets with slower traffic, and thus fail to adequately accommodate nondrivers. Government officials design streets for high-speed traffic partially because of their fear of tort liability. An influential street engineering manual, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials’ “Green Book”, has generally favored the construction of such high-speed streets, and transportation planners fear that if they fail to follow the Green Book’s recommendations, they …

The Application Of British Neoclassical Design Principles: The Greek Island Of Kefalonia, Nicholas Patricios

Nicholas Patricios

A fascinating example of taking available designs and then engaging in the act of designing new designs is the application of the British Neoclassical architectural style to new buildings in the Ionian Islands off the west coast of Greece. This occurred when Britain occupied these Islands in 1809 which then received independent status in 1815 under the British crown. It is ironical that the country that created classical architecture had neoclassical architecture introduced from the outside. The largest of the Ionian Islands, Kefalonia, provides an insightful case of the application of British neoclassical design principles to new civic buildings and …

Prologue: Ordinary Places, Extraordinary Events, Clara Irazabal

Clara Irazabal

Scholars have argued that public space is a prerequisite for the expression, representation, preservation, and/or enhancement of democracy (Sassen, 1996; Holston, 1989, 1999; Caldeira, 2000; Low, 2000; Low and Smith, 2006). However, this optimistic outlook is betrayed in reality by the many examples in recent history when public spaces have been used for the deployment and reproduction of totalitarian regimes. In the Americas, we can recount the experiences of Pinochet’s Santiago, Videla’s Buenos Aires, Strossner’s Asuncion, and Pérez Jiménez’s Caracas, among others. Yet, even in those cases, political demonstrations in public spaces conversely played a critical role in the eventual …

Why Pedestrian-Friendly Street Design Is Not Negligent, Michael E. Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

American streets are typically designed for fast automobile traffic. As a result, those streets are often dangerous for pedestrians.

In part, the anti-pedestrian design of American streets is a result of transportation planners' perceptions of American tort law. In negligent street design cases, courts and juries sometimes rely upon guidelines set by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), a national association of government transportation officials. Because AASHTO's street-design rules have historically favored wide streets built to accommodate high-speed traffic, planners sometimes assume that in order to avoid liability, they must do the same.

The purpose of …

The History And Future Of Homeless Management Information Systems, Stephen R. Poulin, Stephen Metraux, Dennis P. Culhane

Dennis P. Culhane

This chapter reviews the history of the development of management information systems in the homelessness program area. Efforts begun in the 1980s and 1990s by individual cities are discussed, as are the Congressional initatives that led to the mandated implementation of such systems in the US. The use of these systems for the Annual Homelessness Assessment Report to the US Congress is described, as are potential future uses of HMIS for research, policy and program planning.

Rearranging The Deck Chairs Or Reallocating The Lifeboats?: Homelessness Assistance And Its Alternatives, Dennis P. Culhane, Stephen Metraux

Dennis P. Culhane

Problem: At present, homelessness in the United States is primarily addressed by providing emergency and transitional shelter facilities. These programs do not directly address the causes of homelessness, and residents are exposed to victimization and trauma during stays. We need an alternative that is more humane, as well as more efficient and effective at achieving outcomes. Purpose: This article uses research on homelessness to devise alternative forms of emergency assistance that could reduce the prevalence and/or duration of episodes of homelessness and much of the need for emergency shelter. Methods: We review analyses of shelter utilization patterns to identify subgroups …

Space, Revolution And Resistance: Ordinary Places And Extraordinary Events In Caracas, Clara Irazabal

Clara Irazabal

As discussed in the introduction, many scholars have argued that public space is a prerequisite for the expression, representation, preservation and enhancement of democracy (Boudreau, 2000; Caldeira, 2000; Holston and Appadurai, 1999; Low, 2000; Sassen, 1996; Low and Smith, 2006). This has not been more true than in the capital cities of Latin America in recent decades, where political demonstrations have played a critical role in the demise of totalitarian regimes and the reestablishment of democracy. Caracas, capital city of Venezuela, is a prime example in that key urban spaces have been sites for popular demonstrations since Hugo Chavez became …