Architecture 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 …

Residential Security Maps And Neighborhood Appraisals. The Homeowners' Loan Corporation And The Case Of Philadelphia, Amy E. Hillier

Amy Hillier

At the request of the Home Loan Bank Board, the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC) created color-coded maps for cities across the country between 1935 and 1940 that indicated risk levels for long-term real estate investment. Involvement in this City Survey Program marked a departure from the original mission of HOLC to provide new mortgages on an emergency basis to homeowners at risk of losing their homes during the Depression. This article considers why HOLC made these maps, how HOLC created them, and what the basis was for the grades on the maps. Geographic information systems and spatial regression models …

Closing The Gap: Housing (Un)Affordability In Philadelphia, Amy E. Hillier, Dennis P. Culhane

Amy Hillier

No abstract provided.

Who Received Loans? Home Owners' Loan Corporation Lending And Discrimination In Philadelphia In The 1930'S, Amy E. Hillier

Amy Hillier

The lending record of the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC) has received little attention compared with HOLC’s residential security maps. Specifically, the extent to which HOLC practiced racial and ethnic discrimination in the process of making and servicing more than a million loans to homeowners during the Depression has not been carefully examined. Using primary sources including HOLC publications, newspaper articles, 1930 census data, and mortgage records from Philadelphia, this research shows that HOLC did make loans to African Americans, Jews, and immigrants. Evidence suggests, however, that HOLC supported racial segregation in the process of reselling properties acquired through foreclosure.

Redlining And The Homeowners' Loan Corporation, Amy E. Hillier

Amy Hillier

This article analyzes the impact of the residential security maps created by the Home Owners’Loan Corporation (HOLC) during the 1930s on residential mortgages in Philadelphia. Researchers have consistently argued that HOLC caused redlining and disinvestment in U.S. cities by sharing its color-coded maps. Geographic information systems and spatial statistical models were used to analyze address-level mortgage data from Philadelphia to determine if areas with worse grades actually had less access to residential mortgage credit as a result. Findings indicate that the grades on HOLC’s map do not explain differences in lending patterns with the exception of interest rates, which were …

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 …

Cascading Infrastructure Failures: Avoidance And Response, George H. Baker, Cheryl J. Elliott

George H Baker

No critical infrastructure is self-sufficient. The complexity inherent in the interdependent nature of infrastructure systems complicates planning and preparedness for system failures. Recent wide-scale disruption of infrastructure on the Gulf Coast due to weather, and in the Northeast due to electric power network failures, dramatically illustrate the problems associated with mitigating cascading effects and responding to cascading infrastructure failures once they have occurred.

The major challenge associated with preparedness for cascading failures is that they transcend system, corporate, and political boundaries and necessitate coordination among multiple, disparate experts and authorities. This symposium brought together concerned communities including government and industry …

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 …