Planning Pool

Portland Food Carts: Photo by Author

In Portland you might enjoy a steaming bowl of curry, while in Accra a spicy box of jollof.  Both purchased for a low cost and in a convenient location.  What is known as a cart in Portland or New York, a kiosk in Accra or Moscow, might also be a booth, pavilion or a stand.  Each is a different form of micro-enterprise that plays an increasingly important role in our cities today. A kiosk is an efficient way for an individual to start a business with low costs and short time, while providing an immediate service to an urban area.  Congruently, the vibrancy of a neighborhood can be accentuated through the articulation of these small forms.  But … Continue Reading

Having made many eastbound trips along I-8 from San Diego to other locations (sometimes Phoenix, other times further), I’m fairly familiar with the subject of this week’s video…

Gazing toward the future, and hopefully beyond these dismal economic times, what will cities look like? Though it’s easy to get excited about the technologies that might shape the built realities of civilization, any sociologist will tell you that cities are at least equally defined by their inhabitants…

This time, Vancouver and Vancouver sub in for London and Paris. Don’t fear though; shadows of Dickens remain. In his sweeping, heartfelt and often critical portrait of the city, Gary Stephen Ross offers up a crystal clear “before” picture of this aspiring town just ahead of the throngs about to descend on us for the Olympics. He asks us to ask: What Next?
“Vancouver’s youth, like its size, is easy to overlook. From the air, the downtown commercial grid, circumscribed by salt water and shining in the sun, calls to mind a sort of a mini-Manhattan, as snugly fitted as a Lego project. But look closely, and you’ll notice that only recently have the central buildings started to poke dramatically upward; only now is a mature skyline taking shape, the last of the baby teeth being displaced.”
It’s a worthwhile read. Find … Continue Reading

The issue of homelessness is at the forefront of debates, both formal and informal, and is a reality I see every day in Vancouver, Canada. As the 2010 Olympics start take over the city, many wonder what will happen to the city’s large homeless population.

Housing and Development Board flats in the Little India district of Singapore. Thanks to Linkway88 for the Creative Commons photo.

In contrast, homelessness is widely believed to be nonexistent in Singapore, a city state in Southeast Asia. More than 85% of the Singaporean population lives in housing subsidized through the Housing and Development Board (HDB), Singapore’s public housing authority. This week, the … Continue Reading

In keeping with our theme here at Planning Pool, we’re proud to present the first annual Sink or Swim Series, honoring cities that make good use of new media to involve the public in planning.  The point of this exercise is to identify what works well and what doesn’t when city websites communicate plans. We’re all about inclusiveness, so we won’t be making the calls ourselves, but will instead be relying upon your input.  Every week, a few cities will be presented for your critique.

Now, we know not everyone enjoys reading the nitty-gritty of planning documents, so please remember: you are not judging whether a city’s plans are “good”, but whether its website makes planning more accessible. Everyone will come at this from a different … Continue Reading

Sorry for the downtime, readers! We’re experimenting with software that will make it easier for you to go between the posts and the forum. Hopefully it will be ready soon.