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The Unequal Benefits of Public Space: A new study of 11,000 Americans from the Knight Foundation investigates the factors that foster a sense of attachment to the place we live—and the racial disparities in access to those factors (Knight Foundation). With a strong focus on Philadelphia, PA, the study found that 64% of residents there described recreational areas as very important to them, however while 92% of white residents reported having access to these amenities, only 79% of residents of color said the same. According to the report, quality of life amenities like arts, recreation, and safe places to live, work and play correlated with a deeper attachment to community, compared with other necessities like jobs, affordable housing, schools, and healthcare.
This report comes at a time when some observers are anticipating a familiar growth in inequality, as cities with struggling municipal budgets once again consider cutting services and doubling down on attracting affluent residents to boost their tax base (Bloomberg). However, cities like Seattle are demonstrating an alternative way forward, prompted by a reinvigorated national movement for racial justice (The Urbanist). The Seattle Planning Commission's plan for "A Racially Equitable and Resilient Recovery" is a must read, including priorities like sharing power in the planning process, and creating public spaces that reflect the diverse cultures and priorities of Black, Indigenous and People of Color, rather than more Eurocentric models of placemaking.
A Competition to Reopen Schools Outdoors: This week, the Community Design Collaborative announced Design AID: Outdoor Learning Spaces (Community Design Collaborative), a competition in collaboration with the School District of Philadelphia to find innovative and creative solutions to bring students back to school as soon as safely possible and to expand opportunities for outdoor learning in the future. As cities around the country make an impossible decision between unsafe indoor openings or continuing unsuccessful and unequal virtual learning strategies, the ideas generated by this competition could provide a path out of the impasse.
Don't Sell Street Vendors Short: While Americans have a growing appetite for street food, you are still more likely to find it legally in an overpriced sit-down restaurant than on the street (Strong Towns). With the "Overton window" shifting when it comes to the use of street space, argues Daniel Herriges, now is the right time to recognize the tremendous economic and social value that street vendors bring to American cities, and reassess how we regulate their business.
Fighting Violent Crime without Police: During the historic decline in violent crime that has taken place in the United States, research has found that community organizations have been as vital to this change as police—but without the costs of racist brutality and incarceration. "But we’ve never thought of these organizations and residents as the central actors responsible for creating safe streets," argues Princeton University professor Patrick Sharkey, "So we’ve never given them the same commitment and the same resources that we give to law enforcement and the criminal legal system" (Vox).
The Experiences that Shape a Generation: Forty years ago, a small group of activists started Ciclovía in the Colombian capital of Bogotá (CityLab). Now, every Sunday over 70 miles of roadway in the city become cycle lanes from morning to early afternoon, and this simple but powerful idea has spread around the world. However, one of the intangible impacts of the program is its effects on how young people see their city. As one observer put it, “When you see that these spaces can be used for other things, walking with your children, jogging, biking, people start to think differently about how this space can be used, how much space the cars use up. That’s the symbolic power of Ciclovía.”
Placemaking Playbook: Finally, here's a roundup of 12 recent innovative placemaking ideas and projects making headlines:
- A guide to safely reopening a city's nightlife during COVID-19 (CityLab)
- The small but mighty tuk-tuk and the future of pandemic public transit (Next City)
- An interactive diagram of how subway cars diffuse coronavirus particles (New York Times)
- A guide to pandemic placemaking interventions for commercial districts (Main Street America)
- A hyper-detailed walk/bike study proposes the first official 20-minute neighborhood in Houston, TX (Community Impact)
- The case for rewriting the formula for speed limits (Forbes)
- The movement that removed 59 confederate monuments around the U.S. (NPR)
- A medicinal garden at Washington State Penitentiary grown by incarcerated Indigenous people (ColorLines)
- The First Amendment debate opened up by Black Lives Matter murals (Observer)
- The car safety features that drivers don't want—since they save pedestrians (CityLab)
- The balancing act between infrastructure for cycling and accessibility (CityLab)
- The magic of urban trees (Public Square)
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