North of 18

From the ages of 14 to lets say 20 we complain about the towns we grew up in. From the ages of 20 and above we are convinced we know how to fix them and lavishly bestow this wisdom upon are friends, must abundantly while intoxicated.

But it seems as if The Brookings Institute and MVRDV have come up with better ideas. MVRDV presents their vision for Grand Paris 2030 commissioned by Nicolas Sarkozy entitled “Paris(s) Plus petit.” Along with the usual mumbo-jumbo ego busting redirect of more this, more that, more …. There are some rather good ideas. I’m not against the ramble that is usually associated with motivating people and a city to action, I rather think it is quite useful. As for their good idea, well I rather have them say it.

“The City Calculator is a proposed demo version of a potential software and possible webtool, which quantifies the behavior and performance of a city and makes it comparable to others. It connects qualitative to quantitative parameters. It can be used as a public and planning tool to support sustainable planning. The City Calculator will be conceived in collaboration, by The Why Factory at Delft University of Technology”

http://www.mvrdv.nl/

I do not know what kind of parameters they will place in the system or how they will measure such things, but my idea would be to pursue such categories as Walkability, Usage Mix, Park area per Person (measured in ParkPersons), or maybe Trees per person. The point being the data collected should be presented in easily digestible measurements; measurements that a person could use to compare cities side by side. MVRDV’s ideas will be presented to the public along with ten other proposals April 29^th to Nov 22^nd in Paris. If anyone is there, please inform us on how it goes. www.citechaillot.fr

The other notable idea comes from the Brookings Institute where they proposed joining up planning and transportation as linked subjects interconnected. This sort of understanding is long overdue and should be so tightly knotted into our minds that the two cannot be separated. How can we not see that that roads, interstates, and bridges we build not only change how we live, but change who we are and how we interact?

Some policy solutions such as the Federal Government directing metro/city corporation is a well intentioned idea and a wise course correction for the future, but I think they should be cautioned; for abstraction and hierarchy can lead to blanket solutions and regulations that are not good for individuals and can stifle creative solutions.

Studio Mention of the Day: Studio HT, Bolder Colorado for their ability to pursue big picture ideas without losing site of the little people who will inhabit them.

View there graphic by clicking on the picture in there link:

http://www.studioht.com/work/research/recycling-kiosk/index.html

“Studio H:T recently participated in an American Institute of Architects sponsored design competition centered on the design of a series of recycling kiosks to be installed in downtown Denver. During that exercise, our focus slowly shifted from the individual receptacle to larger questions about the fundamental inefficiencies of the current means of solid waste collection. While exploring the possibility of a city-wide waste collection infrastructure, we hoped to open a new forum for discourse on the future of waste management within the larger context of sustainability..”

When looking at our built world it seems evident that that which divides us also connects us. The basic logic of our transportation system is to get “stuff” people, kids, goods, and parents, whatever, to wherever they are going. It is only unfortunate enough that such a system that has provided us with so much — now seems to have a strangle hold on us. To cross a neighbor you need to frogger your way across even the mildest 4-lane road. This blog will start to look at solutions that will connect back our cities.

America can not be scared out of suburban living:
Change will only come though two alternatives.

Economic collapse or
Shown a better alternative
This page attempts to solve the latter.

Could we couple: Sustainability with economically viability, Freedom with opportunity, And a new possibility with in an existing city.

PHASE ONE: Stole at your own pace.

Pedestrians are given prominence and cars stops while you walk on. If one of our goals is for a "Carbon-Neutral City" or at least to work towards one, a simple solution would be to focus on making walking/biking more enjoyable.

To rebuild our cities we need to be able to build them on a backbone that can handle them.

In an experiment to reclaim a old abandoned lot in Chicago and restore it to the prairie it once was an essential tool was discovered. After ten years of exhausting attendance to the plot the missing member was found, and this missing ingredient was fire.

"It hatched certain fire-triggered seeds, it eliminated intruding tree saplings, it kept fire-intolerant urban competitor down." Out of Control Kevin Kelly pg. 59

Pedestrian path must compete and even win in some cases against vehicular roads. If a system of coevolution does not accrue cars (and by extension us) like every animal without a check or balance will use up its supply and collapse.

Soon plants were returning that biologist thought were long dead in the area. Drought killed no native species and visiting blue birds made an endorsement on the site. What became obvious to Packard, the caretaker of the lot, was not only was the law of increasing returns taking effect, but the order in which species were added had an effect on the whole system. Lets hope we start to turn our priorities around.