The hottest Urban Design Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
Category
Top Art & Illustration Topics

Placemaking vs. Mission-Shaping

Breaking Smart • 70 implied HN points • 07 Nov 24
🕹 Technology Urban Design Community Building Digital Infrastructure Blockchain
  1. Placemaking is about creating welcoming spaces where people can thrive, while mission-shaping focuses on specific goals or projects. These two ideas often compete with each other because one is broad and inclusive, and the other is focused and narrow.
  2. The popup city movement is experimenting with creating communities that don't force a single mission, letting people bring their own projects while still fostering a vibrant environment. It's more about the place existing and supporting different activities rather than being driven by a single purpose.
  3. Cities and startups have different goals. Cities are about nurturing life and managing ongoing experiences, while startups are about efficiently solving specific problems. Mixing the two approaches can lead to mistakes in how we build and think about communities.

Make London even greater

Wrong Side of History • 479 implied HN points • 29 Feb 24
🏝 Travel City Planning Public Transportation Urban Design Architecture
  1. Priority should be given to building more homes in London through ideas like estate regeneration and deregulation of the housing market.
  2. Improving London's aesthetics by creating more open squares and rethinking the design of buildings and infrastructure.
  3. Enhancing transportation in London by expanding the railway system with projects like Crossrail and implementing measures to reduce car dependency and improve cycling infrastructure.

The Brilliance of Cadiz's Urban Design

The New Urban Order • 159 implied HN points • 25 Aug 23
🏝 Travel Urban Design City exploration
  1. Cadiz's urban design features a largely car-free town center, multi-family housing stock, and commercial space on the first floor of residential buildings, enhancing the concept of a 5-Minute City.
  2. The city boasts an abundance of parks, plazas, public spaces per capita, breathtaking waterfront esplanades, and historic buildings rich in charm.
  3. Visiting a 3,000-year-old city like Cadiz showcases the historical beauty and urban planning that can inspire contemporary urban development.

Little boxes — and they all look just the same

City Hall Watcher • 98 implied HN points • 27 Feb 23
🎨 Art & Illustration Architecture City Planning Urban Design Development Aesthetics
  1. Toronto's architecture is becoming more monotonous due to recent provincial legislation affecting design approvals for buildings.
  2. City Hall is preparing for a by-election to replace Mayor John Tory, with the process set to begin after Pride weekend.
  3. The development pipeline in Toronto has seen a significant increase in proposed residential units, reaching a record high in 2021.

Green patch: Bällsta bro

The Third Place • 39 implied HN points • 31 Oct 23
🎭️ Culture Urban Design Community Engagement Environmental Impact
  1. Neglected urban areas like barren grass patches in cities can disrupt city flow and pose problems like attracting bad activities due to neglect.
  2. Transforming neglected spaces into green recreational areas with community input not only beautifies the area but also positively impacts the environment, creating win-win situations.
  3. Community involvement in urban design interventions fosters a sense of belonging, enhances neighborhood aesthetics, and manages resources like rainwater effectively.
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Nurse Buildings

Street Smart Naturalist: Explorations of the Urban Kind • 159 implied HN points • 19 May 22
🌞 Climate & Environment Ecology Botany History Architecture Urban Design
  1. Nurse buildings, like the Colosseum, are structures where plants can thrive, thanks to their materials and existing cavities that hold seeds and moisture. This creates a unique environment for plant growth.
  2. The Colosseum has over 600 plant species recorded, showing how nature can reclaim man-made structures, even after efforts to remove them.
  3. Living walls in buildings can enhance urban spaces by providing natural beauty and habitat for plants, making cities greener and more inviting.

California Forever, the tech-billionaire funded city, plans for transit after all

Urben Field Notes • 32 implied HN points • 05 Mar 24
🕹 Technology Urban Design Tech Innovations
  1. California Forever, a tech-billionaire funded city in the Bay Area, is planning to include transit connections to improve accessibility and reduce reliance on cars.
  2. The lead urban designer behind California Forever is aiming to integrate rail systems to connect the new city to Sacramento and the Bay Area, highlighting the importance of regional transit connections.
  3. The proposed transit plans involve challenges such as negotiating with Union Pacific for track usage, but the project envisions a cohesive urban ecosystem with high-quality transit services and a compact urban form for easy access.

Curb Appeal

Street Smart Naturalist: Explorations of the Urban Kind • 139 implied HN points • 07 May 21
🎭️ Culture Geology History Urban Design Cultural heritage
  1. Curbs can tell us a lot about local geology. In Seattle, you can find granite curbs that are 32 million years old.
  2. Carrara in Italy has beautiful marble curbs and sidewalks that were formed around 200 million years ago. This adds a touch of style and history to the area.
  3. The oldest known curbs are made from Morton Gneiss in Minnesota, which is about 3.5 billion years old. It's wild to think about how much history these stones have!

Autonomous Vehicles and Culture

The Digital Anthropologist • 0 implied HN points • 05 Feb 24
🕹 Technology Transportation Urban Design Infrastructure
  1. Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) face cultural challenges due to the deep-rooted connection between cars/trucks and human culture worldwide. This may impact adoption despite technological advancements.
  2. The adoption of AVs requires significant societal changes beyond just the vehicle technology, such as redesigning cities and shifting away from fossil fuels.
  3. Despite challenges, advancements in infrastructure, manufacturing, and materials hint at a future where AVs could play a vital role in transportation systems, sparking innovative urban planning ideas.