Category: Urban

Bodys Isek Kingelez: City Dreams

At MoMA, through the rest of 2018, is an interesting exhibition entitled Bodys Isek Kingelez: City Dreams. It is a retrospective of artist Bodys Isek Kingelez (1948–2015) who was based in then-Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo):

following its independence from Belgium, Kingelez made sculptures of imagined buildings and cities that reflected dreams for his country, his continent, and the world.

These are amazing models of what could happen, a speculative dream for a new country emerging from great change, all created from everyday and readymade objects. The work is amazing, and you should go. A few times.

My criticism of the work is that the future dreamworld looks dreadful from an urbanist point of view. The future that Bodys Isek Kingelez envisions has come to life in parts of Beijing and in Gurgaon, right outside New Delhi, India. Gurgaon is the manifestation of libertarian space; rife with walled fortress-like compounds which require a car to navigate from one to the other, all cloaked in dust and smog. There is no space for walking or biking; no space for simple pleasures of moving from space to space without the requirement of a car to convey you to that new space.

These are spaces where the body is cut off from each other; spaces where the building form is more important than the person:

Now this criticism might seem unfair, or jumping to conclusions based on art but the work as a whole leaves me with trepidation that the future dream is not truly human-centered, rather the future envisioned is a series of unconnected edifices. Yet this work also, in a way, correctly predicts star architects, run amok libertarian space, and the foregrounding of building not urbanism.

 

Transit Elevated Bus: That’s not a bus, it’s a big train

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In the last few months, an idea in search of a solution, has emerged from China: a giant car-straddling bus which would soar above waiting traffic below. Which sounds awesome; I’ve been to Beijing – the ring roads are some of the most congested pavement on earth. Let’s go to the grey lady with, China’s Straddling Bus, on a Test Run, Floats Above Streets:

If you’re driving in a Chinese city in the none-too-distant future and your car is engulfed in a smooth, humming metallic belly, don’t panic. It may feel like an alien abduction, but probably it’s only a colossal, street-straddling bus.

The idea of a bus so large, high and long that it could virtually levitate above congested streets seemed surreal when presented at an expo in Beijing in May. But it came a step closer to reality this week, when a prototype went for an experimental spin in Qinhuangdao, a seaside city in northern China.

But having about 7 feet of vertical clearance for cars to go underneath feels like a disaster waiting to happen. And this isn’t a bus – it’s a new type of light rail vehicle. You can see the running rails on either side of the vehicle, below:

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It appears that the rail system is a running guide rail and the propulsion is by rubber tires, very similar to Paris Metro rubber tire subway cars.

teb-3If the goal is to densify the street and overlay many different modes of transport, this might be your ticket. It is interesting if you don’t have the time or money to build heavy rail or subway system, or don’t have the right of way to build surface rail. This feels like a solution when your constraint is to not reduce vehicle miles traveled in low-occupancy vehicles, or you cannot densify a lane of traffic by using light rail or even high-value bus rapid transit.

Putting my pendant hat on: let’s stop calling this a bus (because it isn’t).

 

 

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Smart City makes people say silly things

Columbus, Ohio Aerial

First: the idea that cities need to become smarter through top-down “design” utilizing massive investment in computers, sensing, and the like is a fallacy which industry is only too happy to exploit to the detriment of citizenry. I wholeheartedly co-sign what Adam says here: The Case Against the ‘Smart City’.

For context, Columbus, Ohio (my hometown) won a US$50 million US DoT grant:

The city beat out six other finalists for the competition to receive $50 million in grant funding from the federal government and Vulcan Inc. to develop Columbus into the nation’s proving ground for intelligent transportation systems.

Today’s example of misreading what is happening comes from the Guardian’s “expose” Secretive Alphabet division funded by Google aims to fix public transit in US:

Sidewalk Labs, a secretive subsidiary of Alphabet, wants to radically overhaul public parking and transportation in American cities, emails and documents obtained by the Guardian reveal.

Its high-tech services, which it calls “new superpowers to extend access and mobility”, could make it easier to drive and park in cities and create hybrid public/private transit options that rely heavily on ride-share services such as Uber. But they might also gut traditional bus services and require cities to invest heavily in Google’s own technologies, experts fear.

A point made later in the article about the effects of shifting usage patterns from public transit to private for-hire services such as Uber or Lyft causing a disinvestment, is well taken. And we need to guard against this. But this article takes collaboration between the private sector and government as something deeply sinister.

Let Laura Bliss of The Atlantic CityLab drop some knowledge about Sidewalk Lab’s software called Flow:

Overall, the article gives the impression that Flow is some kind of top-down planning regime, conceived in secret by Sidewalk Labs and foisted on cities like Columbus. It makes it sound conspiratorial. But that isn’t really the case.

First, the Guardian article does not mention that Flow was announced in March, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Transportation, as technology offered for free by Sidewalk Labs to the Smart Cities Challenge victor. The exclusive documents obtained by the Guardian were, according to Sidewalk Labs, pitch materials shared with finalist cities that modeled some of the possible functions of Flow. Since the platform has still yet to be deployed in any city, the specific elements of Flow remain a work in progress.

In these situations, having the software, results, and everything released as open source is the best case – The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s open source by default policy is a great example of this in action. Sidewalk labs is trying to jumpstart their entry into this market, leveraging the existing datastore Google has, and putting new software to the test. We can argue if Google being this partner is a public good or not.

To me, this appears to be a grant aimed at prototyping and learning at an urban scale – which by itself is difficult.

We’ll end with Dan Doctoroff, Sidewalk Labs CEO: The 3 Biggest Problems Urban Designers Have To Solve:

The Smart City Challenge began the conversation about tech-enabled mobility, but we’ve partnered with Transportation for America to broaden it to dozens more cities across the U.S., in the hopes of learning even more. Because at the end of the day, any strong public-private partnership works with cities to understand their unique challenges, and gives them the tools to resolve them on their own. What cities do with these tools—whether it’s run more buses, or expand bike-share networks, or develop connected fare cards, or subsidize shared mobility—is entirely up to them. It can’t succeed any other way.

Amanda Burden: How public spaces make cities work

If you have 18 minutes, you should watch this Amanda Burden: How public spaces make cities work TED Talk:

Amanda Burden is the former director of the New York City Department of City Planning and chair of the City Planning Commission under Mayor Mike Bloomberg. If you ignore the semi-hagiographic retelling of the massive rezoning under Mayor Bloomberg, you can hear some really interesting quotes. Overall her presentation says exactly the right things:

  • “How might we create successful, meaningful public spaces”
  • “Details make a difference because we are bodies in space.”
  • “You can’t fake understanding of the neighborhood.”
  • “You have to have faith in plans.”
  • “Tap into your humanity, not your expertise.”

The last quote, I take would have to challenge: I agree that you have to tap into your inner humanity, and be person centered in your design. But to not listen to your expertise is to remove an important tool which can help your fellow humanity.

The Citadel & Independence, USA: Another try at American Utopia

Mariemont

The internets are ablaze – mostly with scorn – over two different planned communities which have attracted attention after the Newtown, CT shooting: the Citadel and Glenn Beck’s Independence USA. The former is planned to:

…house between 3,500 and 7,000 patriotic American families who agree that being prepared for the emergencies of life and being proficient with the American icon of Liberty — the Rifle — are prudent measures. There will be no HOA (ed – Home Owner’s Association). There will be no recycling police and no local ordinance enforcers from City Hall.

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While Independence, USA would combine Disney World with what appears to be Celebration, FL (also by Disney):

While Independence is very much a dream at this point, the proposed city-theme park hybrid would bring several of Glenn’s seemingly disconnected projects into one place. Media, live events, small business stores, educational projects, charity, entertainment, news, information, and technology R&D – all of these things would have a home in Independence. With the rest of the country and the world going away from the values of freedom, responsibility and truth, Independence would be a place built on the very foundation of those principles. A retreat from the world where entrepreneurs, artists, and creators could come to put their ideas to work. A place for families to bring their children to be inspired.

New Harmony

Some may scorn, but I say: more power to you.

America has a great and rich history of groups of people coming together to found communities which share their combined values. The various Shakertown’s – such as Pleasant Hill, Kentucky – which dot Pennsylvania, Ohio and Kentucky are but one example of 19th Century utopia settlements founded by the Religious Society of Friends. Another great one is New Harmony, Indiana founded by a pietist, communal German religious group, known as Harmonists, Harmonites or Rappites in 1814. The Village of Mariemont, Ohio is a suburb of Cincinnati and was built in the 1920s by Mary Emery and exhibits English architecture from Norman to classic Georgian style. And you can’t forget any contemporary suburban gated community. Americans just love to build these things.

That isn’t to say these experiments are a always success. Only one or two Shakers remain alive today (since as part of their religion they decided not to procreate), and the Harmonists were really a band of indentured servants for leader George Rapp; who eventually sold New Harmony to move back to Pennsylvania. Mariemont is still a pretty little suburban town, and well, Trayvon Martin.

Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill

What is interesting in many of these cases, is the perceived need to isolate the group from the “other” in order to maintain discipline, security, or order. Also unsurprising, is the retro and nostalgic tone of both developments: both look to old Germanic town centers, and in the Citadel’s case explicitly showcase Rothenburg, Germany:

The most famous Place - Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Bavaria Germany

What is objectionable about the Citadel is their total lack of being prepared to run a corporation (which a town is): they claim to require no credit check, no background check, zero down payment, zero interest, and zero property taxes. This is not a way to operate a going concern, even if you want to maintain “Liberty-driven freedom derived by Thomas Jefferson’s Rightful Liberty.”

Services cost money, and people are greedy, lazy, and willing to look the other way. If you want to see what a libertarian playground would look like, head over to Gurgaon, outside New Delhi, India:

In this city that barely existed two decades ago, there are 26 shopping malls, seven golf courses and luxury shops selling Chanel and Louis Vuitton. Mercedes-Benzes and BMWs shimmer in automobile showrooms. Apartment towers are sprouting like concrete weeds, and a futuristic commercial hub called Cyber City houses many of the world’s most respected corporations.
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To compensate for electricity blackouts, Gurgaon’s companies and real estate developers operate massive diesel generators capable of powering small towns. No water? Drill private borewells. No public transportation? Companies employ hundreds of private buses and taxis. Worried about crime? Gurgaon has almost four times as many private security guards as police officers.

Urbanity takes shared sacrifice which extends past ideology, right into your pocketbook and your daily actions. These experiments don’t even realize this, and will fail much like the hippie communes of the 1960’s/70’s.

Into the vault: the operation to rescue Manhattan’s drowned internet

Miles of copper is ruined not only in the cable vault at Broad Street, but also at 20 or so manholes around the area. Even worse, paper insulation in the copper wiring sucks water through the cabling from capillary action, destroying cabling even in dry areas. Levendos says it’s “far too tedious, time consuming, and not effective of a process to try and put this infrastructure back together,” so Verizon’s taking the opportunity to rewire with fiber optics instead. Service has been restored to FiOS customers for over a week — unlike copper, fiber optics aren’t damaged by the water. As part of this process, crews have already pulled fiber up the major corridors — including Water, Broad, and Pearl Streets — to ultimately connect the fiber network to buildings.

Into the vault: the operation to rescue Manhattan's drowned internet | The Verge.

NYC Bike Lanes are a Financial Boon

9th Avenue Cycle Track Parking

The NYC Department of Transportation just released a new report on how NYC’s new transportation practices – including separated bicycle tracks and dedicated bus lanes – are paying off not only with faster commutes, safer streets, but financially: Measuring the Street: New Metrics for 21st Century Streets (PDF). Locally-based businesses on 9th Ave from 23rd to 31st Streets increased their retail sales up to 49%, compared to 3% borough-wide. This is in addition to a 58% decrease in injuries to all street users. And on First and Second Avenues in Manhattan there are 47% fewer commercial vacancies (compared to 2% more borough-wide).

“These projects aren’t just about the quality of life and aesthetics,” Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan said. “They really set the table for economic development.”

This is exactly what the complete streets view of the city should be: a holistic view in how we can make our shared streets work for all, not just cars.

The Next Generation of DIY Urbanism Projects: So Much Cooler Than Parklets

The PPPlanter

Park(ing) Day famously helped people all over the world re-envision the lowly parking spot, encouraging DIY urbanists for one day each fall to transform these spaces in their cities into parks, playgrounds, pop-up cafés – anything other than their intended use. The original idea, dreamed up by San Francisco-based urban design studio Rebar, went on to become a model urban prototype. The city of San Francisco adopted the concept for its “parklet” program. And now officially sanctioned parklets are popping up everywhere, most recently 2,000 miles away in Chicago.

The Next Generation of DIY Urbanism Projects: So Much Cooler Than Parklets.

In New York Sanitation Dept. Garage, an Art Gallery

In New York Sanitation Dept. Garage, an Art Gallery - NYTimes.com

Mr. Molina, 58, a lifelong New Yorker and a sanitation worker since 1981, began collecting pictures and trinkets along his route about 20 years ago, he said, to brighten up his corner of the garage locker room. Gradually, his colleagues on East 99th Street began to contribute, gathering up discarded gems they thought he might enjoy. As the collection grew, word spread, and workers from other boroughs started to drop off contributions from time to time. Next, building superintendents along Mr. Molina’s route started putting things aside they thought he could use.

In New York Sanitation Dept. Garage, an Art Gallery

Addressing Cincinnati’s ‘missing middle’ housing

Cincinnati Housing Types

As a former resident of Cincinnati, this makes me happy and hopeful that the Queen City will revitalize – Addressing ‘missing middle’ housing in the Queen City:

Cincinnati’s urban neighborhoods are at a tipping point. The city has lost 40 percent of its population since 1950, leaving suburban densities in the city’s formerly urban neighborhoods. Many residential buildings and lots sit vacant or poorly maintained, with over 10,000 historically contributing units in need of renovation. Neighborhood main streets have withered due to lack of people, competition from nearby big box stores, and bad thoroughfare design that speeds cars and potential customers through these neighborhoods rather than to them. In addition, jobs followed the people to the suburbs.

via Addressing ‘missing middle’ housing in the Queen City | Better! Cities & Towns Online.

Cincinnati is embarking on a form-based zoning code revision with a review draft this fall. Here are a bunch of documents pertaining to the ongoing study and a preview of the different draft zoning transepts.