Completing my semester-long stint in the Netherlands also means saying goodbye to The Grid. Writing here has helped me to navigate and distill the sometimes-complicated experience of living and participating in a new social and urban context; for this I am grateful. A blog can be a sounding board for a writer, an opportunity to [...]
After living the majority of my life in the United States, specifically, in the expansive state of Texas, there are two aspect of cities that I’ve had to reconcile when considering various urban processes here in The Netherlands: scale and time. Scale because things are close and accessible here. The hour-long drive I would sometimes [...]
The small town of Haren, located in the northern Netherlands, was recently launched into (inter)national fame when a Project X party catalyzed riots and vandalism by partygoers; however, I first knew the place for its well-known, but similarly contentious woonerf (pl. woonerven). A Dutch approach to the more commonly known term “shared space,” woonerven are [...]
Unlike other countries, the Netherlands appears to be on track to support it’s growing elderly population financially; however, as in many places with historical infrastructure, a big question is whether or not the built environment suites the needs for traditionally differently-abled populations. Newer cities with more modern designs are more likely to accommodate access for [...]
The concept of Historical GIS (HISGIS), the geocoding (and often digitizing) of spatial historical data for visualization or analysis, has existed for at least a decade. One of the most simple but effective examples that I know of is UCLA’s Hypercities project. Another is Welikia. Both have superimposed historical maps onto a Google-type current map [...]
From the urban planning viewpoint, Amsterdam is even more synonymous with urban biking than it is with legal soft drugs. The prior contributes to making the city more livable, the latter to attracting plenty of tourists. In such densities found in The Netherlands, cycling lowers car traffic, reduces pollution from automobiles; when done right, it [...]
While the Netherlands boasts some of the greenest urban environments, it is important to remember the local relationship between then landscape and its inhabitants over the past 2,000 years. For generations upon generations, the soil, sea, and sand have been manipulated in response to the needs of a growing society. Perhaps the most poignant statement [...]
Although experiencing the great need for temporary adaptive reuse projects in Phoenix, Arizona, I might say that I didn’t expect The Netherlands to require such measures to activate their urban spaces. I’ve been living in one example of temporary use: a shipping container apartment complex. It may be obvious to some, but the benefit of [...]
Amsterdam is one of those places I fell in love with before I ever visited. Architect Aldo van Eyck is the primary reason behind this. WWII left the city devastated with bomb-demolished buildings on many blocks, and the newly brandished professional’s first assignment was to begin designing neighborhood playgrounds – some in place of leveled [...]
Moving from a low-density neighborhood afforded by a desert city to the compact built environment of Amsterdam mandates more of a mental and physical shift than I initially expected. For me, being around people is a positive experience. Hearing a neighbor’s shower turn on or door close can even be comforting: others are alive and well; however, living in [...]
After two years in Phoenix, Arizona I am moving to the very antithesis of the valley’s urbanity, climate, and culture: The Netherlands. Phoenix, a place known for heat and sprawl, also houses a fairly transient population. As a student, I played my part; as an urban planner I explored the many homogeneous, place-less corners and [...]
As described by James Rojas, Latino Urbanism, found in many first and second-generation immigrant communities throughout the United States, can be defined by both the social and built characteristics of a neighborhood, such as: Practice of street vending; Home design where the font yard is used as a courtyard; Fences that act as points of [...]
The city best known for sprawl is also combating another problem: downtown vacant lots. In Phoenix, Arizona conventional methods of attracting developers just aren’t cutting it with little financing to support any major projects. In response, a grassroots, tactical urbanism approach has emerged among citizen groups redefining urban planning. The Roosevelt Row CDC is exploring [...]
