I began writing for The GRID after re-locating from Albuquerque, NM to Mammoth Lakes, CA. While I have always found blogging to be an exceptional outlet for personal use and staying connected with family and friends, I had never considered the benefit I could derive from it professionally until I joined Global Site Plans. For [...]
Economic development is the practice of inspiring private investment, retaining, and creating jobs. Economic development specialists and urban planners focus on economic development, work towards promoting entrepreneurship and small business development, implementing tax incentives for development projects, and expanding employment opportunities for local residents. In Mammoth Lakes, CA the current economic development strategy is to [...]
Marketing is the set of planning and implementation practices that result in a product or service that is both satisfying to customers and results in a profit. Advertisements are only one component of a marketing strategy which also includes market research, media planning, public relations, product pricing, distribution, customer support, sales strategy, and community involvement. [...]
Food talk is hot these days. Urban planning councils and governments now implement sustainable food mandates, and city revitalization projects transform old buildings into gourmet mixed-use shopping centers. It’d be easy to assume that food producers have an easy time getting their products to city consumers. Yet even with a growing appetite for their goods, [...]
Outdated, poorly maintained, and critically disconnected from the streetscape and RiverWalk, COBO Center was well on its way to becoming Detroit’s largest white elephant. At risk of losing its contract for the North American International Auto Show, State and local government leaders arrived at an arrangement regarding the Center’s management and modification. Under the control [...]
Your firm can use the popular professional networking site LinkedIn for much more than your standard Facebook ‘like’ page. Facebook is casual and is viewable by all whom may be interested in your firm. LinkedIn provides a professional atmosphere online with many specific tools and resources to help your business and employees. Here are four tips [...]
I have been a writer for The Grid for over a year and this will be my last writing. I am grateful to Renee Van Staveren, Global Site Plans, and The Grid staff for this opportunity. A lot has been learned through my own research and also through the writings of my peers. The topics [...]
On June 4, 2012 we released the Top 20 International Urban Planning Websites 2012, now it’s architecture’s turn. We searched for your international architectural sources, using Alexa International Rankings, and found these to be your 2012 – Top 20 most popular architecture-related websites.* Whether serving you with visual inspiration through featured projects, providing opportunities for [...]
Did you ever imagine that, as planners (or architects), we would be able to make revisions on a 10 thousand sqf retail mixed-use project in Revit, on our smart touchpads, while discussing it with a colleague on What’s App, on our way home, in a public train? It’s happening. Today’s social media mobilizes planners’ and [...]
With the growing popularity of crowdsourced funding platforms like Kickstarter or IndieGoGo, many urban planning professionals have begun to explore the potential of a good web-based brainstorm. In 2011, the development firm Renaissance Downtowns partnered with the city of Bristol, Connecticut to solicit feedback on the piazza feature of its mall redevelopment plan. After receiving [...]
Planning participation is a requirement in most American states, and many municipalities realize its power; a sense of ownership in the community for an initiative can be a determining factor in the success of any plan. To distribute and gather information to and from the community there are essentially three routes. Depending on the community [...]
Planning should be participatory; however, it’s often very difficult to get stakeholders to contribute to planning processes. Mail-in survey return rates are low, and more often than not, residents don’t want to sit through a Saturday morning design charette. Marketing online and social media platforms give urban planners and architects a set of contemporary tools [...]
Wondering where urban planners around the world get their news, where they are spending their valuable time, and where you should be looking too? The Grid scoured the Internet, and using Alexa International Rankings, found the 2012 – Top 20 most popular urban planning-related websites. Whether they are non-profit, for-profit, or hobbyist sites, we found [...]
One of the most important components of your work as an urban planner is engaging community stakeholders. For urban projects in the main street district, the downtown development authority, city leadership, planning and zoning commissioners, historical district commissioners, architects, and neighborhood residents are all integral partners. Projects that deal more with regional issues require collaboration [...]
The need for public involvement is one of the most fundamental and integral components of government agencies. Without this interaction, government leaders would have a difficult time understanding the needs and wants of the public. The traditional models of collecting public opinions create barriers, which can make it difficult for people to effectively participate in [...]
Public participation in urban planning has been transformed by web and mobile-based social media technologies. From simply informing citizens about a new proposal or plan to actively seeking out citizen suggestions and feedback, social media has changed the way urban planners approach public participation. Planners are always looking for new techniques and tools to engage [...]
College lawns are not just for Frisbees anymore. The UMass Permaculture Initiative snagged top honors at the White House Campus Champions of Change Challenge this March 2012, beating out 1,400 applicants and 15 finalists in a social media voting campaign. The project, founded in October 2010, is just one of many efforts in a growing [...]
For my final post, I’d like to thank everyone for reading my blogs over the last six months, I hope they brought a new and Scottish perspective to Global Site Plans; I certainly enjoyed writing about issues I care about. Many thanks to Global Site Plans and especially Renée van Staveren for giving me this [...]
As my 6-month internship with Global Site Plans coasts to a gentle close this week, I find myself in a much different place than when I began blogging for the GRID in October 2011. In the beginning, I was a recent college grad still clinging to my Cornell days by hanging around Ithaca, New York [...]
An internet search for “green living” in Turkey does not yield very many results. While environmental problems have been developing throughout history, the emergence of an environmental consciousness doesn’t happen overnight. In Turkey, the concept is still young, boasting both a developing field in environmentalism and a growing green industry. The National Environmental Action Plan [...]
