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 [...]
In October 2011, I began my internship writing for The Grid. I had always been interested in the potential that social media can provide as a platform for discussions about urban planning and design. Aside from this, I did not quite know what to expect from the experience. Six months later, I am leaving my blogging position at Global [...]
Search engine optimization (SEO) is crucial for the success of many websites. No matter how often you may tune your site for a better ranking with major search engines, it may still not be enough if the right keywords or keyphrases are not being selected. This is because search engines decide how relevant a site [...]
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 [...]
Have you ever heard about clothes swapping? If you are Turkish, probably not. Because in Turkey, worldwide-known brands have their factories located there, providing people the opportunity to purchase clothes at very low prices. Additionally, Turkish people tend to underestimate the advantages of using one anothers’ old clothes, even-though most parents made their children wear [...]
A website is a critical component of any business, large or small. In fact, websites may play an even more critical role in the growth of a small business that may have less marketing resources than a larger company. However, the existence of a website for your business is not enough to ensure its growth. Like [...]
Are you interested in sustainability, but not sure where to get the latest information, sample products, and meet like-minded people? The upcoming Ecobuild conference in London, United Kingdom could be just the event for you. Ecobuild is, put simply, the place to go to update your environmental expertise and put yourself ahead of the competition [...]
“Here in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, we have 200,000 cars a day going through the Gowanus Expressway. Our community complains about asthma, cancer, respiratory disease … but the excuse for neglecting us is that it is too expensive to mitigate” -Elizabeth Yeampierre, Executive Director of the Labor/Community Strategy Center Elizabeth Yeampierre’s words highlight a number of the environmental [...]
Blogs are today’s “black.” Nowadays, many companies are incorporating personalized websites as part of the businesses’ Public Relations strategy to reach out to new and potential clientele, or the general public. So it is important, more so within the field of architecture, engineering, environmental non-profit, landscape architecture and urban planning, to maintain your website in [...]
Being environmentally cognizant has become the new way of thinking in terms of developing a profitable business. In the contemporary eco-conscious world, businesses are working toward incorporating environmentally friendly procedures into their production. Even practicing eco-friendly techniques or associating an eco-friendly logo design to your company may make the difference between financial profit and loss. [...]
“Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design,” or LEED, is an obvious standard in environmental design and Mammoth Mountain in Mammoth Lakes, CA strives to maintain its natural resources while attempting to accommodate thousands of tourists. The LEED standard was established by the U.S. Green Building Council in 1993 as a national environmental rating system to [...]
Within the field of architecture, engineering, environmental non-profit, landscape architecture and urban planning, attending to your website’s upkeep will help your business grow and continue to thrive. Clientele will most likely conduct research about your company prior to contacting you, and in today’s age, companies are always developing and maintaining websites to attract new and [...]
World-class entertainment, respected athletic teams, a prominent automotive headquarters, and a celebrated arts and cultural district set along an international waterway – Detroit, Michigan has always been a great events city. However, one of the city’s greatest assets, the Detroit riverfront, lay underutilized for years due to limited access and lack of connectivity. Then in [...]
Montreal Island, the core of Greater Montreal, used to be mostly covered by agricultural areas (including some of Quebec’s best farmland), but as the city expanded and its population grew further, agriculture got ever more marginalized. According to “Metropolitan Natures: Environmental Histories of Montreal,” by Stéphane Castonguay and Michèle Dagenais, agriculture was still present in [...]
Brownfields are underused or vacant plots of land that remain undeveloped because of fears that they may have been contaminated by industrial or commercial use in the past. These sites are not always actually contaminated. However, these fears often prevent property owners from obtaining financial support from banks and developers in order to reclaim these [...]
Post 9/11, most of New York City’s disaster planning has focused on terrorism while failing to develop preventative strategies for combating natural disasters. As Senator Richard Brodsky pointed out recently, “All they’re thinking about is terrorism, and the net result is that the hurricane plan is embarrassing.” New York City is especially vulnerable to storm [...]
“Rails-to-Trails” is an example of how urban planners and urban designers are repurposing abandoned rail corridors for use as pedestrian and bicycle trails. As of September 2010, there were 19,872 miles of rail-trails in the United States. Ithaca, New York is home to several rails-to-trails projects that offer active recreation opportunities, useful commuting alternatives, and [...]
On March 14th, 2011, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn announced the release of Vision 2020: New York City Comprehensive Waterfront Plan. This 10-year plan focuses on simultaneously increasing waterfront accessibility, promoting sustainability, and supporting the expansion of maritime industry. New York City boasts 520 miles of shoreline that have [...]
According to a study, Montreal has one of the lowest percentages of greenspace of any major North American city. One of the largest pieces of undeveloped greenspace is Montreal’s West End is Meadowbrook Golf Course. Meadowbrook has been repeatedly threatened with residential development by Groupe Pacific, for over 20 years. A local environmental non-profit group, [...]
As a pedestrian on a bicycling/walking path, you’ve probably grumbled as a bicyclist passed from behind without warning. Or maybe you’ve feared for your children’s safety as you’ve pulled them to the side of the path as bicyclists whizzed past without regard to their speed. On the other hand, as a bicyclist, chances are you [...]
