In 1993, the Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC) announced the closure of Naval Air Station Barbers Point, located on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. Formally closed in 1999, Barbers Point became the Kalaeloa Community Development District. In 2002, the State Legislature appointed the Hawaiian Community Development Authority (HCDA), an agency that works to revitalize areas [...]
With increasing urban density, cities are being forced to find sustainable alternative solutions to problems of transportation in urban centers. In cities like Hong Kong, where urban density remains a major issue, creative projects have dramatically changed the urban landscape. The Mid-Levels is a residential area built on the steep slopes of Victoria Peak. It [...]
State, citizens and private investors have been vindicating the area of Eleonas in Athens for the last six years. The area of 9,000 square meters extends in the south-west boroughs of Peristeri, Egaleo, St. John Renti, Tavros and Athens and form the area of Eleonas. Eleonas is regarded as another “back yard” of Athens, in [...]
When one thinks of Thessaloniki, Greece, often the first thing that comes in mind is the White Tower, a monument that was built around 1450 and today has become the city’s landmark. This is why the regeneration of the White Tower’s square is considered as one of the most important projects that the city can [...]
“The more successfully a city mingles everyday diversity of uses and users in its everyday streets, the more successfully, casually (and economically) its people thereby enliven and support well-located parks that can thus give back grace and delight to their neighborhoods instead of vacuity.” ― Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities [...]
As Greece faces an economic recession, the country’s creditors have asked the government to move ahead with the privatization of major companies. It is believed that this process will offer the country economic sustainability. OSE, the Greek company in charge of railway transport, is one of these major companies. The solution suggested by the Greek government, [...]
Is sustainability measurable? The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) certainly thinks so, and they are working hard to provide professionals working within the development community a framework to bring sustainability to the neighborhood level. The USGBC has been using its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System since 1998 to provide [...]
In the middle of one of the busiest and fastest growing cities, lies Shanghai’s former French Concession. With tree-lined avenues, small cafes, boutique shops, parks, and quiet residential streets, the area is markedly different from many of the surrounding areas of immense residential towers and offices. Not only is the FFC (Former French Concession) wildly [...]
Will a district characterized by its piers and warehouses become the vibrant “live-work-play urban neighborhood” imagined by the Hawaiian Community Development Authority? The HCDA selected Forest City Hawaii to design, develop, and manage 690 Pohukaina; a Hawaiian contemporary, mixed-use complex meant be the hallmark of the new Kaka’ako. Forest City Hawaii is a subsidiary of [...]
Orlando, Florida’s downtown is undergoing what you might call a “residential renaissance.” As one of the leaders in this national trend, Orlando is seeing faster growth in its downtown than in its suburbs. Economists suspect thousands of apartment units will be added to Orlando’s urban core over the next four years, with a handful of [...]
A big Global Site Plans welcome to our newest blogger, Alex Lenhoff from Orlando, Florida. Alex Lenhoff is in his final semester of the Masters of Planning in Civic Urbanism program at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida. His other degrees include anthropology and foreign languages, which provide him with a diverse, human-centered perspective of [...]
Taking a stroll by the sea can be a priceless experience. This is why in coastal towns, like Thessaloniki, Greece, the waterfront is one of the busiest parts of the city. And that is the reason why every citizen of Thessaloniki cannot wait for the regeneration of the new waterfront to be completed. Based on [...]
The central areas of Austin, TX continue to transform with the addition of shopping districts, new office space, condominiums, and apartments. The city’s aim is to create more compact and walkable neighborhoods/areas in order to encourage healthier and more sustainable lifestyles among its residents through reduced car and land-use. It appears that there has been [...]
Just months prior to the 2010 Winter Olympics, Vancouver authorities proudly announced the opening of “The Canada Line,” Canada’s only fixed link between a major city and its international airport. The rapid transit train, which runs primarily underground between Vancouver’s city center and the outlying suburb city of Richmond, takes only 25 minutes to move [...]
Miami voted. Results were tallied. And Midtown took the “2012 Curbed Cup” contest for Miami’s Best Neighborhood. A former rail yard, now comprised of commercial and condo units, Midtown received more votes than popular destinations like Lincoln Road, Coconut Grove, and Sunset Harbour. What might make Midtown the best Miami neighborhood? The district offers a [...]
How can city planners better manage new land use applications for urban planning while speeding up the process for city administration and applicants? It is a complex question that in many cases has created great debate among planning practitioners. Nevertheless, some cities, like New York, have been able to implement new management regarding future land use [...]
Xintiandi was once a quiet residential neighbourhood located in a rapidly developing inner city district in Shanghai, China. Between 1999 and 2001, however, the area underwent a massive redevelopment project. It involved the displacement of 25,000 households and 800 work units, including 3,800 households and 156 workplaces in just 43 days. This was done in [...]
Want to grow your veggies and eat them, too? While, until recently, the idea of combining urbanity with gardening seemed like a strong contradiction, urban gardens have started popping up in central city spaces around the world. One of the pioneering urban gardening projects is Prinzessinengarten in Berlin, Germany. Since summer 2009, this central Berlin [...]
How does a city go from a bus-only transit system to a multi-modal network in a decade? Despite early setbacks, metropolitan Orlando is well on its way to getting connected. In the next few years, public and private projects — mostly on existing rails — will shape the way Central Floridians get around. Florida has [...]
Wow, how fast time does fly! It seems like only yesterday that I was signing my first set of paperwork to do my internship with Global Site Plans. Initially, I must admit that I was a little nervous about doing an internship with Global Site Plans because I feared that I could not produce quality [...]
