January 02 2012
January 2nd, 2012Posted by Christine Camilleri
Each year, New York City’s network of Business Improvements Districts (BIDs) invests approximately $100 million worth of programs and services across the five boroughs. This network of 64 BIDs constitutes the largest network of its kind nationwide. Business owners, property owners, local merchant associations, elected officials, and urban planners have come to acknowledge the importance [...]
December 19 2011
December 19th, 2011Posted by Christine Camilleri
Design for the Other 90%: Cities, an exhibition originally launched in 2007, focuses on how participatory design solutions are being used to address the needs of 90 percent of the world’s population that have historically been ignored by the professional design community. The exhibit, which opened at the United Nations in New York in October 2011 [...]
December 15 2011
December 15th, 2011Posted by Benjamin Ha
Designing a website to use as advertisement to expand an urban planning sole-proprietorship or architecture company is a beneficial investment; however, simply having a customized website design and optimizing it for search engines cannot be expected to continually rank well. If left undeveloped, you may lose the business your website initially produced; therefore, website maintenance is [...]
December 05 2011
December 5th, 2011Posted by Christine Camilleri
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 [...]
November 21 2011
November 21st, 2011Posted by Christine Camilleri
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 [...]
November 10 2011
November 10th, 2011Posted by Alexandria Stankovich
Fall 2011, independently organized TEDxDetroit assembled an impressive line-up of Michigan entrepreneurs to share their Big Ideas with Detroit’s active social network. The focus of the day was sustainability: responsible business, exceptional education, strong communities, and innovative technologies. So, what’s the Big Idea for cities? Intelligent Streets. The IntelliStreets name demonstrates the importance of branding [...]
November 09 2011
November 9th, 2011Posted by Christine Camilleri
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 [...]
November 03 2011
November 3rd, 2011Posted by Jordan Meerdink
Global Site Plans’ The Grid authors generally write stories about specific topics relevant to their field of expertise, including architecture, landscape architecture, and urban planning. But, today, I am placing the spotlight on the hard working bloggers and writers of other urban planning and design blogs. This is my completely subjective list of the urban [...]
November 01 2011
November 1st, 2011Posted by Barrett Lane
Two weeks ago, I discussed the various ways that urban planners and firms use social media to reach out and interact with public audiences (i.e. Facebook and Twitter). While using these platforms is a good way of creating a base and engaging with users, knowing how to use these methods correctly and in the right [...]
October 20 2011
October 20th, 2011Posted by Jordan Meerdink
Many of the bloggers at Global Site Plans continue to learn about urban planning and urban design long after they finish formal schooling. One of the most interesting ways to go beyond standard classroom education is by attending any of the multitudes of conferences that are presented by colleges, research facilities, and companies each year. [...]
September 15 2011
September 15th, 2011Posted by Shelley Rekte
The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) will hold its annual meeting and EXPO in San Diego, California, October 30 – November 2, 2011. According to their website, www.asla.org, more than 6,000 landscape architect professionals from the United States and around the world will be in attendance. Attendees will have the opportunity to earn up [...]
August 25 2011
August 25th, 2011Posted by Jordan Meerdink
In a previous blog, I wrote about the car-free suburb in Vauban, Germany. However, whether by intentional design or chance circumstances, quite a few other cities around the world continue to operate without automobile usage. Here is a selection of some of the more idiosyncratic car-free towns and cities around the world. Supai, Arizona is [...]
August 23 2011
August 23rd, 2011Posted by Barrett Lane
In August 2011, the BMW Guggenheim Lab made its formal debut on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. A collaboration between BMW Corporation and the Guggenheim Museum, the lab hopes to redefine and rethink the modern concepts of urban planning and urban design through a series of exhibitions, games, and public events among other items. [...]
August 10 2011
August 10th, 2011Posted by Ryan Champlin
What makes a place? And why is it important? I have been thinking about these two questions quite a bit lately. They are probably deeper questions than any of us realize; partly because the questions seem so simple, but also, I think, because the meaning of the word “place” has been so watered down by [...]
July 21 2011
July 21st, 2011Posted by Shelley Rekte
Like most urban areas, Lincoln, Nebraska, contains many farmers’ markets throughout the growing season. The biggest of these markets is open on Saturday mornings in the downtown Lincoln area. The market itself has become something of an event, attracting thousands of people each week, during its peak. Just last month, a new farmers’ market opened [...]
July 05 2011
July 5th, 2011Posted by Pamela Abee-Taulli
Ever stood in the middle of a big city and thought What a lot of energy! You’re right. Any thriving metropolis is teeming with energy – sun beating down; feet and cars bearing down; offal and detritus decomposing; and often, sea tides pulling and pushing. At the turn of the 21st century, an untenable rise [...]
June 29 2011
June 29th, 2011Posted by Ryan Champlin
In a conversation I recently had with a professional planner, we were discussing the role of non-profits in helping individuals and businesses build wealth. He expressed his deep appreciation for organizations, such as Community Action agencies, in helping planners do their job more effectively. “After all,” he said, “what is the purpose of urban planning [...]
June 23 2011
June 23rd, 2011Posted by Shelley Rekte
Where is your focus when you step outdoors? Are you automatically checking personal email and texts, or surfing the Web on your mobile device? Or are you deeply breathing the fresh air and enjoying the sun upon your face? Just recently, in my hometown of Lincoln, Nebraska, the air temperature hit triple digits on a [...]
June 01 2011
June 1st, 2011Posted by Ryan Champlin
In America, producing food has become the arena of large industrial farms operating with ultra efficiency. They have expansive tracts of land, large motorized equipment, unimaginable amounts of sugar-like substances and preservatives. Not to mention massive shipping and receiving systems. At the end of it all, we have a complex system of marketing and a [...]
May 25 2011
May 25th, 2011Posted by Daniel Sheehan
As a general stereotype, Americans seem to have forgotten that there are other methods of transportation besides the automobile. Ever since President Eisenhower signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, superhighways have dominated the transportation landscape. It makes sense that American commuters seem to know no other way of transport. Urban planners are partly to [...]
