Once home to the innovations of the Burroughs Adding Machine Company, American Electrical Heater Company and General Motors, the New Center area breathes new life into Detroit, Michigans's entrepreneurial spirit.

In April 2004, the partially-renovated Chevy Creative Services building designed by architect Albert Kahn, opened its doors to Detroit's start-up community as TechOne. The TechTown concept for an urban, mixed-use research and technology park began in the 1990s, with Irvin D. Reid, president of Wayne State University.

The renaissance[...]

Oh, Global Site Plans – where did those 6 months go? After I graduated from New York University with a Bachelor’s in English & American Literature, I reached a revelation – I wished I had studied environmental science. During my long contemplation in finding a detour to reach that obscure goal, I realized that I could go to graduate school for environmental science, but first I would need at least some experience with the subject. This thought process led me to spreading the word to all my friends and family about my career change, which ended up with one of my friends informing me about an internship [...]

Urban relocation is often used, whether justifiably or not, as a part of the urban renewal project of Istanbul in its endeavor to become a “world-city.” As the main actor to carry out urban renewal projects, Mass Housing Administration has the authority to relocate squatter communities whenever it’s deemed appropriate, and usually these communities are relocated to public housing projects in peri-urban areas. One example is a community that was located in an area called Ayazma which is expected to hold international events, and the relocation of this settlement was a part of the cleaning-up and urban transformation proc[...]

In a desert climate, such as Tempe, Arizona, rain is sparse. At only 4.5 inches per year, it is a very dry place. The city gets water, nevertheless, as is demonstrated by the unusual amount of lawn-grown grass surrounding the suburban and urban sprawl. The question then is how? How do residents get the water for their lawns and swimming pools? For Tempe, the water comes from two places, the Central Arizona Project via the Colorado River and Tempe’s  nearly [...]

As cities grow and change over time, cultural icons sometimes fall victim to the march of “progress.” However, one of Cleveland's most iconic structures, the West Side Market, has remained proudly on the corner of Lorain Avenue and West 25th Street for one-hundred years. Originating with an open air market in 1840, and moving to a permanent structure in its current location in 1912, the structure is one of the oldest public markets in the United States. Beginning in 1902, funds were put aside and architects Hubbell and Benes were contracted to construct a permanent market space. The building is a Neo-Classical/Byzantine architecture brick structure with large inter[...]

Think about your audience when applying, was one of the first pieces of advice given by the American Planning Association Resume’s for Today’s Economy panel. Controlling your message, marketing yourself and establishing your ‘brand’ is a large part of standing out to hiring mangers.  Bower suggested re-reading the job advertisement and contacting HR to find out who is involved in making the hiring decision to help you properly highlight relevant experiences. Merriam called upon the audience to “clean up [their] closets [to] get ready” for interviews [...]

Istanbul will host its first design biennial between October 13 – December 12, 2012. The theme is proposed by the director of London Design Museum, Deyan Sudjic, as “imperfection.” This theme refers to Istanbul, a city far from being perfect, yet one of the most inspiring centers of the world, with infinite layers. Istanbul Design Biennial had a start-up with pre-events between March 22 - 27, 2012. Eleven different workshops, concurrently, in 9 different locations, took place. And a total of 201 university students worked with 30 international designers under the sponsorship of several companies. [...]

Six months ago I started writing for The GRID, here at Global Site Plans. At the time, I was working in the mortgage industry and needed something to reinvigorate my love for urban planning, again, during a semester full of research methods and statistics. This internship gave me that opportunity. I was able to concentrate on what drove me to study urban planning. Along the way, I learned quite a bit about Tampa, Florida. I’ve lived here my whole life, and I feel like I’ve learned more about the city through writing about tree planting programs, sustainability at my university, and water taxis than I ha[...]

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 movement toward sustainable and ecologically responsive landscape management. The university’s original permaculture design was a no-dig landscape. Instead of removing lawn, the group relied on layers of compost, mulch, and cardboard – saves time, saves labor for othe[...]

When the opportunity arose six months ago to blog for Global Site Plans, I jumped at the chance. At the time I had recently finished a Diploma in Architecture at a University in the United Kingdom and was brimming with enthusiasm and ideas about the world of architecture, but was desperately struggling to find a job. GSP provided the platform to share, develop and discuss my ideas and theories. It also kept my mind trained on architecture at a time when I seemed to be moving further and further away from the profession. I even managed to involve my temporary job working with children with special educational needs into my w[...]