World Wide Wednesday: Participatory budgeting and underground parks

Each week we will be focusing on blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We’ll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues.

• The first of a series of participatory budgeting assemblies begins this week in four New York City districts. During the assemblies, members of the public will be free to propose community improvement priorities. In March, votes will be held to decide which projects will be funded by the $1 million in discretionary capital funds available for allocation in each district (PBNYC).

• You’ve heard of the High Line, but are you up on the Low Line? A team in New York City is proposing an underground park be fashioned out of the former Delancey trolley terminal. Initial reaction in the public space-hungry city has been positive. (WebUrbanist)

• Russian photographer, Sasha Aleksandrov, captures the revitalization of a Cold War-era industrial factory through a dramatic time lapse. (Architizer)

• The Atlantic explores twenty subway system maps and tries to decipher what each map says about its respective city.

Image from WebUrbanist

Do you have a World Wide Wednesday worthy article you’d like to share? Send the link to www@spacing.ca