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.
• Brent Toderian, Vancouver’s Director of City Planning, comments on the balance between liberty and security in urban design. Focusing in on the rebuilding efforts in New York, Toderian contrasts the high-security approach of Lower Manhattan with the inspirational successes of place-making elsewhere on the island. “Places that try to be totally safe tend to lack life, and usually fail as people-places,” he writes on Planetizen.
• Congratulations to Los Angeles, which last week opened 2.2 miles of new bike lanes along Catalina Avenue! Carving the lane, part of the city’s transformative bike plan, out of vehicle space is seen as a politically daring move in a city where the car has long been king. (LA Times)
• Friday, September 16th is Park(ing) Day! Last year, citizens turned 850 parking spots into parks in 183 cities around the world.
• Meanwhile, New York’s Ranger Bob is working to make some of these micro-parks permanent in Chelsea. By fashioning public space out of parking spots, Bob hopes to alleviate the tension between the “affordable housing or park space” question in New York’s space-hungry neighbourhoods. (Streetsblog)
Image from Lunch Street Party
Do you have a World Wide Wednesday worthy article you’d like to share? Send the link to www@spacing.ca