Every week, we bring you the latest news in placemaking, landscape architecture and urban planning, the nature-mental health link, and much more. Check back each week for new roundups and items.
Community Resilience at the Edge
“Is resilience ecological, economic, cultural, or social? For Red Hook and Hunts Point, two communities in New York City, the answer is all of the above, argued Barbara Wilks, FASLA, and Richard Roark, ASLA, at a talk at the Center for Architecture in New York City … Focusing on public corridors could help create social resiliency and civic spirit. Re-integrating the historic maritime legacy more closely with other parts of the community could strengthen local identity. And embracing the importance of water as not only threat but also opportunity could be important in a community that had some streets under as much as five feet of water following Hurricane Sandy.”
Oakland Hires Its First ‘Chief Resilience Officer’
“Oakland has earthquakes, droughts and a host of other resilience problems to tackle. Now it has a Chief Resilience Officer to lead the charge. Today, Oakland Mayor Jean Quan and Michael Berkowitz, president of The Rockefeller Foundation’s 100 Resilient Cities initiative, will jointly announce that Victoria Salinas has been tapped as the city’s first Chief Resilience Officer, a position being created in other cities across the world, as well.”
Neighborhood Park Features Associated with Body Mass Index
“The size and cleanliness of a neighborhood park has a strong association to the body mass index (BMI) of the neighborhood’s residents, according to research … published online in the journal, Preventive Medicine. Up until now, little had been known about whether park size or facilities are associated with BMI or obesity of local area residents. In addition, although qualitative studies have documented concerns about poor park maintenance, prior research provided no evidence about the relationship between park cleanliness and weight outcomes.”
“A beloved uptown nature center has yet to make a recovery nearly two years after it was ravaged by Superstorm Sandy. The Inwood Hill Park Nature Center needs $1.6 million for a gut rehab after the 2012 storm sent 5 feet of flood water into the facility, destroying computers and educational exhibits. Officials hoped to have the center’s restoration completed this year, but that isn’t going to happen. Parks Department officials say the agency is still waiting for the feds to provide the money needed to bring the W. 218th St. center back to life.”
