Every week, we bring you the latest news in placemaking, landscape architecture, the nature-mental health link, and much more. Check back each week for new roundups and items.
How Better Urban Design Makes Us Healthier, Happier, and Sexier
“Cities have policies that sound good on paper, calling for mixed-use development and walkable neighborhoods, but they also have detailed technical design requirements that don’t let that happen. Instead, we end up with typical sprawl: it’s actually illegal to build anything else…What we do build is not only less economically successful, and more congested, and more polluted, it’s also going to kill us. Sprawl leads to more traffic accidents, and shorter life expectancy…Walking and biking, on the other hand, not only make us fit, but they also both improve mental health. Oxytocin—the same chemical released during sex and breastfeeding, that reduces stress and increases trust and empathy—is released during outdoor exercise.”
Mark Hirsch: How a Tree Helped Heal Me
“…In October of 2011, I was literally hit by a truck, and almost killed. After the crash, I was unable to work. I had trouble sleeping . . . memory issues. I lost my drive and ambition. I was irritable and short with the family I love. Then I got an iPhone — not to take pictures with, of course. What self-respecting photographer would do that? Well, a friend and photographer I respected had, and suggested I give it a try. My first picture: A 160-year-old Bur Oak tree sitting in a cornfield near my Wisconsin home. I had driven past that tree every day for 19 years, but I had never really looked at it. That would change! I decided to make a photo of that tree every day for a year — before sunrise, after sunset, anytime, really. I was there, waiting and watching, taking note of the simple beauty I had missed for so long. That tree gave me healing and inspiration that I needed more than I had realized. And it taught me to slow down, take time to look around, and appreciate the almost (but not quite) hidden beauty that abounds in our world — sometimes even in your own backyard.”
Atlantic City Re-imagines Itself, Again
“Atlantic City is re-imagining itself again, said Jeff Guaracino, Atlantic City Alliance (ACA)… The ACA and the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority (CDRA) decided to reach out to Lance Fung, Fung Collaboratives, an independent contemporary art curator… He was given the task of using contemporary art to revitalize two key spaces — one just a few blocks from the historic 5-mile boardwalk and another smaller spot literally right on its path. The end result is Artlantic, a fascinating new sculpture park. Atlantic City, upon first view, is “overwhelming, with lots of visual stimulation.” So he also wanted to create a “place of respite in the loud aesthetic.” Fung also said “nature has been squeezed out with urbanization,” so he settled on creating a green public space to display art.”
Camping Sets Body Clock In Tune With Nature
“Putting down your phone and living for a week with nothing but sunlight and campfires may bring your body clock in sync with nature’s rhythms, a small study suggests. ‘We’ve already known that artificial light is keeping us up at night,’ said lead researcher Kenneth Wright, of the University of Colorado at Boulder. But this study, he said, was an attempt to ‘quantify’ the effect that light exposure, both artificial and natural, may be having on the human body’s internal ‘clocks’…And it’s possible, he noted, that exposure to artificial light at night — and a lack of sun during the day — are contributing to some people’s sleep problems and morning grogginess.”
