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.
Revitalizing MLK Streets to Better Honor Their Namesake
“Across the U.S., hundreds of streets are named in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Unfortunately, many reflect the poverty and segregation that King fought to reverse. A non-profit is trying to transform them into sources of pride and inspiration. Associated Press writers Sophia Tareen and Christine Armario profile Beloved Streets of America, a St. Louis-based non-profit that’s launched an effort to revitalize the 900 roadways across America named in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as beacons of vibrancy, beauty, and prosperity. Unfortunately, many of these streets are beset by poverty, violence and lingering segregation, a situation the group finds is disrespectful to Dr. King’s legacy. Beloved Streets is starting its efforts in St. Louis, by working to reclaim Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive with a new neighborhood park and an urban agriculture project.”
Involving Children in the Design of Park Renovations to Create Green Spaces for Play with Urban Nature
“The “Megurizaka pond renovation” project started in 2008 by creating a place for children to play and help restore nature to a small part of Kitakyushu City in southern Japan. The aim was to create an area for children’s play and ecological education that could also form a part of an ecological network in the urban zone. A generation ago, children had access to wild lands and used them for exploring, challenging and exercising the skills needed to master a complex landscape and unforeseen situations. “Children’s play” is an important experience in learning about the structure of nature, but “environmental education” has been afforded much greater importance in primary and secondary school education in Japan since 2002. Thus, preserving open spaces as wildlife habitat where children can play would be a very important addition in urban areas.”
Interview with John Bela on User-Generated Urbanism
John Bela, ASLA, is a founding principal at Rebar. He is an urban designer and landscape architect focused on public space design. As Rebar, Bela created Park(ing) Day, The Panhandle Bandshell, The Civic Center Victory Garden, Parkcycle Swarm, and other projects. Bela teaches at the California College of Arts in San Francisco and University of California, Berkeley. This interview was conducted at the 2013 ASLA Annual Meeting in Boston.
A Major Renovation on the Doorstep of Queens
“Created in 1909, Queens Plaza in Long Island City was intended as an attractive gateway to the borough for which it was named. But in more recent decades it became known as a haven for drug-dealing and prostitution and as a filthy, noisy eyesore where pedestrians risked their lives as they tried to cope with multiple lanes of traffic. But Queens Plaza — just across the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge from Manhattan — has recently undergone a $45 million face-lift, shepherded by the city department of planning and financed mainly with federal funds….“We wanted to make it a real refuge — not an urban edgy thing but a place where people would feel comfortable, a place that could become a neighborhood park, which it is,” said Ms. Ruddick, whose projects include the park at Battery Park City.”
