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.
Designed for Democracy: When Public Goes Private a Park Loses Its Heart
“Nationally, in the wake of urban growth and renewal, there is considerable debate about whether public parks and open space should be given away or sold to for-profit enterprises. Are they valuable civic resources or just places to put stuff?… Well, the issue is real and it involves New York’s 897-acre Flushing Meadows Corona Park, the largest park in the borough of Queens and the site of the 1939 and 1964 World’s Fairs, all originally designed by the influential landscape architects Gilmore Clarke and Michael Rapuano…Now, the city wants to slice off another 13 acres for a $340 million, 25,000-seat (expandable to 35,000 seats) Major League Soccer stadium – and it will go right into the core of the park. Unfortunately, the significance of Flushing Meadows Corona Park’s design, and its designers, is largely absent from news coverage and other discussions.”
10 Reasons Why We Need Vitamin N
“’I recall my father’s dark tanned neck, creased with lines of dust, as he tilled our garden. I ran ahead of him, pulling rocks and bones and toys from his path.’ In Last Child in the Woods, I focused on why children need nature. In my latest book, The Nature Principle, I tell how the whole family — and whole communities — can become happier, healthier and smarter through more contact with the natural world.”
Architect Jeanne Gang Threads Nature into Urban Landscapes
“In this hopeful era of returning the raw and wild to our cities, Chicago-based architect Jeanne Gang is a force of nature. Gang’s rapid rise on the city’s toughened glass-and-steel skyline began in 2010, with the 82-story high-rise Aqua, a white, rippling form referencing water’s gentle waves. Although the Windy City had been making advances in greening and the word “sustainability” was becoming part of the local lexicon, the structure — the tallest building designed by a woman — altered the skyline in more ways than one.”
TOWARD A NATURE-RICH URBAN FUTURE: Five Ways Houston or (Insert Your City Here) Could Lead the Way
“Houston is well situated to become a leading city – perhaps the leading city — to envision its future through the unique prism of the natural world. “If you were to say that around here,” one Houstonian said to me recently, “people would say you’re not from around here.” Considering the city’s reputation (no zoning, all business), the statement may sound counterintuitive. So why Houston? Before speaking at a regional leadership luncheon there, a few months ago, I had learned that Houston’s leaders were considering rebranding the city. Usually, cities work through envisioning groups that focus primarily on economic competition. (Our new Silicon Valley is going to be bigger than your Silicon Valley). But what if Houston (or insert your city’s name here) were to reimagine its future by looking through the prism of nature?”
