how attention to overlays enhances our understanding of cities

On January 5, 2014January 12, 2014 By Chuck WolfeIn everyday urbanism, infill development, infrastructure, lessons learned, pedestrianism, placemaking, urban juxtapositions, urbanism without effort1 Comment

Second in the new series, in the urban world, juxtapositions matter

On New Year’s Day, I suggested that juxtapositions, or overlays, are key to an understanding of cities, and offer focal points for discussion and resolution. The first example was of a physical juxtaposition that evoked the classic contrasts of old and new, nature and the built environment and natural and artificial light.

Today’s example bridges other urban qualities.

The photograph above is an intentional contrast of a static place and movements of both bus and musician. It also shows the common incursion of simple commerce in a public place—a subject of evolving regulatory focus in American cities—and an overlap that we should approach with a catalog of such imagery in mind.

Finally, the photograph suggests once again that the core of urban understanding is often in the small vignettes we all experience everyday—which, as I have often written, supply the basis for our own perspectives about city life.

For more information on the role of personal experience in understanding the changing city, see Urbanism Without Effort, an e-book from Island Press.

finding urban ‘tethers’ in city places

On October 14, 2013October 14, 2013 By Chuck WolfeIn everyday urbanism, infill development, infrastructure, lessons learned, pedestrianism, placemaking, urban views, urbanism without effortLeave a comment

In London’s Russell Square one recent morning, I saw the human-scale “tether” illustrated above. Whether for safety or togetherness, parent and child traversed the square, each with strap in hand.

“Is this a cultural thing?”, I wondered while watching. Or was this just big-city caution on display, during travel from here to there?

In contrast, just days before, in Bastia, on the French island of Corsica, a more removed and indirect “tether” was clearly at play. In the wide-open Place Saint-Nicolas, two boys, seemingly alone, consulted without fear.

Unlike the Russell Square example, the physical distance between parent and child in Bastia seemed surprisingly trusting, fully immersed in the surrounding urban environment.

In the tradition of the open square, “eyes on the street” were everywhere in Bastia. If Russell Square was a path across green, then Place Saint-Nicolas was stage without curtain.

The inset in the photo above (as well as the larger photo below) show aerial views of the square, with arrows depicting viewpoints of parents who elected the more permissive, visual “tether” on that late summer day.

Notably. the flanking cafés along Boulevard du Général de Gaulle enhanced this captive, stage effect. The outcome honored any urbanist’s nostalgic quest for a livable public place. In the Place Saint-Nicolas, the view from its many vantage points stood in for the physical “tether” in the London example.

These photos and Google Earth aerials illustrate how culture, weather, purpose and urban form combine to define particular “tethers” between parent and child in the city. Sometimes literal and sometimes more subtle, such relationships are key to the rhythm of urban places today.

Images composed by the author in London and in Bastia (Corsica), France. Overhead views courtesy of Google Earth. Click on each image for more detail. © 2009-2013 myurbanist. All Rights Reserved. Do not copy.

For more information on the role of personal experience in understanding the changing city, see Urbanism Without Effort, an e-book from Island Press.

why the “sit-able city” is the next big idea

On October 9, 2013January 16, 2023 By Chuck WolfeIn compact development, everyday urbanism, infrastructure, pedestrianism, placemaking, urbanism without effort19 Comments

At TEDCity2.0 in New York City the week before last, urban redefinition, reinvention, and reimagination ruled. Among the presentations: that urbanist stand-by, the most walkable cities in the world.

Mind you, I don’t want to upset the gurus and nabobs of urbanism. But I’m just back from southern France and Corsica, with contrasting images galore and a new point of view.

Simply stated. walkable is good, but sit-able is better. And it’s time for the next big focal point and idea, The Sit-able City.

Why would this shift lead to an enhanced understanding of place?

The sit-able realm is a place of human universals, broader than the walking that transports us there or passes through. And the sit-able is about far more than street furniture and sidewalk dining, pop-up urbanism, and Parking Day.

Rather, sit-able places are key, interdisciplinary focal points where the delight of “placemaking” and cultural traditions of “watching the world go by” merge with the sometimes conflicting domains of law and politics, economic development, public safety, gentrification and the homeless.

Frequently, the public dialogue debates who sits where and why.

In my city, the Seattle Mayoral race has focused on perceptions of center city safety and approaches to enhance public confidence downtown. And across Washington State, the Spokane City Council has joined cities wrestling with the Constitutional aspects (in the United States, at least) of “sit and lie” ordinances and associated government efforts to enforce civility in the public realm.

I know. A new focus on the “sit-able” spaces in the public realm sounds more like cultivating couch potatoes than great cities.

But consider the purposeful, contemporary images shown here. Sitting to rest, converse, beg and sell is what people have always done, and it captures a significant part of urban life. Sitting with style, grace, safety, and reflection is a major element of “place capital”—an increasing buzzword for urban success.

In summary, a greater focus on the sit-able invites rich discussion and ready illustration based on human tradition. The sit-able is where those walking home meet the homeless. It embraces parks and park users, places to read, and those benches where we offer a place to rest to someone who has a better reason to sit down than you or me.

A focus on “sit-abilty” could be a game-changer and encourage a richer conversation about why, ironically, we sometimes have second thoughts about a rest stop in the reinvented, walkable cities of today.

Images composed by the author in 2011 and 2013 in France (Bargemon, Provence and Bastia, Corsica) and Italy (Florence, Tuscany, and Gallipoli, Puglia). Click on the image for more detail. © 2009-2013 myurbanist. All Rights Reserved. Do not copy.

For more information on the role of personal experience in understanding the changing city, see Urbanism Without Effort, an e-book from Island Press.

placemaking masters, part 2

On October 2, 2013October 2, 2013 By Chuck WolfeIn everyday urbanism, pedestrianism, placemaking, urban views, urbanism without effortLeave a comment

Yesterday, I posited, with tongue-in-cheek, that children are the best land use consultants we have.

Today, I’m underscoring that with more evidence, as a child’s analysis verifies the value of a French street mime in a public place.

Is it time to move from Form-Based to Smile-Based Codes?

For more information on the role of personal experience in understanding the changing city, see Urbanism Without Effort, an e-book from Island Press.

reading urban mobility with parent and child

On September 23, 2013September 24, 2013 By Chuck WolfeIn compact development, everyday urbanism, infrastructure, pedestrianism, placemaking, urbanism without effort, vignettesLeave a comment

On a recent September stroll in Avignon, I saw two vignettes of parent and child, each with a subtly different gloss on who controls transportation choice.

This new imagery amid old world streets calls the question of the day. Which generation should choose how we get from place to place in the city?

Take a look at the passive parent in the second photograph.

The answer is, increasingly, oh-so-clear.

For more information on the role of personal experience in understanding the changing city, see Urbanism Without Effort, an e-book from Island Press.

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how attention to overlays enhances our understanding of cities

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why the “sit-able city” is the next big idea

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placemaking masters, part 2

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reading urban mobility with parent and child

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