More urban crowd-funding initiativespop up. Only last December Spacehive was launched in the UK, a crowd-funding platform focused on ‘neighborhood improvement projects’. Spacehive says to provide “a quick and democratic way” to fund a project.

After its first three months, one first success story can be reported. The small ex-miner town Glyncoch in South Wales spent nearly seven years to raise the 800,000 pounds for a new community center, and they were still in short up to 35,000 pounds with only ten weeks left for the deadline. It was a close call for the Glyncoch initiative. Only two months ago they turned to Spacehive. Just in a nip of time — a nerve-racking 22 days — they raised the last sum that was needed to realize the project.

But by ‘neighborhood improvement projects’ Spacehive not solely aims at the large boulevards, theaters and community centers, but also at the smaller initiatives. Think about a park bench, a goal post and so on. Spacehive wants to be more socially constructive with a platform where people can connect, share and donate. Posting a concept can help you connect to others who can support. It’s free to upload projects and to donate — administration fees only have to be paid when a project is successfully funded.

15 / 04

1 note

irishboyinlondon:

Gehl Architects: Time to reclaim the streets

…In 2007, Gehl Architects undertook an important study of Flushing Main Street in New York City. We found that 97,000 pedestrians walk along Main Street every day, but they are squeezed into only 30 percent of the street space. Some 56,000 motorists have access to 70 percent of the street space….

19 / 03

31 notes

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architizer:

A see-saw for public space.

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19 / 03

402 notes

princetonarchitecturalpress:

Looking down over The High Line

From Gansevoort Street in the Meatpacking District up to 30th Street, through the neighborhood of Chelsea, to the West Side Yards, near the Javitz Convention Center.

From the soon-to-be-released book Up On The Roof: New York’s Hidden Skyline Spaces, available now for pre-order.

(via thegreenurbanist)

12 / 03

1,165 notes

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Homes for all: a history of British housing

A new exhibition traces the history of British mass housing - and has some lessons for developers today.

“The generosity of space in Georgian and Victorian housing, in particular, is its lasting legacy,” says Mike Althorpe, curator of A Place To Call Home: Where We Live And Why. “These homes have high ceilings, big windows and outdoor space, in comparison to most new housing, which has small rooms and low ceilings.”

According to a new exhibition that traces the history of British mass housing, there’s a very good reason we love old houses: space. Period homes, compared with contemporary ones, have lots of it.

Rest of the article is available in the Guardian Architecture blog

(Source: Guardian)

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29 / 02

1 note

Article by ALEX DAVIES for Tree Hugger

Today, there’s nothing special about the roof of the downtown Toronto building that houses the Centre for Social Innovation (CSI) annex. But if the organization and the groups working with it get their way, it will become something much more, and much greener, this year: a rooftop garden that is also a common space for community engagement.

The CSI has teamed up with the About Face Collective, SKETCH: Working Arts for Street Involved and Homeless Youth and Skate4Cancer to make the dream a reality: the “Everything Roof.” The space will be designed by local artists, who will use recycled and reclaimed materials to make it into a functioning garden.

(Source: paper.li)

27 / 02

1 note

Parasite Library Re-Uses Old Pay Phones

By JOOP DE BOER | Published: FRIDAY FEBRUARY 24, 2012

Pay phones are a dying breed in the streets of of New York City (and other cities). But is this a problem or an opportunity? Currently New York City counts 13,659 pay phones. Most of them are hardly used and beg for new functions. Architect John Locke is the man behind the Department of Urban Betterment, a New York-based interventionist project that is repurposing phone booths into communal libraries or book drops. Although we’ve already seen several efforts to transform old phone booths into book shops, this project is interesting as it is a parasite that uses the existing construction while leaving the phone itself untouched and fully operable. Furthermore, the installation is easy to remove.

27 / 02

0 notes

CityTouch: The Urban Lighting System Of The Future

By JEROEN BEEKMANS | Published: THURSDAY FEBRUARY 9, 2012

Intelligent technologies allow for ground-breaking innovations in urban environments. A great example here is CityTouch, an online urban lighting management system developed by Philips that enables dynamic, intelligent and flexible control on a city-wide scale. The CityTouch system is able to provide light precisely when, where and in the right amount needed. Why fully illuminate the streets when there’s no-one outside? Yeah folks, the Internet of Things is on its way. In the future almost any object and space will be connected to the Internet, able to be located, monitored and controlled. As we see, urban lighting will be no exception to this.

Combined with LED lighting, CityTouch can save cities up to 70% in energy and 70% in maintenance costs. The system makes use of an online interface for lighting operators that provides real-time status reports for every light point in the city. CityTouch is currently being tested in several European cities, including Prague and London. The system looks very promising, so it would be great to see it being rolled out in more cities in the future.

16 / 02

1 note

// HS2: spatial planning must incorporate the social, environmental and economic considerations that impact on transport//

RUDI.net (Knowledge sharing and networking for professionals & academics in urban development)

“The Government’s decision to give the go ahead for High Speed 2 raises the important question about how this kind of investment can be linked in planning for housing and jobs and to rebalancing our economy. To make the most of transport investment, and to minimise the disruption and negative impact, transport decisions need to take account of the big picture and be allied with complimentary and remedial measures.
The RTPI believes that spatial planning at a national level can provide the much needed overview of social, environmental and economic considerations which would enable Government to better judge the need and effect of transport schemes. Crucially, spatial planning also has the ability to unlock growth by providing businesses and local communities with the information they need to make well informed decisions.

The proper planning of high speed rail links could be the catalyst for the kind of spatial dimension which the draft National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) lacks, and which the RTPI and the recent Select Committee report on the NPPF asks for.

The RTPI welcomed the Government’s decision to consider the long term infrastructure needs of the country in the National Infrastructure Plan, and welcomes in principle serious attempts to deal with the long term transport needs of the country in a manner which takes account of climate change.

The Institute does not comment on individual planning cases, and therefore has no comment on the choice of route for High Speed 2.”

(Source: rudi.net)

18 / 01

22 notes

How Can we foster more equitable and climate resilient communities?

18 / 01

0 notes

nevver:

Jessica Hische

Work For Free?

(via jaymug)

09 / 01

459 notes

Mary Portas High Street Review

24 / 12

2 notes

JRF paper | white working-class views of neighbourhoods, cohesion and change

This report discusses white working-class views on community cohesion and the impact of social change.

Community cohesion has been influential in shaping government policy since the 2001 disturbances in Burnley, Oldham and Bradford. During this period, few studies have assessed the contribution of white working-class communities to cohesion. Reviewing the experiences of residents in three neighbourhoods across England, this study:

critically reviews the concept of community cohesion and its application;

looks at whether white working-class communities are a forgotten group disconnected from policy and politics;

discusses the complexity of whiteness, class and cohesion; and

recommends changing community cohesion to a grassroots initiative, embracing difference and diversity.

28 / 11

3 notes

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Bratislava’s Green Square

By Joop De Boer- POP UP CITY

“When you think of revitalizing space, paint is perhaps the best option. At least it’s one of the cheapest. Here at a bus terminal in Bratislava the urban interventionists of Civic Association and the people of Sadovsky Architects have uplifted a bus stop that used to be a very sad place. As long as the government is not doing enough to improve urban conditions, why don’t we do it ourselves? That’s what the initiators thought when they initiated the 1,000 square meters Green Square project.

“People have to wait for their bus connections in a totally unsuitable area, and we consider it a disgrace that the city of Bratislava leaves its citizens and tax-payers to function in such an inadequate environment. The characteristics of this place directly affect the mood and behavior of its users, and several disturbances and conflicts have happened here in the past.”

The green square project is a cheap fix, but also a wake-up call to the local government. It is surely the best way to provoke civil servants, and to point to the insufficient qualities of a specific urban spot. The operation was performed using standard paint that is used for road surface markings. Road safety glass beads were also applied to the surface to provide reflectivity and to prevent vehicles from slipping.”

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15 / 11

3 notes

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irishboyinlondon:

The Enabling City: Place-Based Creative Problem-Solving and the Power of the Everyday

A nice toolbox from The Enabling City demonstrating projects that encourage people to engage and participate in the places where they live.

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28 / 10

40 notes

// crowd sourcing for community-led development and regeneration//

Homes for all: a history of British housing

CityTouch: The Urban Lighting System Of The Future

// HS2: spatial planning must incorporate the social, environmental and economic considerations that impact on transport//