Place Management

Dark Days Ahead: A Fresh Look at Jane Jacobs's Warnings About Urban Life in the 21st Century - The Urban Lens Newsletter

The name Jane Jacobs is familiar to many of our readers.  Jacobs, who died in 2007, celebrated almost everything about cities.  Although she was born and raised amid the economic and social decline of Depression-era Scranton, Pennsylvania, Jacobs became a devoted believer in the positive potential of cities to overcome economic crises and create widespread prosperity and rich cultural experiences for all residents. 

15-minute Heritage, city neighborhoods and place identity | Policies for Places

I have already written several pieces here on the idea of the 15-minute city, currently much in vogue in city planning in numerous cities around the world. One of the claims of advocates of the concept is that by ‘living locally’ there can be increased sense of place and place identity and stronger social cohesion among residents.  These are usually claimed to be as a result of greater use of public spaces, more active travel and reduced car dependency and more frequent social contact through the use of local shops and facilities.

"Woke" and American Urban Policy, Present and Past: Part Two - The Urban Lens Newsletter

Based on our considerations of these, we tentatively recommended that the term should be expunged from serious policy discussions or decisions about urban America.

Applying the 15-minute city concept in rural areas - does it make any sense?

The Scottish Government has recently announced a public consultation on the inclusion of ‘the 20-minute neighborhood’ concept within the latest version of its National Planning Framework, which provides guidance to local authorities for the future development in their areas. It is part of the Scottish Government’s drive to promote ‘living locally’ as a means of building sustainable and resilient communities and helping to achieve zero-carbon targets.

An Urban Lens on the Issue of DEI Initiatives - The Urban Lens Newsletter

American politics is suddenly awash with state-level efforts to prohibit and/or restrict educational activities and administrative reforms that are inspired by the concepts of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).  A recent review by the Associated Press dated April 18, 2023, identified more than 30 active anti-DEI bills in more than a dozen states.[i]  Several have become law.  More are on their way.

"More Perfect" Solutions to Urban Problems - The Urban Lens Newsletter

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Education and the Quality of Thought about Urban Problems - The Urban Lens Newsletter

“We cannot solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them"
Albert Einstein

In addition to environmental issues such as global warming, several important sets of problems face urban America.  For one, housing affordability is a major challenge in more than a few urban areas, as are high levels of crime and violence, racial and social inequality, traffic congestion, limited public transportation options, inadequate infrastructure and income inequality.

15-minute cities: responding to the conspiracy theorists | Policies for Places

Oxford and Canterbury, 2 historic cities among several others in the UK who are developing policies to introduce a 15-minute city approach to their future development plans, are running into a barrage of criticism from conspiracy theorists who claim that such proposals amount to ‘environmental lockdown’ designed to confine people to within a certain distance from their homes, and a plot to attack personal freedoms.

Benchmarking 15-minute cities | Policies for Places

As we saw in my previous post the 15-minute city concept has become the basis for city planning in many cities around the world. It offers a vision of urban living based on compact and complete neighborhoods which are vibrant, convenient, connected and equitable.

Invitation to Policies for Places

‘Place’ has always been one of the priority issues for PASCAL.  Readers may be interested to see the new newsletter Policies for Places being developed by John Tibbitt. It carries essays which explore the implications of a range of policies on the notion of place, including essays on learning and place and learning and urban planning.

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