The Death and Life of American Planning - Planning professor Thomas J. Campanella discusses the legacy of Jane Jacob's effect on planning in America: First: "Privileging the grassroots over plannerly authority and expertise meant a loss of professional agency." Second: " It diminished the disciplinary identity of planning." Third: "The seeming paucity among American planners today of the speculative courage and vision that once distinguished this profession." Have these culminated in turning American planning into a "trivial profession" whose goals of equity, social justice, and sustainability are self-undermined?
posted by stratastar
on Apr 30, 2011 -
40 comments
In preparedness circles, EDC means
Everyday Carry, being items one keep on or near one's person at all times, to help with both planned and unforeseen events during the day. A lot of opinions about what should be in an EDC kit exist, but the minimum usually recommended seems to be a cell phone, light source and small folding knife. The
EDC blog shows pictures and lists of submitters' EDC kit.
[more inside]
posted by Harald74
on Mar 25, 2011 -
218 comments
The Gardens will put in place a pervasive garden ambience and quality living environment from which Singapore's downtown will rise, and steer Singapore to the forefront of the world's leading global cities. (via)
posted by Joe Beese
on Oct 5, 2009 -
11 comments
Chimp stores weapons. After throwing cached stones at zoo visitors, the unfortunate animal had his own stones removed. Other examples of foresight and planning in animals are described
here and
here.
posted by binturong
on Mar 9, 2009 -
73 comments
"The plans for Victory City have evolved over a period of 38 years, nurtured by the vision and dedication of Victory City's inventor,
Orville Simpson II [
no relation]. Mr. Simpson conceived of the general idea of Victory City in 1936, when he was only 13 years old. Afraid of being ridiculed, Mr. Simpson kept his ideas about designing and building the City of the Future to himself … a secret vision he held in his mind... It wasn't until 1960 — after he had embarked on a lucrative career in real estate investing and apartment building management — that Mr. Simpson decided to make his ideas about Victory City known to the general public."
posted by Miko
on Dec 7, 2008 -
35 comments
"As a great architect once said, 'Buildings should look like what they are'." John Jessop became so frustrated with the red tape required for his company to get permission to build a farm shed,
he submitted a sarcastic application . Read his full "Planning Application for Erection of Agricultural Implement Shed"
here [pdf, 3 pages]. No word yet on whether the shed was approved.
Via.
posted by amyms
on Apr 24, 2008 -
27 comments
The Great War on Terror shall be won with Powerpoint. [Army Lt. General David] McKiernan had another, smaller but nagging issue: He couldn't get Franks to issue clear orders that stated explicitly what he wanted done, how he wanted to do it, and why. Rather, Franks passed along PowerPoint briefing slides that he had shown to Rumsfeld: "It's quite frustrating the way this works, but the way we do things nowadays is combatant commanders brief their products in PowerPoint up in Washington to OSD and Secretary of Defense…In lieu of an order, or a frag [fragmentary order], or plan, you get a bunch of PowerPoint slides…[T]hat is frustrating, because nobody wants to plan [img] against PowerPoint slides."
(Here's
briefing standards *.ppt,
clipart, and
some earlier governmental [pdf] uses of PowerPoint [
Cryptome],
FAS, along with one from
ABCNEWS making the case against Iran.) Also, here are previously related MeFi PowerPoint threads on the
Downing Street Memos and the
Columbia disaster.
posted by rzklkng
on Aug 17, 2006 -
97 comments
In case the Downing Street Papers weren't enough: US State Dept. documents from the National Security Archive, obtained thru a Freedom of Information Act:
State Department experts warned CENTCOM before Iraq war about lack of plans for
post-war Iraq security,
Planning for post-Saddam regime change began as early as October 2001, and
...They provide detail on each of the working groups and give the starting date for planning as October 2001.
Entire sections of a Powerpoint presentation the State Department prepared on November 1, 2002 -- including those covering "What We Have Learned So Far" and "Implications for the Real Future of Iraq" -- have been censored as still-classified information. ... (PDFS)
posted by amberglow
on Aug 17, 2005 -
41 comments
Is a "virtual" Philly even better than the real thing? Well,
GeoSim Systems thinks so. Except for the aroma of freshly-grilled cheesesteak, at least. Their "Virtual Philadelphia" is the most detailed urban imaging system I've seen yet, and you can read about the monumental process of turning photographic images (taken from both aircraft and street-level) into this incredible rendering in a February 17 NY
Times article (reg req). And - as expected - Google wants to get in on the action and
do the same thing in San Francisco.
via BB
posted by luriete
on Jun 10, 2005 -
29 comments
Cleveland bloggers are organizing against a giant suburban-style shopping plaza called Steelyard Commons (to be built on the site of the city's historic steel factories), which will include an immense Wal-Mart at its core. After City Council passed legislation in February to prevent Wal-Mart from adding a grocery store (causing the Bensonville bullies to "pull out" and scuttle the project), the developer was aided and abetted
behind closed doors by Cleveland's mayor, Queen Jane. Despite the mayor's proclamation of "no public money" or tax abatements for the project, there's plenty of
evidence to the contrary.
posted by bitter-girl.com
on May 20, 2005 -
16 comments
The City [Parts I & II, each a
15:00+ minute realPlayer video].
An urban planning film from 1939 that takes a nostalgic look at country life, compares it to the hustle and bustle of 1930s big city life, and presents a utopian alternative.
Reviews of The City, Parts I & II, can be found at
the Prelinger Archives if you want to read about them before you commit to watching the 30 minute movie. I tripped across this while surfing around on the
forums at
Cyburbia: The urban planning portal. Also notable: Music by
Aaron Copland.
posted by Doohickie
on Jan 20, 2005 -
14 comments
An Ugly Buildings Hit List seems to be developing in Scotland. The president of the Royal Institute of British Architects is calling for the demolition of the ugliest buildings in Scotland. The Architects have their list, and the press is asking the public to
chime in as well (with pictures).
posted by mmahaffie
on Aug 23, 2004 -
10 comments
Six WTC site plans released by LMDC public-private partnership. Each idea revolves around a different conception of the memorial and is named for that, while showing variation in the structures that will be built around it. There are 3D renderings from above and from the south of the Battery, and skylines as seen from Jersey City, to show how the concept will fit into the existing neighborhood. None as imposing as the Twin Towers, but several include at least one distinctive structure that will rise above the nearest buildings, so Manhattan pedestrians can navigate again. All may be discussed Saturday in a public meeting at Javits Center, expected to attract 5000. I suspect that figure will be low.
posted by dhartung
on Jul 16, 2002 -
57 comments
