Tag Archives: transportation

A radiant city

By Brian | Published: October 1, 2009
The 2006 mockumentary “Radiant City” is a jab at modern city planning and city sprawl. The central point of this film is that the planning behind cities that sprawl is the absence of any intelligence in design. “Radiant City” repeatedly makes the point that city sprawl, suburban homes, and modern strip malls are, as the narrator says, the worst allocation of resources in world history. (Read more)
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Cities and transportation: A longer essay

By Brian | Published: September 15, 2009
As the great Jane Jacobs says, “Automobiles are often conveniently tagged as the villains responsible for the ills of cities and the disappointments and futilities of city planning. But the destructive effects of automobiles are much less a cause than a symptom of our incompetence at city building.” As usual, Jacobs makes a great point. Automobiles and cities can work together, it is just that city planners do not know what to do with automobiles in cities. Since most cities have recognized the mistake of planning the city around the automobile and not the person, many have sought solutions to manage the growing problem of traffic congestion and the social, economic and environmental questions presented by continued urban sprawl due to auto dependence. One solution many cities have adopted is a rise in public support for increased public transit as a practical strategy to alleviate environmental concerns, reduce transportation infrastructure costs and ensure fair, affordable, and reliable transportation choices for individuals. However, not all cities have taken this route in mitigating transportation concerns, take for instance Wilmington, NC. (Read More)
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Cities and transportation: a brief essay

By Brian | Published: September 11, 2009
Here's a thought: If you want me to visit your city or downtown, provide a public way for me to get there. I believe every downtown city advocate should celebrate the power and creative potential of urban density and of connecting people by putting them on sidewalks together and having them share ideas and physical space. This doesn’t cost as much as you think. In fact, it’s probably cheaper than your current “I’ll fix the problem by covering it up with a new streetscape” campaign. Ask Jaime Lerner, he knows. (Read More)
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