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Rebuilding a City from the Eyes of a Child

Feargus O'Sullivan

December 17, 2018 |

Bloomberg CityLab |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Albania, Tirana

Making adults change their habits and viewpoints is hard. Helping children change is easier. That’s the basic principle around which the recent recreational development of Tirana, Albania is based. By making green spaces more pedestrian and kid-friendly, government leaders and urban planners are starting to see benefits, starting with the youth. In turn, they hope children will be able to positively help their parents change, seeing the value of green and car-free development.

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What Happened When This Spanish City Went Car-Free

Jaime Velazquez

November 26, 2018 |

Bloomberg CityLab |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Spain, Pontevedra

Nearly two decades ago, Pontevedra, Spain, made a radical shift away from cars and focused on redesigning the center from the sight line of a child walking on the street. Combined with affordable residences in the urban area, the strategy has revitalized the center, luring young families and creating an atmosphere where parents feel supported and children flourish. CO2 emissions have also dropped as fewer people drive cars and the town has experienced more growth than others in the region.

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Triumph of the commons: how public spaces can help fight loneliness

Julia Hotz

November 19, 2018 |

Apolitical |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United Kingdom, Cambridgeshire

Loneliness has become a valid public health problem. Too often, a lack of public spaces means people seeking connection have no place to gather. Luckily, a trend of creating public spaces has been able to prevent loneliness in the first place. From People’s Kitchen in the UK to hundreds of government-sponsored shared spaces in Australia, this preventative measure just might work.

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A New York City Park Built to Weather a Storm

Karim Doumar

November 01, 2018 |

Pacific Standard |

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Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

Hunters Point South Park, a newly built park in Queens, NY, is functioning as a community space even before the addition of low- and middle- income housing slated for the area. But even more than that, the park has already proven that its storm resilient design is efficient and necessary.

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Fixing Montreal's Raccoon Problem

Emma Jacobs

October 26, 2018 |

Bloomberg CityLab |

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Under 800 Words

Response Location: Canada, Montreal, Quebec

Feeding the raccoons in Montreal’s Mount Royal Park was a tourist activity promoted by websites and supported by park vendors selling cat food. When the result was overpopulation of raccoons unafraid of people, steps were taken to protect the raccoons including banning vendors and educating tourists about their impact.

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What Democratic Design Looks Like

Barbara Brown Wilson

October 12, 2018 |

CoLab Radio |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Detroit, Michigan

In the Denby neighborhood of Detroit, the “Detroit Future City” framework led to a community-driven project to improve safety and schools. First, community organizers created the Denby Neighborhood Alliance. They next improved the high school curriculum, transformed a playground, and highlighted safer walking routes for children. “The power of the Denby project lies in the fact that it was rooted in, and driven by, neighborhood residents—not outside ‘saviors.’”

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Underneath This 'Pop-Up Forest' Is an Abandoned Highway

Alan Greenblatt

October 01, 2018 |

Governing |

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Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Akron, Ohio

When the Innerbelt, a freeway in Ohio, was discontinued, a designer named Hunter Frank threw a party to liven up the space. From there, he pushed to transform it to a permanent greenspace. “There’s value in simply letting people use a space and allowing their behavior to inform a more permanent plan,” reporter Alan Greenblatt writes. While local governments often focus on planning and details, the success of the “Innerbelt National Forest” can be attributed to experimentation: kids playing alongside live music and trees may be what allows the “forest” to stay.

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Trash to Treasure: A Mongolian Man Turns a Landfill Into a Children's Park

Didem Tali

September 10, 2018 |

The Diplomat |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar

A Mongolian man named Ulziitogtork transformed a former granite mine that was filled with rubbish into a park/community center for children that sits on top of an artificial lake. Children used to play in the mine, which presented a real health risk, but now they can use the park to boat, ice skate, watch movies over the lake, and learn about Mongolian culture. Ulziitogtork considers it a work in progress and is counting on the local government to address the pollution and infrastructure problems that led to the park's creation, but already provides fun for over 6,000 children a year.

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Transforming Tulsa, Starting with a Park

Patricia Leigh Brown

August 10, 2018 |

The New York Times |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Tulsa, Oklahoma

Gathering Place is the name of a new park in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It is a large-scale creative park project that, rather than receiving funding from the local government, was funded entirely through a local philanthropic foundation. One goal of the park is to bring different areas of the city together--though it remains to be seen if this will work as well as if privately-funded public spaces are effective in the future.

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Hungry for change: urban foragers take the law into their own hands

Jenny Cunningham

August 07, 2018 |

The Guardian |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Seattle, Washington

According to one canvassing research project, there are 450 edible plants within Seattle's parks. Similar trends are also found throughout the United States as a whole. Although foraging is typically against the law, a new trend of food forests - areas specifically designated for foraging - is spreading across the U.S., allowing city dwellers to become better acquainted to and nurtured by nature.

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