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Green space in cities can bring considerable health benefits for communities, but access is unequal

Ambika Chawla

March 19, 2021 |

Ensia |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Denver, Colorado

Platte Farm Open Space used to be a garbage dumping ground in Denver, but it’s now an urban green space thanks to the efforts from community members, organizations, and the government. This community-led project was able to secure funding to replace the contaminated land with fresh soil that now attracts animals and includes walking paths and a playground for children. This project offers lessons on how to build a green space in a diverse neighborhood and the health benefits that come from such an initiative.

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Fighting Gentrification

Chris Rudisill

March 19, 2021 |

QNotes Carolinas |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Houston, Texas

When gentrification made housing unaffordable for many people in Houston's historically Black Third Ward neighborhood, local activists sought remedies beyond standard federal tax incentives for affordable housing. A city-sponsored Community Land Trust developed a plan for more affordable housing. At the same time, a development catering to low-income, older LGBTQ residents, adjacent to the Third Ward, got developed on donated land. Charlotte has many similar challenges, making Houston a model for what is possible.

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How Sweden is taking back parking spaces to improve urban living

Richard Orange

February 08, 2021 |

The Guardian |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Sweden, Gothenburg

A pop-up public space was installed in Gothenburg, the latest in a Swedish experiment that’s looking at how to transform parking spaces on city streets into community areas. Previous installations of the experiment, known as the “one-minute city,” in Stockholm were received positively and other cities have expressed interest in the project.

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Nature calling: how can Sweden's success story help rewild London?

Matthew Ponsford

February 05, 2021 |

The Guardian |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Sweden, Malmö

As London starts to implement its plan for boroughs to implement sustainable urban greening strategies, officials look to Malmö as a guide after the Swedish city used a green space factor (GSF) as a way of calculating green space requirements for new developments. The GSF system allows governments to integrate biodiversity-focused incentives into their urban planning, while allowing designers and architects to respond to local needs.

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St. Louisans Mapped Monuments of Their City, and Uncovered Surprising Connections

Lyndsay Knecht

January 27, 2021 |

Next City |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, St. Louis, Missouri

When the Public Iconographies project asked people in St. Louis "how would you map the monuments of St. Louis?", it got 750 hand-drawn maps telling stories of often-overlooked sites throughout the city. By letting people from the community determine what is important, the project ended up with a data-filled report channeling freeform responses. They included the spot where a Ferguson police officer killed Michael Brown, the site of a 1917 race riot, and Cahokia Mounds, a pre-Columbian site in the city. The project formed a counterpoint to efforts to remove problematic symbols, like a Columbus statue.

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Edmonton Is Making Its Alleyways a Great Place to Live

Cailynn Klingbeil

January 22, 2021 |

Reasons to be Cheerful |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Canada, Edmonton, Alberta

Edmonton, Alberta, is issuing an increasing number of building permits to create more housing options in already developed areas of the city. The Canadian city is squeezing in living spaces above garages, in backyards, and even alleyways to contain urban sprawl despite having the space to build outward. The environmental benefits are coupled with the ease and affordability granted by smaller living spaces.

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In South Bend, Pete Buttigieg challenged a decades-old assumption that streets are for cars above all else

Ian Duncan

January 16, 2021 |

The Washington Post |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, South Bend, Indiana

Reconfiguring streets to slow automobile traffic through its downtown business district and encourage pedestrians and bicycling enlivened South Bend's street life and proved a boon to its restaurants and other businesses. Then-Mayor Pete Buttigieg pushed for the $25 million plan to make the streets safer and encourage people to spend more time and money in the area. Drivers complained about increased travel time, as they have about other cities’ “complete streets” programs. But Buttigieg and his supporters hope to push the concept when he runs the federal Transportation Department.

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Make Way for the ‘One-Minute City'

Feargus O'Sullivan

January 05, 2021 |

Bloomberg CityLab |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Sweden, Stockholm

The Street Moves initiative in Sweden is pushing local communities to become the designers of their own streets’ layouts and look at urban planning through the lens of the “one-minute city.” Through a public-private partnership, residents in four sites in Stockholm can help determine how much street space is used for parking, outdoor dining, and children’s play spaces. The goal is to increase participation in the community, address climate resilience, and create a more livable city.

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New York's Real Climate Challenge: Fixing Its Aging Buildings

Patrick Sisson

December 29, 2020 |

The New York Times |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

A housing project in Brooklyn is taking nine apartment buildings and retrofitting them to be more sustainable and cut carbon emissions. Casa Pasiva is a $20 million project that aims to reduce heating and cooling costs because of updated machinery and thick exteriors that will improve air quality. Funding for these types of initiatives is not always certain, but a collaboration between a developer and a nonprofit, with some city financing, made this first-of-a-kind green building renovation in New York possible.

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Дети – агенты изменений. Как работает раздельный сбор мусора в школах Николаева

Danylo Herasymov

December 16, 2020 |

Рубрика (Rubryka) |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Ukraine, Mykolayiv

Україна посідає дев'яте місце в переліку країн із найбільшим обсягом сміття на душу населення. У Миколаєві міська влада та громадська організація об'єдналися, щоб сортувати відходи у школах міста. "Загалом проєкт залучив 20,000 школярів, яким за рік вдалося зібрати, відсортувати й надіслати на переробку 119 тонн сміття". Програма довела свою успішність, школярі змагаються за першість у сортуванні. Діти таки є "нашими агентами змін". Інші міста виявляють прагнення запровадити програму для власних шкіл.

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