“Residents interviewed through the city said that the cries that they heard emanating from many collapsed buildings in the initial hours after the quake had begun to soften, if not quiet completely.” New York Times (Jan 15, 2010)

Earthquake response teams in Port-au-Prince explain that there is a 72-hour period in which people trapped under collapsed buildings can be rescued alive. We’re now at 67 hours. While there are still people under the rubble and homeless children searching for their families in the streets, it may be too soon to reflect upon the horrible aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti. However, after donating as much as we can and still feeling helpless at the sight of the images in the news, this may be the best time. (more…)

[Originally posted to polis] After growing up with an image of Moscow as bleak and inhospitable, I was surprised to find so many attractive parks on my first visit to the city. According to the Moscow Wikipedia entry, here are 96 parks, 18 public gardens, and 100 square kilometers of forest. These figures come from a Russian government site that is currently not accessible, but they seem fairly accurate (please let me know if you’ve seen any good studies on this). The entry provides an estimate of 27 square meters of parkland per citizen, compared with 8.6 in New York, 7.5 in London, and 6 in Paris. Besides official parks, there are countless tree-lined paths, landscaped squares, and other plantings throughout the city.

It seems that crews of workers are always performing maintenance, although I’ve heard that parks are neglected in some parts of the city. Many have simple dirt paths that weave through dense foliage. It can seem like you’re in the middle of the wilderness, even though busy streets are never far away. Many parks have flowerbeds, ponds, benches, fountains, statues, and playgrounds. These additions are beautiful in the way of functional, durable, understated things. Of course, there are also grandiose structures from the past, but these are counterbalanced by views of birch trees that sparkle against deep forest backgrounds.

Moscow’s parks are highly accessible. They can be found within walking distance of any residential area, and on the metro, bus, and tram lines. My favorite is Neskuchny (Not Boring) Garden, which lines the Moscow River just southwest of Gorky Park. It has restful paths, a public amphitheater, and this statue of a swimmer facing the river. Neskuchny Garden leads to Vorobyovy Hills, where a majestic ski jump (complete with working chairlift) watches over the city. Izmaylovsky Park covers over 15 square kilometers. To give a sense of scale, Central Park in New York covers 3.4 square kilometers. Sokolniki, another expansive city park, borders Losiny Ostrov National Park, which has an area of 116 square kilometers (thanks again to Moscow’s Wikipedia page for these numbers). The Botanical Garden of the Russian Academy of Sciences is vast and multifaceted, with exhibitions, research facilities, exotic plants, greenhouses, streams, and old-growth forest. Moscow University has a botanical garden just north of the garden ring, which was built over 300 years ago as a source of medicinal herbs. Trees grow through the stone wall that surrounds it.

Parks in Moscow reflect the influence of historic ideas on urban landscapes. There are elements of feudalism, socialism, and capitalism. There is monarchy, anarchy, religion, modernism, and post-modernism. I think I will begin a series on the history of Moscow’s public park system. Each post could look at the influence of a different era: first, the rise of new ideas that culminated in socialist visions for the city; second, Stalin; third, Khrushchev and Brezhnev in Stalin’s wake; fourth, perestroika and the end of the Soviet state; fifth, economic crisis, recovery, and capitalist development. In looking at how different ideas shape urban landscapes, there may be lessons for improving the quality of life in cities.

Credits: Photo of Moscow’s Chistye Prudy Park by Peter Sigrist. Photo of a statue in Neskuchny Garden by trueol.

[Originally posted to polis] Plans for Governors Island are gaining momentum! Located in the New York Harbor less than half a mile from Manhattan, the island offers breathtaking views of the city. For nearly 200 years it was a military base with limited public access. In 2003, the state purchased the island for a dollar with the stipulation that it not be used for permanent housing or casinos. It is now open on weekends from the end of May through mid-October.

Big ideas have been proposed, including a New Globe Theater by Foster + Partners and a gondola system by Santiago Calatrava. Perhaps even more impressive are the steps initiated by Leslie Koch of the Governors Island Preservation and Education Corporation (GIPEC). There is now a ferry service free of charge. There are wooden bikes to borrow, hammocks along the shore, and a miniature golf course designed as part of an annual arts festival. The island is currently hosting Plot/09, an exhibition curated by Creative Time. GIPEC has sought ideas from the public and proposals from private developers. They’ve commissioned the design of a park with allées, wetlands, flower gardens, and scenic hills built from local debris covered with soil.

Funding for the island’s renewal is tenuous, so I’d like to ask how you might go about making ideas happen inexpensively. This takes a creativity that compliments the generation of ideas. It brings together the contributions of many, and can gain momentum through a succession of small victories. It is an essential part of shaping the world around us for a common good. If you’d like to get involved or follow the island’s development, more information can be found at govisland.com and govislandblog.com.

Credits: Photo of Governors Island from the gallery section of the GIPEC website.

[Originally posted to Where] When it comes to transition, it seems there is a lot to learn in Moscow. I’m currently writing from there, after a day of walking around and taking a few pictures. The things that really stand out are the lasting marks left on the city from very different governing ideas: ornate metro stations, trees everywhere, aging apartment blocks, modernist masterworks, cars racing down streets that take an incredibly long time to cross. Everything Stalinist is gigantic.

Many public works have aged remarkably well. The metro stations are efficient and well maintained. The ones in the center of town have all kinds of architectural touches usually reserved for mansions, theaters, monuments, city halls, and museums. There is a basic sturdiness that prevents them from seeming too extravagant. Public green space lines the streets and fills the insides of apartment blocks. It’s very refreshing on summer days. Parks are full of young couples, new families, and elders reading or just watching people pass by. The ones I’ve seen so far have been clean but not highly manicured, which gives them a kind of wilderness feel.

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Where is an outstanding blog about cities. It contains insightful posts on a variety of topics related to the urban environment, along with links to additional resources. I look forward to following future articles.

Photo from the Where website, taken by Flickr user gonebiking

Quoted: A blog about urban places, placemaking, and the concept of “place.”

The Brookings-Wharton Papers on Urban Affairs journal contains articles related to the challenges facing urban areas, along with potential solutions. Topics include urban sprawl, environmental conservation, transportation, and technologies with the potential to transform urban areas.

Quoted: Designed to reach a wide audience of scholars and policymakers, Brookings-Wharton Papers on Urban Affairs provides accessible research on urban areas and issues, including studies on urban sprawl, crime, taxes, education, poverty, and related subjects.

SPUR is a nonprofit organization that focuses on housing, transportation, community planning, good government, environmental sustainability, regional planning, and economic development in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is also working on an international information-sharing network to help cities prepare for natural disasters.

Quoted: SPUR was formed in 1959 to fight for the revitalization of San Francisco as the Bay Area’s central city. It was given the charge of channeling growth away from suburban sprawl and back into the urban core. Throughout the 1960s, SPUR worked to build support for the land use, transportation, and investment strategies that could support center-oriented growth and urban economic vitality.

Green Streets is an excellent article in the Sierra Club Magazine that focuses on sustainability in U.S. cities. It includes impressive case studies from Chicago, New York, Portland, San Francisco, Seattle, Salt Lake City, Minneapolis, Austin, Charlotte, and Pittsburgh.

Quoted: A truly green city integrates environmental sustainability into everything from its sidewalks to its skyscrapers. Its public transportation is affordable and extensive, its streets safe and pleasant for bikers and walkers. It invests in renewables and energy efficiency, protects open space, reduces waste, and provides clean air and water and access to healthy food for residents of all economic classes.

The Manhattanville Project is an excellent article by Daphne Eviatar on the challenges faced by Columbia University in developing their new campus extension, designed by Renzo Piano, in Upper Manhattan.

Photo by Brenda Ann Kenneally

Quoted: In contrast to the gated, stone Beaux-Arts-Renaissance campus built more than a century ago in Morningside Heights, the new West Harlem campus would tell a more contemporary story: filling almost 18 acres parallel to the waterfront, it would open Columbia to the surrounding community. Some buildings could reach 25 stories, and the streets would remain publicly accessible…Yet the university has met remarkable resistance. One man’s urban improvement, it seems, is another man’s urban debacle.