Article Review Part:
In the article, Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris surveys seven major urban trends and concerns that have emerged or intensified in US cities over the last few decades (see p. 470). Choose one or two of these that seem particularly important and describe how urban design could/should respond to these two trends. Discuss about the goals Loukaitou-Sideris states for urban design and explain how the physical form of the city connects to its social and cultural life.
Resources attaches:
Loukaitou-Sideris (2017). “Addressing the challenges of urban landscapes: Normative goals for urban design.”
Kasprisin (2011). “Definitions and fundamentals of urban design in culture.”
Discussion part:
Imagine that you are a planner in a city with strong neighborhood character, an influx of new residents, and an affordable housing crisis. One neighborhood, Mill Hill, was built by African Americans who moved to the city in the early 20th century to work in nearby factories. Today the neighborhood is racially mixed, with a slight majority of white residents. Residents are middle-class and, increasingly, upper-class. Most of the original modest homes are in good condition and many have had extensive renovations. Meanwhile, a new station on the city’s expanding light rail system is planned to open in the neighborhood in 10 years. Developers are eyeing the area with proposals for replacing single-family houses with townhomes and even building several high-rise apartment towers in an old neighborhood commercial district near the coming station. In response, residents have formed the Mill Hill Preservation Society. They are seeking to have the city designate the neighborhood as a historic district to recognize and preserve its unique place in the city’s African American history. To that end, they are collecting stories and artifacts from the neighborhood’s early days. The designation would effectively block any new development.
Describe what values are at stake in this conflict. What could happen if the neighborhood is or is not designated as a historic district? And how would urban planner approach this situation?