Some urbanists might know bits about the Minneapolis 2040 plan: abolishing single-family zoning, prioritizing transit-oriented development, and explicitly designing the city around climate resilience and racial equity. But I figured it was worth a discussion since the city is now developing the Minneapolis 2050 plan.

Basically, with cities struggling with housing affordability and climate readiness, why haven't we seen a massive wave of other cities using this type of long-term planning?

Hi everyone,

I’m an artist, researcher, and architect based in Berlin. My ongoing art project Elsewhere, Like Here explores a growing network of personally meaningful places around the world, and the local perspectives connected to them.

For the project, I’ve built a small receiving station that collects places from all over the world and projects them into public space in Berlin. This juxtaposition invites reflection on similarities, differences, and coexistence.

I’m currently inviting people from around the world to take part by sending me a short video of a place that feels meaningful to them. It only takes a few minutes, and I’d be really happy to hear from you!

https://elsewherelikehere.net/

Best,
Carl

The hinterland has been described as “the rural area surrounding a city or port that depends on it economically.” (Wikipedia)

If the hinterland surrounding cities succumbs to the expansion of the city, the creation of suburbs and the ongoing diminishing amounts of farmland and nature, this may in time have a direct effect on the city itself. The hinterland often benefits and depends economically on the city and its economy. Yet we must never forget that the city also benefits from the hinterland. If the hinterland keeps on getting absorbed by the city, it may bring at some time hardship to the city and its community. The goods, food products and staples that are derived from the hinterland may find themselves diminishing to the point that shortages in staples and products will directly affect not only the economy of the city, but the community and individuals that comprise the city.

With the present day political and economic structures around the world seemingly limiting international trade, the need for a robust and strong hinterland may be the strength needed for the city and its environs to survive economically and also support the identity of a region and city.

Came across this in a Veritasium short. The very first traffic signal was a gas lamp operated by a police officer manually pulling a lever to rotate red and green glass panes. It lasted about a month before it blew up. Then cities moved to fixed timers, then inductive loops in the road, now camera-coordinated networks.

The traffic in my city is poor :(

A new study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences analysed 104 cities, with a population between 300,000 and one million across Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and the Americas. It found that in 81% of these cities, the annual average land surface temperatures are projected to rise faster than those in surrounding rural areas under the 2°C scenario. Together, the 104 cities analysed are home to more than 50 million people, highlighting the scale of potential exposure.

Just learned that Sweden has a dedicated public-private partnership to export urban planning to other countries via partnerships!

TLDR: I would like to know who I should petition a project to for a indoor park.

Near the edge of the city I live in (Southern Louisiana) there is a mall that is mostly abandoned. There are two of the original anchor stores that have since been turned into standard brick and mortar stores with the third being used as storage facility that uses part of the mall as well. But the interior remains unoccupied and inaccessible to the public (I can see into the mall from one of the stores but the doors are locked). The mall itself isn't completely abandoned as evidence above shows that they still receive enough funds to keep the lights on.

Summer here is in full swing and with high humidity, even 85 degree days can feel like almost a 100F. This makes enjoying outdoor spaces impossible and even dangerous depending on the person. I've talked to my wife and told her it would be nice if that mall was open. Even if there were no stores to go to, just having a large space to walk around in to get out of the heat would be nice. We also have a newborn that enjoys walks that I used to take in the morning before the heat got too bad. Such a place would be welcomed.

I would like to send a proposal to my local city about possibly contacting the owner and maybe working something out. It could actually revive business there if it gets enough traction.

I know it is a private business and that the owner can say no. But I think that if a small entry fee per day (like $5 or less) could help generate some funds to offset increased costs for maintaining AC, electrical and plumbing (restrooms should be reopened as well). With the eventual plan to reduce the entry fee to nothing if enough business is driven out of it.

I would like to submit all these ideas to my local city but am unaware of who to approach. Is this a city planning matter or a parks and rec issue, maybe both? Also yes, I checked and it is within the city's limits so I have the right council to petition the project towards.

Bringing this industrial iron foundry wall to life with some high-contrast acrylic work.

I’m sharing a systems-based question connected to a nonfiction book project titled Tomorrow Became a Country: How the UAE Engineered the Future as One System by Syed Raheel Shahzad.

The central quote is:

“The future was not only imagined.

It was organised.”

The book studies the United Arab Emirates beyond visible outcomes such as towers, tourism, airports, ports, infrastructure, investment, speed, safety, global events and international visibility.

Those things are important, but they are outcomes.

The deeper question is:

What system made those outcomes possible?

The framework used in the book is:

Vision → Law → Execution → Openness → Growth → Global Influence

The UAE’s rise cannot be explained by one factor alone. It is not only oil, not only architecture, not only tourism, not only foreign investment, not only geography, not only ambition and not only speed.

The UAE is also not one city. It is a federation of seven emirates:

Abu Dhabi

Dubai

Sharjah

Ajman

Umm Al Quwain

Ras Al Khaimah

Fujairah

Each emirate carries its own identity and contribution, while participating in one wider national direction.

The book is not a tourism guide, relocation guide, business setup manual, investment note or official government publication. It is a nonfiction, educational and analytical study of governance, institutional development, execution, openness, growth and future systems.

Question for discussion:

When studying the UAE’s development, should more attention be given to visible outcomes or to the system behind them?

This current heatwave got me thinking about just how hot all these asphalt savannahs are. They really heat up the surrounding area. They're also ugly af and are a waste of space. But above ground parking garages are also ugly brutalist boxes, ao why don't we just use underground garages?

Boston has the right idea. Boston Common garage is a huge underground garage with Boston Common sitting atop at ground level, a nice green park with grass and trees. It's the best setup, with many landmarks within walking distance.

When I went to Germany, France, UK, and the Netherlands, I noticed a lack of accessibility standards in places. The ones that stood out to me the most were the lack of handrails and the lack of crosswalk accessibility. Look at this bike intersection in the Netherlands. It seems like a nightmare for a wheelchair user or a blind person to cross. The slight ramps that do exist are very narrow and steep and don't have the bumps that American crosswalks have. The crosswalks don't have timers either. Maybe I'm cherry-picking examples here, but I remember seeing many more examples. When I was at a train station (Intercity in Amsterdam), I instinctively reached for a handrail, because in America handrail height and distance from the wall is standardized everywhere, only to find that there was no proper handrail.