Stage 5 Changing Places

Work has begun on stage one of The Goods Line Project, a railway-turned-urban park project connecting Sydney’s Central Station to Darling Harbour.

Located in inner Sydney, the project includes a pedestrian and cycle network, creating a new urban hub and connecting more than 80,000 students, residents and visitors to the harbour’s recreational and pedestrian precinct.

The new corridor is being compared to the High Line in New York City, a public park and walkway constructed on a historic freight train line elevated above the streets of Manhattan’s lower west side...

Via Lauren Moss

Parks, squares, street corners, libraries, schools—these are the important social places in many cities. They are the public spaces where we relax and meet friends; in short, the places that we all share. But there is another kind of shared space that often goes unappreciated as a community hub in today’s convenience-oriented cities: the public markets where we buy our food.

While markets were historically important threads of a city’s social fabric, sanitation concerns and a cultural obsession with convenience led to their demise in many western cities in the 1950s. The “super” markets that replaced these vital public spaces were some of the first of what we now know as big box stores, and today, many millions of people around the world rely on these fluorescent, air conditioned megastores.

But in some cities, even in the developed world, traditional public markets still reign supreme!

Via Lauren Moss

A street shouldn't just be about transportation, but also about civic definition and social and commercial interaction.

There is no better place to start using land more efficiently than with our streets, our most plentiful and visible parts of the urban commons. The recent "complete streets" movement has made a terrific contribution to getting our streets right, by insisting that they be designed so as to accommodate all users.

Connectivity is hugely important to a sustainable street network to encourage walking and shorten driving trips by making destinations more convenient. The pedestrian experience should be safe and enjoyable, and should be so perceived.

Other design elements to help turn streets into worthy places are:

• Sidewalks with real curbs;
• On-street parking ;
• Street trees;
• Storefronts with elements that shelter pedestrians such as awnings, arcades, and colonnades;
• Buildings with windows and "other signs of human occupancy such as porches and balconies" for "eyes on the street";
• Design appropriate to safe motor vehicle speeds.

Via Lauren Moss

 The Sliced Porosity Block, or “CapitaLand Raffles City Chengdu” was recently opened, ushering in a new type of architecture for one of China’s fastest growing cities.

Located in the heart of Chengdu, the dense three million square-foot complex creates a completely novel public space that’s hemmed in by five residential/office towers. The scheme differentiates itself from other nearby urban projects by privileging public space over exuberant form and material-wasting showmanship...

Via Lauren Moss