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Read about our research categoriesMapLab: The High Cost of Wide Streets
Parks & Public Space
COVID-19 brought about many changes in the built environment. During the lockdowns, many cities around the world turned many streets in residential and commercial areas into slow or no vehicle zones. Adam Millard-Ball, a professor of Urban Planning at University of California, said that people don’t even question why streets …
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Exploring the often fraught relationship between public spaces and social divides
Parks & Public Space
When the pandemic struck America, the economic disparities became strikingly clear as “the ability to live in a place where you can safely get your needs met is a privilege of the few”. As public health indicates the benefits of public spaces – including social benefits, enhanced trust, collaboration, neighborhood …
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Community-Responsive Public Spaces Were More Resilient During COVID, Report Finds
Parks & Public Space
A report by the Knight Foundation shows that outdoor public spaces are becoming more important than they were pre-pandemic around the world. The “Adaptive Public Spaces: Places for People in the Pandemic and Beyond” report assessed the impact of various public spaces around the United States in four areas: design …
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An Initiative to Improve Street Safety through Public Art
Parks & Public Space
An intersection in the Westport Neighbourhood in Kansas City, Missouri employed art to solve a longstanding issue of speeding and pedestrian safety in a local intersection. A resident of the city has the idea to transform the intersection using art and design. The streets around the intersection were narrowed to …
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Why Public Spaces Are Critical Social Infrastructure
Parks & Public Space
The City of Akron has an Annual Akron Parks Challenge. This initiative allows for residents to provide new ways to improve the city parks. Two winning submissions are then given a 100,000 dollar grant. The Akron Mayor, Mayor Horrigan, states how it is important for public space to create equity …
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In the past week, New Orleans faced a Category 4 Hurricane Ida, 16 years after Hurricane Katrina. The hurricane took out all the power throughout Louisiana and blocked access to essential pumps to drain storm water which were installed after Katrina hit the city. The storm intensified prior to reaching …
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This porous pavement helps prevent flooding by absorbing rain
Parks & Public Space Safety & Security
As extreme weather events become more frequent and devastating due to climate change, a company called AquiPor created a material that will allow rain to flow through it to prevent flooding. Pavements are part of the problems in cities during extreme weather events, as they allow water to collect on …
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