John King of The San Francisco Chronicle examines the installation of mobile planters around the Yerba Buena District in San Francisco; part of a 10-year revitalization initiative to bring new meaning and boundaries surrounding public space.
King describes these so-called "parkmobiles" as "portable landscapes in red steel bins 6 feet wide and 16 feet long, intended as a shot of mobile nature offering passers-by visual relief from asphalt and concrete."
"The parkmobiles signal San Francisco's most ambitious effort yet to improve the large, urban landscape in small, fluid ways - an effort set, tellingly, in a district that symbolizes old-school urban renewal."
At $6,000 a piece, the mobile landscapes are an example of an innovative, low-cost initiative taken on local property owners and CMG Landscape Architecture in the Yerba Buena District.
"The hope is that the bucolic bins will draw people onto blocks that otherwise get little foot traffic – and that the design and vegetation will survive the moves and the crowds."
FULL STORY: 'Parkmobiles' bring taste of nature to urban S.F.
Predictions for San Francisco’s Public Spaces
In 2023, will the city’s public spaces be reclaimed by cars, or will pandemic-era interventions lead to permanent change?
San Francisco Supervisors Vote to Keep Parklets, Close Them at Night
The pandemic-era outdoor seating arrangements can stay, but a last-minute amendment lets business owners close them overnight.
The Metrics of Outdoor Dining
Outdoor dining programs are proving popular in cities all over the United States, as a lifeline for both restaurants and residents seeking some social normalcy. Data from San Francisco reveal the numbers behind the phenomenon.
Alabama: Trump Terminates Settlements for Black Communities Harmed By Raw Sewage
Trump deemed the landmark civil rights agreement “illegal DEI and environmental justice policy.”
Study: Maui’s Plan to Convert Vacation Rentals to Long-Term Housing Could Cause Nearly $1 Billion Economic Loss
The plan would reduce visitor accommodation by 25% resulting in 1,900 jobs lost.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
Waymo Gets Permission to Map SF’s Market Street
If allowed to operate on the traffic-restricted street, Waymo’s autonomous taxis would have a leg up over ride-hailing competitors — and counter the city’s efforts to grow bike and pedestrian on the thoroughfare.
Parklet Symposium Highlights the Success of Shared Spaces
Parklets got a boost during the Covid-19 pandemic, when the concept was translated to outdoor dining programs that offered restaurants a lifeline during the shutdown.
Federal Homelessness Agency Places Entire Staff on Leave
The U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness is the only federal agency dedicated to preventing and ending homelessness.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Caltrans
Smith Gee Studio
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions
Salt Lake City
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service