A beacon of truth in an age of confusion

Icon for the Era? A Ted Talk by urban planner Alexandros Washburn  

by Gregory Saville

This week, a cultural icon came to mind after watching the incredible biopic about Bob Dylan “A Complete Unknown”. 

The performance of lead actor Timotheé Chalamet was remarkable. He captured a hauntingly similar vibe to the icon himself—Nobel Laureate Bob Dylan. As a teen, I loved Dylan’s many memorable lyrics; “The ancient street’s too dead for dreaming.” The film brought my mind back to the chaotic and hopeful social revolution of the 1960s.  

That’s the thing about icons. Their ideas resonate through time partly because they speak a language of change for something better, and partly because they are a beacon of truth. They show how the status quo no longer works. They see into the future. They set the tone!

 

New York's High Line Park. The work of an icon - photo by Bryan Ledgard,
CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

“A public space is the place where citizens can meet as equals, and the place where society builds trust”– Alexandros Washburn

PLANNING ICONS? 

It’s not often you get urban planning and design icons today with that kind of relevance – icons who educate us by translating complex problems of the day into common parlance. Where are they today, those icons, when we need them most? Jane Jacobs was a powerful urban icon from the 60s, but I struggle when I look for others today.  

Some claim Richard Florida is such a person. Florida, a professor at the University of Toronto and an urban studies theorist, is famous for coining the term creative class as a trigger for urban success. Unfortunately, many of his ideas have not aged well. They have not turned out as predicted and many creative class areas become gentrification. 

That’s not to say others don’t exist with rock star potential. A few might include:

• Andres Duaney and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk (American architects of Congress in New Urbanism fame) 
• Gil Penalosa (Canadian/Columbian public parks champion of people-centered design and sustainable transportation) 
• Peter Calthorpe (American author of The Next American Metropolis and creator of the pedestrian pocket) 
• Jan Gehl (Danish architect who popularized humanistic planning).

 I respect these urban thought leaders. I also don’t think they rise to the icon status of a Dylan or Jacobs. 

ALEXANDROS WASHBURN

 “It doesn’t work until it works for the pedestrian”– Alexandros Washburn 

What about Alexandros Washburn? He is a prescient thinker and his firm DRAW Global LLC consults around the world. He is an award-winning architect and former chief urban designer of New York City with innovative and ecologically sound projects across that city, like the famous High Line Park . 

 

Washburn's book, The Nature of Urban Design, empowers urbanites
and introduces a new framework for urban planning 

Washburn is a well-known advocate of resilient city design. He lives in the Red Hook neighborhood of New York City. His TED Talk unveils the kind of resilient successes that might apply to all cities.

 

New York's High Line Park is among the
top tourist destinations in the city

Listen to Washburn answer planning questions on WIRED. He definitely has some Dylanesque mojo. Why does Singapore work so well? How do we fix the sprawling nightmare that is Los Angeles? Like most icons, he answers the big questions simply, but without dumbing down the answer. 

My favorite Washburn story is the story about New York’s famous High Line Park. It was first opened in 2009 in west Manhattan, redesigned from an abandoned, elevated railway viaduct over the Meatpacking District. It was conceived by some citizens who, seizing on a similar tree-lined elevated walkway in Paris, imagined a 1.4 mile-long (2.3 kilometer) ecological, living system in the heart of New York City. 

High Line is a linear urban park, an elevated greenspace, and an art-rich, sculpture-lined promenade with children’s play areas. It was built atop what was formerly one of the worst traffic accident streets in the city once known as Death Alley.

Along with Dutch architect Piet Oudolf who curated the landscaping plan, it was Alexandros Washburn who helped design one of the most innovative urban parks in the world. 

Washburn describes his work on High Line in his planning book The Nature of Urban Design. “You improve the quality of life by improving the quality public space” They are words that sound very much like a beacon of truth.

The city at night

Night time economy in Hoboken, NY - photo Tarah Hodgkinson

GUEST BLOG: Tarah Hodgkinson is a senior researcher in the Integrated Risk Assessment Instrument Research Group in Vancouver, Canada. She is a member of the International CPTED Association and a certified SafeGrowth instructor. She is completing Ph.D in criminology at Simon Fraser University. 

On a recent trip to New Jersey, I had the opportunity to discuss the CPTED concept called activity generators with a local community group. I was reminded of the distinct differences between day time and night time economies. Activity generators (ways of activating spaces for legitimate or positive uses that put eyes on the street) are easy to support during the day time. Examples include food trucks, scheduling outdoor sports games and encouraging community fairs. However, I struggled to think of examples of night time activity generators until I went walking around in the city at night.

Hoboken night time economy

After dinner with friends in Hoboken, we headed back to the train station. Hoboken has a beautiful main street that was bustling. When I think of activity generators for night time, I often think of bars or pubs that might attract people, but not always with positive results. While Hoboken had a few pubs, it also had outdoor fruit markets and late night coffee shops. Legitimately activating their main street, Hoboken businesses encouraged non-drinkers to use the space as well.

Night time strollers in the High Line park - photo Tarah Hodgkinson

The following night another friend took us to the New York High Line. As mentioned in The future of sidewalks, the highline is a well-lit, pedestrian friendly public space that encourages legitimate day and night activity. Through proper lighting, lots of seating, close proximity to homes and shops and incredible design, the High Line draws both tourists and residents alike.

Winter evenings in Vancouver?

While both were great examples of activity generators at night, as a Canadian, I couldn’t help but wonder what to do when the snow falls.

Upon returning home to Vancouver, I walked by Robson Square. In the centre of downtown, surrounded by commercial buildings, this square is largely deserted after five o’clock at night. However, this space is activated with events throughout the summer and is transformed into an ice rink in the winter. Skating takes place both day and night at Robson square with live music, local vendors and tons of people embracing the night and the cold at the same time!

Evening activities in Vancouver's Robson Square 

The possibility for night time activity generators are abundant. We need only look at spaces where people feel safe exploring their neighbourhoods both day and night.