I am not a professional urban planner, but would like to know what to expect from my city planners.

I see that most of the urbanism content is focused on walkability and public transport, which is mostly relevant to an environment where you would enjoy staying outside for long periods.

I live in a desert city with temps higher that 30C for most part of the year in shade, so walking around more than 5 minutes is not the first choice even if the distance is short. People prefer spending time moving around and socializing in closed air conditioned spaces.

I see the city doing a lot of investment following the approach that is considered best practice in the urbanism community - building parks, wide sidewalks for walkability, converting car lanes to bike lanes, but it feels to me this investment in misplaced, since I don't want to ride on a bike or sit on a lawn in 30C-40C heat.

I wonder are there any popular resources that are dedicated to the hot climate urbanism.

I've seen some resources but they are not very approachable, and have mostly basic advice - in short, do "harm reduction" using less water and more shade.

I wonder if there is some vision of making cities in hot climates actually enjoyable, and not "a nice European city but not pleasant because hot".

EDIT: what I am interested in is approaches of optimal living in hot like "desert scorching sun weekly duststorms" hot environment, less of "used to be nice but now too warm" hot environment.

In future cities, streets will be covered by glass walls, accessible only to AI-driven cars. Traffic lights and speed signs will become unnecessary, as all vehicles will be fully automated. Pedestrians will access designated entry points through soundproofed glass domes, leading to elevators to upper levels where walkable communities exist. Designated spots will be provided for large public buses to elevate directly to the second floor, eliminating the need for passengers to use elevators (similarly for police cars and emergency vehicles, if nearby they can utilize the metro). A metro system will interconnect these communities, facilitating travel between different areas. High-speed rail networks will extend beyond city limits, providing interstate transportation. Additionally, some cities may opt for streetcars instead of metros, and long flat escalators akin to those in airports could transfer people to the nearest metro stop. Pedestrians can use bridges across roads or access ground floor parks. Meanwhile, AI-controlled highways will be situated underground, offering multiple transportation options. In rural areas, suburbs, and national parks, only underground highways will exist, with road-rise elevators allowing vehicles to ascend vertically. Every suburb will have a metro station nearby within a 5-15 minute walking distance. All ground level operations will be machine and AI-controlled, while elevated public spaces will be available under sunlight for humanity enjoyment.

Notice this: Cars, humans, and the metro each have their own designated paths, ensuring they don't intersect. Cars will travel on ground level within long glass tunnels, with highways situated underground. The metro has its own dedicated track that doesn't cross any bridges or pathways, and it will be fenced throughout its route, except for passengers waiting at stations. Humans will walk on the platform, occasionally dodging cyclists. With this design, collisions between trains and trucks are prevented, and people are safeguarded from harm by cars.

Notice this: The depiction of the metro in this image is incorrect. The metro will have its own elevated trackway, fully fenced off to ensure it does not intersect with pedestrian walkways or bridges.

https://preview.redd.it/50ecndt5a6sc1.jpg?width=4200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c6a5de309cc475a7fa4028228303ae19d880d8fd

This is just the start: Morristown Main Street Historic District, Tennessee.

I know. Very specific question, but I do need the answer.

What do they prioritize? How do they start to build them and what kind of regulations do they usually have in place? I've heard that contractors just buy older, single family houses, just to demolish them and build apartment complexes, with the government not being able to control the architectural style and stuff.

Also why the hell are they filled with one way roads

what are some cities with similar comprehensive plans? or a city whose plan was adapted off another city?

In future cities, streets will be covered by glass walls, accessible only to AI-driven cars. Traffic lights and speed signs will become unnecessary, as all vehicles will be fully automated. Pedestrians will access designated entry points through soundproofed glass domes, leading to elevators to upper levels where walkable communities exist. Designated spots will be provided for large public buses to elevate directly to the second floor, eliminating the need for passengers to use elevators (similarly for police cars and emergency vehicles, if nearby they can utilize the metro). A metro system will interconnect these communities, facilitating travel between different areas. High-speed rail networks will extend beyond city limits, providing interstate transportation. Additionally, some cities may opt for streetcars instead of metros, and long flat escalators akin to those in airports could transfer people to the nearest metro stop. Pedestrians can use bridges across roads or access ground floor parks. Meanwhile, AI-controlled highways will be situated underground, offering multiple transportation options. In rural areas, suburbs, and national parks, only underground highways will exist, with road-rise elevators allowing vehicles to ascend vertically. Every suburb will have a metro station nearby within a 5-15 minute walking distance. All ground level operations will be machine and AI-controlled, while elevated public spaces will be available under sunlight for humanity enjoyment.

Notice this: Cars, humans, and the metro each have their own designated paths, ensuring they don't intersect. Cars will travel on ground level within long glass tunnels, with highways situated underground. The metro has its own dedicated track that doesn't cross any bridges or pathways, and it will be fenced throughout its route, except for passengers waiting at stations. Humans will walk on the platform, occasionally dodging cyclists. With this design, collisions between trains and trucks are prevented, and people are safeguarded from harm by cars.

Edit: I thought I tag it in Urban futur design.

https://preview.redd.it/fl70ci6bwzrc1.jpg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=245d0a7e2c9c9deee234373952fec917d0ac6330

https://preview.redd.it/8w4kwanoyprc1.jpg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=30d6b164be44c465dec7360bdbd0d1a89f229b0d

https://preview.redd.it/8txeewqq9trc1.jpg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=914792069358e7a0b612f5c6facaefad6d68682a

Metro Vancouver has one of the tightest industrial markets in North America with a vacancy rate of just under 2%. As a result there seems to be an emerging trend of incorporating industrial space into new mixed used developments near the inner city. Usually this just means office space stacked on top of industrial but more and more these developments are following good urbanism principles and include underground parking, street facing retail, separated bike lanes and even residential space.

Focal On 3rd

Focal on 3rd is a new 8-storey building located in Mount Pleasant. The project responds to new mixed-use zoning that retains light industrial spaces at grade and allows for new office uses. The building has a prominent location in the neighbourhood marking the intersection of East 3rd and Quebec, and is highly visible from 2nd Avenue, due to a public open space across the lane. The façade grid of terra cotta panels set into a unitized curtain-wall system emphasizes the vertically of the building and obscures the regimented stepped back form imposed by zoning regulations. The natural terra cotta panels also pay homage to a neighbouring heritage building, while expressing an contemporary aesthetic and building technology.

https://preview.redd.it/btbzntlxporc1.jpg?width=630&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1dfa50b9084d6fa99fb3534f188696e740b3748d

Stratchcona Village

70 units of non-market housing, 280 units of market housing and 64,000 SF of light industrial and commercial retail space.

https://preview.redd.it/5sytjouirorc1.jpg?width=2000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4aadbf3120c3412acd37d10126a7ff46fcc158de

Archetype

This dynamic mixed-used building is anchored on the east and west by two mid-rise towers bridged by an 8-storey residential building, and unified by creative industrial spaces that wrap around the entire development. With a bold approach and unique identity, Archetype is bringing a new model to Vancouver.

https://preview.redd.it/9e21rfuptorc1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f4438960f00930eaf7fe4d4a871ec2fd856ccd37

https://preview.redd.it/pwp2oy5jtorc1.jpg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0cf380a5e0d43460a01fbc96ae4cb6213d6d2361

Marine Landing

Marine Landing provides size levels of industrial and office space to South Vancouver in a twinned building arrangement. This project balances the needs of employees and organization by providing amenities like a rooftop patio, flex spaces and cycling facilities along with oversized elevators, extra-wide corridors, at-grade ramps, loading bays, and a variety of parking stalls with EV charging areas.

https://preview.redd.it/wfzqybthvorc1.jpg?width=632&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1a8e8b7b8246b2a9986dee9031a247b6d16db543

https://preview.redd.it/b01zl60pvorc1.jpg?width=777&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=933ea4e479d4cf3b4fd9e4a6a5062d926cefec86

Three Sixty

At the intersection of forward-thinking design and sustainability you will find Three Sixty, a progressive vision by Strand, offering office and creative industrial spaces, that reconsiders how and where we work, both now and in the future. Three Sixty in redefining the workplace experience.

https://preview.redd.it/wzet5oog4prc1.jpg?width=1906&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c1dc656355f847876bb531faa865a7afb1ea14d6

I was just watching a video of someone driving through Chongqing China, and it has dense tree canopies that cover most of the city in shade. I was really impressed and it made me wonder - is there anywhere in North America with streets that look like this? I don’t mean a few small trees dotted along but thick, consistent tree cover that covers entire blocks in shade.

I recently read a fascinating book called "How Big Things Get Done" by Bent Flyvbjerg and Dan Gardner, which delves into the world of construction projects and what makes them succeed or fail. As someone passionate about urban design, I found the insights from this book to be incredibly valuable and thought-provoking.

The authors analyze numerous case studies of construction projects, ranging from infrastructure to buildings, and identify key factors that contribute to their success. They emphasize the importance of thorough planning (Think Slow, Act Fast), effective risk management, and strong leadership in ensuring that projects are completed on time, within budget, and to the desired quality.

I highly recommend giving this book a read if you're interested in gaining insights into the complex world of construction projects and how we can apply these lessons to urban design

On a related note, I recently wrote a summary of "How Big Things Get Done" on my Substack, where I dive deeper into the key ideas and case studies from the book. Feel free to check it out if you'd like a more detailed overview. I hope it's okay to share this here, as I genuinely believe the insights from this book are valuable for our community. 😊

Hi everyone, I am new to this group so sorry if the post is off topic. I also apologise for any typo (non-native here)

For context, I am a portuguese landscape architect but I haven't been working in urban design for several years, nor any architect activity (I am a strategic climate adaptation consultant).

I am very interested though in improving my civic activity and pushing for better urban solutions through design and planning in my city (Vila Nova de Gaia). It happens that, in Portugal, active civic activity is very low and difficult to stimulate (neighbours aren't very co-operative towards pressing decision makers). This is particular true for urban quality topics, with little to none local or national ngos in the topic.

I would like to use my (almost forgotten) skills but I am lacking ideas on success strategies/solutions. Would like to get inspired by some success stories that I could related, if you have some!

Thanks in advance!

I live in Germany and zebra crossings have a very specific meaning. Zebra crossings are always where pedestrians have right of way and cars are required to yield. Signalized crossings or other crossings where pedestrians have to yield to motor traffic always have a thin dotted line. In my mind, this ensures that confusion never arises on who has to yield to whom. However, I have noticed that a lot of countries will put zebra crossings all over the place, including signalized intersections. I have even seen this quite often in the Netherlands, which probably has the most developed and extensive system of road markings. Sometimes I see intersections where they use both dotted lines and zebra markings on the same signalized intersection.

Why does the Netherlands do this? Does this not create ambiguity in the meaning of a zebra crossing?

Hey /r/urbandesign

I'm interested in urban design, placemaking, and urban planning. For context, I'm in Canada (BC!). I've been a lurker on this sub for a bit so I have a rough understanding of the differences between planning and urban design. That said, I always like to triple check things before making a decision, so I'd love some clarification/extra thoughts!

I'm coming from a background in media production (Bachelor of Music). I've always had a lifelong interest in urban design and planning. The last time I looked at this as a field was in high school; I wrote off looking into this area because my math wasn't too stellar. Since then, I've explored some masters programs and bridging pathway programs and now it doesn't seem so far off to me!

One key thing that I considered when shifting into designing the public realm, my training and experience in sound made me consider how sound is experienced in our everyday life. Not just acoustic abosrption, controlling loudness, and such, but also how the soundscape of a city could enhance or enrich our daily lives. Things like creating more greenspace so the sound of vegitation (and the resulting wildlife that could visit a greenspace) compliments the natural effects of adding parks to our communities. That's just one example of course!

Would this kind of design fall under landscape architecture, urban design, or regular architecture? I know that planning is a bit more "big picture" so it may not have an active hand in facilitating this per se. I'm also kind of aware that "urban design" is hard to tamp down, but I would love to learn more. If I had to narrow down what kind of interests me about urban design? I'd say master plans, comprehensive/community plans, public gathering spaces, streetscapes, and placemaking (maybe not quite urban design but figured I'd include it).

A program I'm going into is a GIS and Urban Planning program here in Canada (accredited by the Candian Association of Certified Planning Technicians) . It's very technical and leads to a career as a planning technician (and from what I was told isn't that difficult to shift to design technician). I figured the technical building blocks would be a firm foundation for moving forward in this field (but it also has a pathway to TMU for the CIP accredited program).

All that being said, should I try and consider a landscape architecture program instead? Are there firms/organisations where planners could drift towards urban design? Or is it easier for a LA to shift to urban design than a planner?

Thanks for your time! If you made it this far, I really appreciate it and would love to hear your thoughts.

Cities need more “missing middle” housing. A new startup, Cedar, aims to help real estate developers build it, by making it easier to navigate zoning and land development codes and figure out how to add as much dense housing as possible to any site. Detailed story: https://www.moonshotmag.co/p/can-technology-help-build-better

https://preview.redd.it/5pszweb094rc1.png?width=1366&format=png&auto=webp&s=5b78cc29340612542fe9c073d0abc132ecf53642

If you work in any way related to Urban Design, Urbanism, City Planning, whether with a city/municipality or a private company (consulting?), do you have some advice?

Say a person is in their late 30s, strong career in tech, but would like to transition to a career where one can work on:

• multiple modes of transportation (bike, bus, light rail)
• mixed-use development

This person is into all the YIMBY stuff, drinks the StrongTowns kool-aid apologetically.

Questions:

1. Is (more) school required? Person already has a bachelors in an unrelated field.
   1. If so, what would be the degree/focus?
2. Will the salary ever be in the $100K + range?
3. Person already is involved in engaging City at meetings, workshops, advocating for positive change.

Thanks for any advice you might offer!

Hi all—

I’m wondering if any professionals in the field are familiar with the new MSc in Sustainable Lands and Cities at the University of Edinburgh’s new Edinburgh Futures Institute, and what the industry perception of the degree may be at this point in time, knowing that it’s a new degree but coming from a well known university

additionally, what is the general perception of newer programs such as this as opposed to more established programs? would one be doing themselves a big disservice by doing a brand new and experimental program such as this?

Hi! I’m an urban planner/designer who’s currently looking into what software we should get at our office for drawing site plans and illustrations, and possibly 3D models, of proposed land use development etc. The only thing we have right now is ArcMap, which isn’t really suited for that type of task… In school we used AutoCAD, Adobe Illustrator and SketchUp, and to my knowledge that’s also what most other planning offices use in my country, so getting these programs feel like a no-brainer for me. However, a coworker claimed that you can create site plans in ArcGIS Pro! So I tried googling it but didn’t really find anything about it.

Which brings me to my question: does anyone here know if you can actually use ArcGIS Pro to draw site plans in an easy way? Does it have better drawing tools than ArcMap does? Can it be a replacement for AutoCAD, Illustrator or SketchUp?

(Hope this makes sense, I’m a bit unsure about the English terminology)

I'm looking at transferring to an urban studies program after I complete my AA in liberal arts. I'm just sort of taking courses that seem related to urbanism like Intro to GIS and Microeconomics courses but I don't know what, if anything, will transfer.

My career background is in hospitality and I LOVE hotels but the hours and the pay are crap outside of upper management positions and even then they can suck.

I've always been kind of obsessed with transportation systems and cities but I just don't know what kind of jobs I could succeed with and be happy with in the planning field, if any.

I just graduated and I am trying to beef up my portfolio. I am a confident designer but most of the competitions I find are either not urban design focused, or they basically require a team of 3-4 people. Do you know of any competitions that would be good for an individual and will be concluded in the next 3-6 months?

Any tips appreciated!

For example, by now, we all pretty much know what Urbanism looks like and it's really just an issue of catching up on the policy side.

However, I'm wondering if you can think of any design ideas/solutions that we haven't fully worked out yet. Like, "what would X look like or is it even possible?"

Not sure I'm articulating very well but would love to see responses.

I’m building a city in Cities Skylines 2 based off what I think the ideal city looks like. However, I want to also see what other people think and incorporate your ideas. So, what makes the ideal city? Climate, architecture, road layout, transit systems. Literally anything that the city could have.

My city has seen growth in population downtown, which is driven by office spaces being converted to apartments. Before this, downtown was the least populated area of the city. At the same time, other neighborhoods of the city are shrinking, leading to an overall population decline.

The city planning department has been great in creating new urban design/development plans for each neighborhood, but the downtown has seen the majority of implementation for these plans.

How can I convince the city to put more focus into implementing the plans created for my shrinking neighborhood? This includes creation of a bike boulevard, bike lanes, streetscape improvements, zoning reform, etc.