We highlight here some great articles we’ve read this week dealing with art, creative placemaking, and building great communities. You’re sure to find some inspiration to make your life and our community even better!
- The Benefits of Removing Cars from the City Center: Car bans like Madrid’s offer clear, tangible improvements to citizens’ health and quality of life, and have largely gained the popular support needed to make them sustainable long-term.
- Since 2000 More Americans Have Died in Car Crashes Than Died in the Both World Wars: “Driving 70 instead of 65 saves a driver, at best, 6.5 minutes on a 100-mile trip,” said Charles Farmer, the institute’s vice president for research. He concluded that for each 5 mph increase in the posted speed limit, the fatality rate rose by 8 percent.
- Sidewalk Detroit Rethinks the Purpose of Public Space: Sidewalk Detroit hopes to replace negative or traumatic experiences with something more positive. “We look at the public sphere as a place for healing,” Myers-Johnson says.
- How Cities Can Consider Mental Health in Planning Green Space: An international team of researchers says that cities should consider mental health benefits as they plan nature spaces in cities…. [their plan] offers a framework for cities to incorporate and measure mental health benefits from parks, tree plantings and other green spaces.
- Theaster Gates on Belonging and Placemaking: I know how cities work. I love the fact that I’m cross trained in that way, but beauty was guiding me, spiritual stuff was guiding me…. I’m actually better when I’m an artist. I’m a better placemaker than any planner when I’m an artist.
