• Urban Heat Island Effect Upside: It Can Be Good for Trees – Neighborhoods – The Atlantic Cities

  +1 on more urban trees. Few things improve a streetscape more. It seems that higher urban temperatures help trees grow, and then of course more trees also mitigate the urban heat island effect.
  QUOTE
  Despite other conditions that might have influenced this faster growth, the researchers have determined that the hyper-growth speeds are largely attributable to the higher temperatures in the city. They confirmed this hypothesis with seedlings grown in a lab under similar temperatures and conditions.

  Trees can provide a number of benefits to urban areas. Their positive impact on property values has been documented extensively. Urban trees have also been found to provide a significant economic benefit to cities due to their role in stormwater treatment, energy use reduction, air quality improvement and carbon sequestration.

  Trees have also been found to help counter the urban heat island effect that is apparently helping them grow much faster – a negative feedback loop that suggests planting more trees in the city makes a lot of environmental sense. The warmer temperatures caused by the urban heat island effect are certainly causing problems in cities, but they’re also creating what have turns out to be ideal conditions for tree planting.
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  tags: trees urban_forest cities amenities atlantic_cities

• The Invention of Jaywalking – Commute – The Atlantic Cities

  Great article about how we went from this:
  QUOTE
  Browse through New York Times accounts of pedestrians dying after being struck by automobiles prior to 1930, and you’ll see that in nearly every case, the driver is charged with something like “technical manslaughter.” And it wasn’t just New York. Across the country, drivers were held criminally responsible when they killed or injured people with their vehicles.
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  to this: “‘If you ask people today what a street is for, they will say cars,’ says [Peter] Norton. ‘That’s practically the opposite of what they would have said 100 years ago.'”

  tags: jaywalking cars cities automobile atlantic_cities

• Ten Great Movies for Placemakers « Project for Public Spaces – Placemaking for Communities

  I’ve seen some of these films; might want to watch the others. It’s definitely worth watching for Place in films, always.
  QUOTE
  When you’re watching a movie, how much attention do you pay to the setting? While the best way to learn about what makes a great place is often to get out and observe how public spaces work first-hand, there are films that illustrate Placemaking principles quite beautifully. We’ve collected ten of our favorites here, with explanations of why we think they tell great stories about place.
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  tags: placemaking movies project_for_public_spaces

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Posted: 04|30|12 at 8:55 am. Filed under: links.

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