Human Interest

An advertisement but interesting

This can show how quickly areas can develop if giving the right economic opportunities and a strong government.  

A wave of New Urbanism has spread through Austin, with downtown growth, especially in high-rises on the rapid increase over the past decade as demand for high-price residences downtown rises with the influx of young and educated people into the city.

Services & Urbanization-CBD

Reading about these different cities makes me cringe. Either the rich is priority, politicians are priority, or traffic is insane to the point going to the grocery store for milk will cost you two hours in traffic.

Reflection of development. Sometimes commercialization in less developed or developing countries causes issues due to lack of finances when trying to industrialize the region. This poses problems such as the ones described in the article. 

Unit 6: urban land use 

This article is mainly about how bad some of the worlds urban areas are. The article shows and explains why they are bad and also why they were even designed in the way that they were. One example is Brasilia, which, was designed to have a population of 500,000, instead it has a population of about 3 million.

This article ties into unit 6 by showing some of the worst urban areas throughout the world. And also why they were even designed to be a CBD.

this just goes to prove that there needs to be an economic reason for people to move. if you build it, they will not come. they will stay where the money is, and ignore the 'honor' of living in the new capital city.

I strange but not historically unprecedented situation. This kind of reminds me of all the cities China built in compensation for population growth. Historically the only way cities like this succeed is either by enticing immigration with tax cuts, free house etc or it has been forcefully with entire populations being moved (the latter being what the ancients largely did creating cities like Alexandria). Another example of capital moving is Iran however how they got a population in theirs I am not aware.Burma committed to neither and as a result the city is a failure. The cities layout also seems a bit extreme given it was made to suppress rather than entice. What is really bad however is the loss of agricultural land and ancestral villages in the area being destroyed all clearly for nothing. At the very least the country may be slowly moving away from dictatorship but only time will tell. Hopefully this failure will force further concessions making it a more tolerable place to live. Only then true solutions will likely be found to their poverty since the dictatorship has been seemingly incompetent in its actions.

This article focuses on an Austin community with a Utopian atmosphere. Beginning the construction in 2007, Mueller neighborhoods are very uniform; two story, two car garage in the back, and a porch in the front. This article refers to Urbanization

Unit 7 Urban

      The article describes the master planned community of Mueller. Mueller is filled with parks and green spaces. In addition, every house has a porch and a garage in the back of the house to encourage communication between people and neighbors. Also everything is located close together so it is very easy to walk to the store instead of driving. Many houses employ solar panels for their energy and use fuel efficient hybrid cars.

       Located centrally near downtown Austin this community was based on the concepts of new urbanism and uses effective and efficient methods to create a healthy and fresh neighborhood for both the people and the environment.  New Urbanism is a concept which counters urban sprawl with urban revitalizations, sustainable development, and suburban reforms. The communities following the principles of New Urbanism are often designed compactly to promote a sense of community and place. 

The Mueller community was developed from an old airport. I had the chance to visit this community on an APHUG field trip because it was so close. We were able to see the reasons why the community was developed and learned about innovated communities.

www.bharatemployment.com

I love Chicago!  Such a beautiful and clean city.

With an ever-growing urban population spatial design is important in maintaining functionality, efficiency and orderliness. The apartment building in Paris is especially interesting. It is practical and functions well enough to where a person can live comfortably in a markedly small but efficient space.   

This tiny home is amazing! It is like the setting for a futuristic story.

This article illustrates how urban renewal can be carried out without the negative effects usually associated with gentrification. The local government did this by working directly with the residents to ensure the improvements made directly reflect the needs and desires of the people that live there. It led to an improved area that not only provided activities and facilities for the locals but helped reduce the criminals and other unsavory characters that frequented the areas before. As the mayor in the article states, the park worked so much better than the common "policy of more cops and guns".

This article starts off with a story about a four year old girl named Jessica Lopez. Jessica has suffered severe asthma attacks since she was born. Her condition always worsened in the fall, due to  dust rising up from the abandoned fields that bordered her family’s one-room house. Last year, city officials turned the dusty fields next to her house into a beautiful park with trails, playgrounds and shaded pavilions. Oddly enough, Jessica's asthma did not come back that fall. Her mom insists that the creation of this parked saved her life and I couldn't agree more. Most of the pollution and dust were taken out of the environment, thus making it easier for Jessica to breathe. Jessica is just one person that got help out of this. However, the amount of people in that area is equivalent to about 1.3 million. It has to have helped millions of other people as well. The park's lawn are kept nice and green and watered. Solar powered lamps are used to light the park up at night and the park is a great afternoon spot for children and their families.

Personally, I love stories like this.  These people took something that wasn't doing anyone any good, and was just sitting there, and turned it into something that brought the community together.  This park brought life to a poor area, even though they really didn't have the means or the money to do so.  However, this park can have so many benefits, and it can become an outlet.  It can lower crime rates, promote health, bring in people from other cities, etc.

As the 2017 APHG exam has ended, some people have asked for more resources on new urbanism.  Here is information from New Urbanism (dot org) the Congress on New Urbanism for teachers and students that are reassessing the Free Response Questions. 

Tags: place, neighborhood, urban, planning, urbanism, scale. 

This article focuses on an Austin community with a Utopian atmosphere. Beginning the construction in 2007, Mueller neighborhoods are very uniform; two story, two car garage in the back, and a porch in the front. This article refers to Urbanization

Unit 7 Urban

      The article describes the master planned community of Mueller. Mueller is filled with parks and green spaces. In addition, every house has a porch and a garage in the back of the house to encourage communication between people and neighbors. Also everything is located close together so it is very easy to walk to the store instead of driving. Many houses employ solar panels for their energy and use fuel efficient hybrid cars.

       Located centrally near downtown Austin this community was based on the concepts of new urbanism and uses effective and efficient methods to create a healthy and fresh neighborhood for both the people and the environment.  New Urbanism is a concept which counters urban sprawl with urban revitalizations, sustainable development, and suburban reforms. The communities following the principles of New Urbanism are often designed compactly to promote a sense of community and place. 

The Mueller community was developed from an old airport. I had the chance to visit this community on an APHUG field trip because it was so close. We were able to see the reasons why the community was developed and learned about innovated communities.

unit 7 #chitownlove

Summary: This interesting video talks about principles that should be considered by city planners that could make our life's better and happier.

Insight: This video is relevant  to unit 7 because it shows efforts that should be taken by urban planners and how a simple city layout can effect our lives. 

This video gives you an overview of how to make the most attractive city in six ways. It explains the reasons and the wants of a city that potential residents are looking for.

This video relates to Unit 7: Cities and Urban Land Use because it talks about the orgin, site and situation a city should have for it to be considered attractive to people. A city should be chaotic/ordered, should have visible life, compact, is should have a nice/mysterious orientation, it should not be too big or too small, and it should be local and lively. Today, many cities lack attractiveness because of the intellectual confusion around beauty and the lack of political will. I totally agree with video and the requirement s to have an attrative city. 

We definitely need more visually pleasing cities, our world is lacking and we are loosing it to like in the video "corporate opportunists".

History is a major attraction to tourists in any city, and Paris seems to have all these requirements to be a good urban city. The variety in architecture that is blended in within past and present structures gives a distinct look and attraction. Planning, of course, would help satisfy public expectations and the variety of culture and color would add to the delightful qualities of the city. Amenities contribute to the diversity of the city and businesses affect the image of culture in the city. 

More and more people are moving to the cities than ever before.  As a result I believe there are more megacities on the way.  However I think there is a limit to these cities.  How are they going to be powered?  How are the people going to be fed? Where will they work?  how will these cities impact the environment?  Where is all the fresh water going to come from?

It is a good thing that there is more megacities being created because you can see more people move in which will help the city function better economics wise. When it comes down to the population that is a different story because there is more people to worry and deal with. The increase of people could go both ways because it can be good but at the same time it can go bad because people will start arguing in which it can get physical which means city ratings going down.

Great info graphic on mega cities. 

differences of opinion about how to classify city age

Since the beginning of civilization, rivers have been communities' main job source. Even before B.C., the only one way to survive was to construct houses close to the nearest body of water. In the case of Crocodile City near the Nile river in Africa,the city was built close to the river due to the fertile soil and water supplied by the Nile. This enabled ancient civilizations to survive. Unfortunately, due to religious conflict between communities, some of these original civilizations were forced to relocate. Another reason for relocation is due to the movement of the bodies of water. As the paths of the rivers change, communities are forced to abandon their homes and start new civilizations so to remain close to the waters. All these communities around the river Nile relied on agriculture for its wealth and power. All these cities are examples of civilizations that have inhabited areas near rivers for centuries, even before B.C. Given their habitat, rivers will provide the necessar resources and tools for current and future generations to be able to survive.

Although the question is misleading, it should say what is the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world, I enjoyed the article as once again I learned quite a bit about ancient history. Seems Aleppo, Syria is the apparent winner. They have dated the city to 6000 BC and nomads were there 5000 years before that. Shows the importance of trade as most of the contenders were on a trade route near a body of water. In fact, the article says that Aleppo was very much involved in trade until the opening of the Suez canal. Let's hope that with all the turmoil in Syria that Aleppo continues to thrive for centuries to come. Constantinople and Damascus were serious contenders but could not show continuous habitation. Aleppo according to the article, was a strong contender for commerce alongside Cairo, Egypt. Another contender, Jericho, dates back to 9000 BC but again was not continually inhabited and thus cannot lay claim to the world's oldest city.

Very good!

The squatters have made their own community complete with services and mini marts.  This tells me there is not enough affordable housing if the people of Caracas are willing to live in dangerous conditions.  Caracas government needs to build affordable housing or create better paying jobs so the citizens can spend the money in the community.  Its a cycle that needs everyone's participation to work to build a sustaining economy.  

I found this article interesting

we have talked about this in class. These people have learned to adapt and find ways to use electricity, running water. We have seen videos of other cities in countries with electrical cables and sewage water out in the open and people find ways to tap into it. The building reminds me of the abandon mills in R.I. where homeless people frequent to beat the harsh elements and sleep at night. They build small fires and use different areas for bathroom visits. The difference is our brick unoccupied mills find a way to catch fire and the city levels them to the ground. This is definitely unsafe but goes to show when you have no place to live its amazing how people find ways to survive and kind of build their own community. What I found disturbing is the people outside the neighborhood angry because the squatters took over the building. All of a sudden they complained about the safety of the squatters when in all reality they are safer because they are acting as a self community and know they need each other to survive. If the government or city officials or citizens of the neighborhood are that concerned then they can find a way to fix up the building.

That house on Wade Avenue appears to be your average home that a person would not look twice at. I am sure the people who are driving by this property everyday do not know that this is a water booster pump station. This is a clever and thoughtful idea by the government to think about the people living in this neighborhood, as they designed what could be a very non-appealing piece of property, into a secure and attractive water booster pump station. 

A great introduction to city planning

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/01/17/263476645/whats-inside-this-mystery-house-in-north-carolina

This short YouTube clip focuses on the Governments creative ways of keeping city planning out of the eyes of everyday people. Not only do these creative ways allow cities to remain unvandalised, but they also eliminate the eye sores of waterplants and towers. I think these ideas are great and allow communities to remain beautiful and inviting.