Urban Design Concept
My early problem definition stated that my goal was to “design a better map”. I’ve recently discovered that this was the wrong approach for me. I need to stop trying to make a better map, and start trying to make a map work better for others. I figure it would be more feasible—and more significant—to take an existing map and use it in a new way.
Street Design Manual
During my research early on in the semester, I came across NYC Department of Transportation’s Street Design Manual. The manual enumerates the options city planners have at their disposal when it comes time to designing the features of a New York City street.
In the words of DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik–Khan:
The streets of New York are changing. Today, New Yorkers can enjoy dozens of new public plazas in places formerly occupied by speeding traffic; safely negotiate school zones, senior districts and the areas around transit stations in more friendly streetscapes; and ride along protected bicycle lane
This Street Design Manual formally establishes and standardizes all of these new elements. It also continues the spirit of the Bloomberg administration by laying out dozens of new ideas—approaches for innovative street designs that we will test in New York in the months and years ahead.
The Street Design Manual is a modern-day Sears Roebuck catalog for urban planners. There are pages for any imaginable piece of street fixture detailed within sections titled “Traffic Calming”, “Street Lighting”, and “Benches”.
It’s really accessible for a municipal document. Turn to page 68 and you’ll find the entry for “Curb Extension with Greenstreet/Plantings”. It’s one of those curbs that extends into the parking lane, giving people and plants more space on the sidewalk. But the page doesn’t just have pictures; it benefits & considerations, it has design guidance for installation, it has rules of use. I began to see that these pieces of the city effected the city around them, and they were to be placed with attention to their environment. This was the foundation for my latest concept.
The Urban Planning Tool
The Urban Planning Tool is a web application which allows citizens and city government to better understand the effect planning projects have.
Citizens using the application will be able to view a planning problem in their neighborhood. Using a set of ‘city components’ (not unlike those found in the Street Design Manual) which can be dragged onto the map, people can create their own solutions. The map will show the placement of the components, their cost, and the effect on the surrounding area. The map becomes a kind of derivative resulting from people and the built stuff around them.
Planners can use the site to showcase problems they are considering. Each problem can be given a budget, timeframe, constraints, and other parameters. Planners can also respond to citizens’s questions, provide feedback on solutions, and create a positive environment to discuss the solution’s impact among the people who will have to live with it.
Philosophy Behind It
My idea is for citizens and city planners to work together. I see the planners as a group with experience providing design solutions, and citizens with knowledge about the neighborhood in question, and as the party that will be most effected once a solution is implemented.
It is possible that something like this can also address the sometimes antagonizing behavior that accompanies changes in city policy. By billing this as procedure that is inclusive, conflicts might be easier solved. Planners can benefit by getting a greater number of citizens to buy into a particular design and into the planning process in general. By seeing the designs that are submitted by residents—and by talking with them about their ideas—planners might learn more about the people they are designing for.
Reservations
Ultimately, I have some concerns regarding this concept. With two weeks to go.
I feel that the vision is too murky, the scope too big, and the idea too safe or general. I’ll be spending the rest of my time remaining in the semester diving deep into urban planning. Hopefully I can get to a point where I’ll be satisfied.
