City Building in a Hot, Flat and Crowded Post-American World
City Building in a Hot, Flat and Crowded Post-America World is an essay based on a review of three books. The essay draws heavily upon three books respectively by: Fukuyama [2004] who addresses city building; Zakaria [2009] who ponders a post-American world; and Freidman [2008] who has built on his flat world book to add the aspects of global warming and the world’s population growth. New ideas about governance are foundational to the approach of all three noted thinkers and authors who have independently offered their views on how to govern and prosper in the 21st century’s connected and instantaneous environment. Separately, their ideas present a coherent structure for city building and prosperity throughout the world based on market capitalism, liberal democracy and the rule of law within a global context that addresses climate change, population growth and technological advances. When the three treatises are viewed together, a holistic system for governance, societal success, economic prosperity and physical sustainability emerges. Each book is individually fascinating; collectively they are even better.
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The 10 Best Cities for Public Transportation.
Public transportation as presented in 10 Best Cities for Public Transportation demonstrates that “some cities world’s densest cities run like clockwork, while others are plagued by traffic, flight delays, and utility outages.” By using data on ridership, safety, and government spending, U.S. News has compiled a list of the 10 best cities in the country for public transportation. The lessons for small cities and towns are useful as ideas about multi-modal mobility seep into smaller communities.
Criteria
- Electricity supply
- Water availability
- Telephone and mail services
- Public transportation
- Traffic congestion
- Range of international flights from local airports
The Sanitary City; Environmental Services in Urban America from Colonial Times to the Present.
The Sanitary City by Martin V. Melosi, Ph.D. [2010], appreciates the history of water and sewerage systems as a major part of the remedy to tame yellow fever and cholera, the measles, the plague and other communicable diseases that attacked city populations and killed thousands of people. The number of deaths was astounding. The success of the utility revolution may inspire contemporary efforts to eradicate traffic fatalities, gun violence and drug abuse in 21st century America.
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Urban Infrastructure Systems; A Holistic andTechnologically Advanced Approach
Urban Infrastructure Systems in character towns recognize that modern infrastructure critical to a successful community can also be a visual asset. They can be, and should be, beautiful, holistic, mutually reinforcing and technologically advanced. The physical and programmatic infrastructure ensures the health, safety, education and welfare of the town’s citizens. Economic development, business retention and recruiting and social infrastructure depend on available, reliable and cost-effective public goods and services that are beautiful; they do not need to be eye sores. Smart cities are leveraging technology to accelerate the usefulness and efficiency of their basic systems. Infrastructure does not need to be ugly; in fact it needs to be a positive visual asset for the city.
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Financing Redevelopment; City Support for Private Projects
Financing redevelopment for private projects is sometimes in the best interest of small city and town yearning for new infill and redevelopment investments. The city’s vision of being an interesting, pleasant and prosperous place to live includes new and re-purposed uses and activities to its downtown and neighborhoods. Especially in built-out towns, infill and redevelopment are the only ways to prune marginal uses and enable investors to upgrade existing buildings, add new buildings and enhance the town’s social, physical and economic environment. In addition, redevelopment of the town’s blighted, marginal and otherwise unproductive places increases the tax base directly and indirectly. Cities also use special districts with overlay zoning codes to enable city officials and property owners to make investment decisions about the future of their area, including new taxes and fees for district improvements.
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City Finance Plans; Comprehensive Long Range Business Models
City Finance Plans are the vehicles for small cities and towns to take a comprehensive long range view of their sources and uses of funds that define their business model. The City’s Comprehensive Long Range Finance Plan answers the questions about where the city will find money over the long haul to stay in business. As an example, state and federal support to cities is dwindling. Gas tax revenues are declining. Costs for health care insurance, pensions, salaries and materials are increasing. Most local governments have annual budgets and multi-year capital improvement plans but these processes do not offer the opportunity for the city to take a comprehensive or long view of their financial position. A comprehensive look at all of the city’s existing and future revenue sources and likely expenditures over a twenty to fifty years period provides the perspective necessary to make changes today that will pay benefits in the long-run. Many towns are adjusting their approach to their pension funds, as an example. Other aspects of city operations may also need dramatic revisions; and the Comprehensive Long-Range Finance Plan facilitates this examination.
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Park Systems Evaluated by PARKSCORE
Park systems evaluated by ParkScore can benefit from the process. ParkScore is a project of The Trust for Public Land, tpl.org, the nation’s largest national nonprofit organization working to create and improve neighborhood parks. The evaluation criteria and process are useful to city planners and urban designers creating parks and parks systems for small character towns and cities.
Criteria
- Acreage
- -Median park size
- Park acreage as % of city area
- Service and Investment:
- Spending (on Parks) per resident
- Playgrounds per 10,000 residents
- Access:
- Percent of City Population living within a 10-min walk of a public park
Developing Sustainable Planned Communities
Developing Sustainable Planned Communities [2007] offers useful insights to small cities and towns about what features are important to communities of all types. The experience of planned communities is directly transferable to planning and development in existing small cities and towns. Edited by Jo Allen Gause, the primary authors of this collection of essays are Richard Franco, Jo Allen Gause, Jim Heid, Jr., Steven Kellenberg, Edward T. McMahon, Judi G. Schweitzer and Daniel Stone. The Urban Land Institute continues to produce useful and interesting work that presents ideas supported by case studies. The book’s table of contents includes: “sustainable from the start, integrating planning and design, the costs and benefits of sustainable development and green building design”.
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The Third Wave; The Classic Study of the Future.
Character towns can benefit from Toffler’s work.The Third Wave; The Classic Study of the Future was written by Alvin Toffler in 1980, over 30 years ago. It still offers ideas and insights useful in designing today’s small cities and towns. Mr. Toffler is an incredibly smart guy with a deep and fertile understanding of the past and a great perspective on the future. As one reads his analyses and forecasts, one quickly appreciates the march of history through the first and second waves. His anticipation for the economic evolution of mankind into the third wave is useful and applicable to contemporary city planning and prepares the way for confronting the fourth wave with cognitive machines
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The City’s Urban Open Space System; Leverage to Unify the City
The City’s Urban Open Space System is the town’s main tool for unifying the community. It is the primary source of urban beauty, natural resource protection and heritage preservation. The open space system is the holistic amalgam of parks, plazas, public gardens, school grounds, stormwater areas, rivers and lakes all connected with urban recreation trails. When supplemented with effective community design standards and beautification programs for private development, the urban open space system can be leveraged to unify the community. From a financial and political perspective, improving the city’s open space system is one of the most effective tools available for improving the community and providing venues for gatherings and the development of social capital.
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Best Cities for High Schools
Best Cities for High Schools were ranked by U.S. News and World Report. The results are important because of the cities that were ranked and because of the criteria used for the ranking. Every city and town in America understands that its prosperity and economic success depends on the education of its workforce and the attractiveness of its community based on the strength of its schools. Hence the importance of this ranking that is reviewed by professionals looking to re-locate their families to new communities and for businesses looking to re-locate or add new business locations. Every small city and town should seek to be ranked on this or other lists of superlatives. Planning and economic development programs should be designed to meet the criteria of such lists and to achieve listings whenever possible. Superior schools are an important element in the vision of every character town.
Criteria
- Reading and math on each states proficiency tests
- Least-advantaged students performance comparison
- College-readiness performance
Power Failure, Politics, Patronage, and the Economic Future of Buffalo, New York.
Power Failure [2006] is a terrific analysis of the process whereby a prosperous town deteriorated into a failed city due to its political toxicity. Ms. Dillaway, a professional city planner with twenty-five years of experience in California, has many publications and presentations to her credit. As a native of Buffalo, she returns home and tries to understand the demise of her once fine and prosperous home town. She finds significant decision points in the history of the city that were poorly made and badly executed leaving the town bereft of its economic power. One has to be impressed with the fact that if a once strong industrial town like Buffalo with its successful future seemingly assured can decline, so can any town. The lessons for small cities and towns are important whether the town is currently prosperous or poor. The decisions made in Buffalo seem obviously wrong and short-sighted in retrospect, but as city leaders are faced with real-time choices, the experiences of others are helpful; and the experiences of others are artfully described in Power Failure.
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