Urban 2

Permeability

The ease of moving in and out of areas, with different paths to the same place, ensuring that infrastructure does not close anyone out.

Legibility

The clarity with which a city's layout can be understood and navigated, featuring distinct paths, edges, districts, nodes, and landmarks.

Third Places

Social locations serving needs beyond home and work life, such as cafes, parks, and community centers.

Mixed-Uses

Areas that combine residential, retail, office, and commercial spaces in close proximity to enhance community interaction. Example: Salesforce Park.

Adaptive Reuse

The process of repurposing an existing structure for a new use, such as converting an old railway into The High Line park.

Urban Sprawl

Rapid, low-density, auto-dependent expansion at the edges of cities, consuming land faster than population growth. Example: Virginia Beach.

Folded Map Project

A project connecting residents at corresponding addresses on Chicago's North and South Sides to highlight the impacts of urban segregation and redlining.

Shrinking Cities

Cities experiencing significant population loss, typically due to deindustrialization, resulting in vacant properties.

Home GR/OWN (Milwaukee)

A Milwaukee program transforming vacant lots into community gardens to provide food and strengthen communities in at-risk neighborhoods.

Walking School Bus / Bike Bus

A chaperoned group of children walking or biking to school along a set route to ensure safety and encourage sustainable living.

Housing Wage

The hourly wage required for a full-time worker to afford a modest rental home without overextending their income.

Kampung Admiralty (Singapore)

Singapore's first integrated public development, combining a park, commercial/medical centers, and public housing with a publicly accessible rooftop.

Spanish Laws of the Indies

Spanish colonial laws dictating settlement layout: a central plaza, gridded streets, and specific zones for different socio-economic classes.

1899 Building Height Act (Washington, DC)

A law stating no building could be taller than the width of the street plus 20 feet, enacted for fire safety and aesthetic reasons.

Dumbbell Tenements

A form of cramped urban housing shaped like a dumbbell, featuring an airshaft between buildings. They were often overcrowded fire hazards.

Hull House

A settlement house established by Jane Addams in Chicago (1889) to provide social and educational services for immigrant workers.

City Beautiful Movement

A movement promoting urban beautification through grand boulevards, parks, and monumental public buildings to instill order and virtue.

Ebenezer Howard and Garden Cities

Howard founded the Garden City movement, aiming to combine city and country living in self-contained communities surrounded by greenbelts. Example: Radburn, NJ.

The Equitable Building (1913)

A massive NYC skyscraper whose size and shadow sparked public backlash, leading to the city's first zoning resolution.

1916 Zoning Resolution (NYC)

The first comprehensive U.S. zoning law, regulating building height and shape with setback requirements to allow light and air to reach the street.

Levittown

A post-WWII suburban development using mass-production to build inexpensive, "cookie-cutter" homes, initially for white veterans only.

Restrictive Covenants (Racial Covenants)

Clauses in property deeds that prohibited the sale or rental of property to specific racial or religious groups, enforcing segregation.

Redlining

A discriminatory practice where lenders (like the HOLC) denied services to minority neighborhoods, marking them as "high-risk" on maps with red lines.

Willis Carrier

The inventor of the modern air conditioner.

Interstate Highway Act of 1956

Authorized the construction of the Interstate Highway System. It stimulated suburban growth but also displaced communities and reinforced segregation.

Urban Renewal

A mid-20th century policy of redeveloping urban areas, often involving "slum clearance" that destroyed minority neighborhoods.

Vinegar Hill (Charlottesville)

A historically Black neighborhood in Charlottesville demolished in the 1960s under urban renewal, displacing families and destroying cultural heritage.

Jane Jacobs

Author and urban activist known for advocating mixed-use, dense neighborhoods, vibrant street life, and "eyes on the street." She wrote "The Death and Life of Great American Cities."

Border Vacuums

A Jane Jacobs concept: large, single-use institutions (like highways) that create dead zones and cut off activity between neighborhoods.

Robert Moses

A powerful New York planner known for building massive public works projects, like highways and bridges, often at the expense of existing neighborhoods.

Density (V. Overcrowding)

Density is the number of people/objects in a space (can be good). Overcrowding is the negative feeling of insufficient space (bad). They are not the same.

Barcelona's Superblocks

A 3x3 grid of blocks where through-traffic is routed around the perimeter, turning interior streets into pedestrian-priority public spaces.

Walk Score

A number (0-100) measuring an address's walkability based on the distance to amenities like stores, parks, and schools.

The High Line

An elevated public park in NYC created from a repurposed railway. An example of adaptive reuse that also spurred gentrification.

Salesforce Park (San Francisco)

A public rooftop park on a transit center, featuring gardens and a playground. An example of a mixed-use development.

11th Street Bridge Park (Washington, DC)

A project to repurpose an old bridge into an elevated public park and pedestrian connection.

Transfer of Development Rights (TDR)

A program allowing landowners to sell development rights from their land to a developer, who can use them to increase density elsewhere.

Portland, OR

A city known for using an Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) to limit sprawl and focus on infill development and transit.

Urban Growth Boundaries (UGBs)

Regulatory lines that contain urban development to limit sprawl and protect rural and natural areas.

Upzoning

Changing zoning codes to allow for higher-density future development (e.g., multi-family housing in single-family zones).

Infill Development

Building on unused or underutilized land within an existing city rather than on the urban fringe.

Brownfields, Greyfields, and Greenfields

Brownfields: Abandoned, potentially contaminated industrial land. Greyfields: Underutilized or obsolete commercial sites (e.g., old malls). Greenfields: Undeveloped land, like farmland or forest, at the city's edge.

Gentle Density

A strategy of slightly increasing the number and variety of homes in low-density neighborhoods (e.g., duplexes, townhouses), also known as 'Missing Middle Housing.'

Toronto

A city that uses gentle density strategies, facing opposition from groups like the "Density Creep Neighborhood Alliance."

Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs)

A smaller, secondary living unit on the same lot as a single-family home (e.g., a converted garage or "granny flat").

Charlottesville's FLUM (Future Land Use Map)

A map guiding Charlottesville's growth, allowing more development and rewriting zoning, which has received some public negativity.

Boulder, CO (Controlling growth)

A city that controls growth with an urban service boundary, height limits, a greenbelt, and a points system for housing development.

Vancouver, BC

A city known for its "Living First" policy, focusing on dense, vertical growth around transit with human-scaled, pedestrian-friendly streets.

EcoDensity

A Vancouver initiative that promotes higher density as an approach to enhance environmental sustainability by reducing car reliance and efficient land use.

Copenhagen, Denmark

A global model of sustainable urban form: a compact, low-rise, highly walkable and bikeable city with abundant public spaces.

The 100 Year Life

A concept based on a book about the decisions and implications surrounding longer life expectancy.

15-Minute City

An urban planning concept where residents can access most daily needs within a 15-minute walk or bike ride.

The Not So Big House (Sarah Susanka)

A design philosophy emphasizing quality, detail, and functionality in smaller, well-designed homes over sheer size.

Quinta Monroy (Alejandro Aravena)

A social housing project in Chile that built "half-houses," providing a basic core for residents to expand over time.

Ageing in Place

The ability to live in one's own home and community safely, independently, and comfortably, regardless of age or ability.

Granny Pods

Portable guest houses (a type of ADU) placed in backyards to support aging loved ones with oversight by caregivers, often with monitoring features.

Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities (NORCs)

Neighborhoods with a high concentration of older adults that were not originally designed for seniors.

Beacon Hill Village

A member-led organization in Boston that provides support services for older adults, enabling them to age in place. An example of a NORC.

Form-Based Codes

Land development regulations that focus on the physical form of buildings and public spaces to create a predictable, walkable public realm.

Visual Preference Surveys (VPS)

A technique for obtaining public feedback on physical design alternatives by having participants score images.

Inclusionary Housing Requirements ("Inclusionary Zoning")

A policy requiring a certain percentage of new housing units in a development to be affordable for low- to moderate-income residents.

Missing Middle Housing

A range of multi-unit housing types (e.g., duplexes, triplexes) that are compatible in scale with single-family homes but are often absent from the housing supply.

NYC's "City of Yes"

A zoning reform initiative in New York City designed to remove barriers and allow for more housing to be built, addressing the affordability crisis.

Community Land Trust

Non-profit organizations that own land and lease it to residents (who own the buildings) to ensure long-term affordability.

Manufactured Housing

Factory-built homes, often a more affordable form of homeownership.

Mass Timber (e.g. Heartwood in Seattle, PAE Building in Portland)

A sustainable building material made from engineered wood layers. It is strong, has a low carbon footprint, and allows for faster construction.

Courtyard/Communal Housing (e.g. Dutch hofjes)

Homes clustered around a shared green courtyard, promoting a sense of community.

Pocket Neighborhoods; Cottage Housing

A cluster of small, individual homes oriented around a shared common space, designed to foster a close-knit community.

Cohousing (e.g. Bakken, Trudeslund, NyLand)

Intentional communities with private homes and extensive shared spaces (common house, garden). Residents collaboratively manage the community.

Village Homes (Davis, CA)

An ecologically planned community emphasizing solar orientation, on-site stormwater management via swales, community gardens, and bike paths.

New Urbanism (e.g. Kentlands, Celebration)

A planning movement promoting walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods with a range of housing types and traditional design features (porches, narrow streets).

Highway Caps (or Lids)

A structure built over a sunken highway to reconnect neighborhoods and create new public or green space on top. Example: Seattle's Freeway Park.

Freeway Park (Seattle)

A park built on a lid over Interstate 5, reconnecting downtown and First Hill.

Cheonggyecheon River (Seoul)

A project that removed an elevated highway and restored the river underneath, creating a vibrant public greenway.

High Cost of Free Parking (Donald Shoup)

The idea that "free" parking has high social, economic, and environmental costs, encouraging car overuse and inefficient land use.

Ultra Small Vehicles (USVs)

Tiny, one-person electric cars (stackable). Example: Tokyo, Japan.

Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)

An enhanced bus system with dedicated lanes, priority signaling, and pre-board fare collection, combining bus flexibility with rail-like efficiency. Example: Bogotá.

Trackless Trams

A rubber-tired vehicle that mimics a light rail train, offering a lower-cost alternative to rail systems.

Tap-and-Pay systems (as in NYC)

Contactless payment systems for public transit that make using transit more convenient and efficient.

Complete Streets

Streets designed for safe access and mobility for all users, including pedestrians, cyclists, motorists, and transit riders.

Road Diet

Reallocating street space, typically by reducing vehicle lanes to add bike lanes, wider sidewalks, or turn lanes, to improve safety.

School Streets

Temporarily or permanently restricting automobile access on streets around schools to improve safety and create pedestrian space.

Congestion Pricing

Charging a fee for driving in congested areas during peak times to reduce traffic. Example: NYC.

Roundabouts

Circular intersections that improve traffic flow and reduce severe collisions compared to signalized intersections.

Tactical Urbanism

Short-term, low-cost interventions in public spaces to test long-term ideas for improvement.

Naked Streets and Intersections

Removing traffic signs, signals, and markings to force drivers to rely on eye contact and awareness, reducing speeds.

Intersection Repair

Converting a street intersection into a public square to slow traffic and create a community gathering space.

Build a Better Block

A community-led project to temporarily revitalize a single block, demonstrating potential improvements.

Guerilla Wayfinding

Unofficial signs put up by community members to point to local attractions and encourage walking.

Mental Speedbumps

A concept from David Engwicht about using psychological cues (like yard art) to naturally slow down drivers.

Parklets

Mini-parks created by converting parking spaces into public gathering areas.

34th Avenue Open Street (New York City)

A street in NYC that was largely closed to through-traffic, creating a safe, linear public space for pedestrians and cyclists.

Culdesac (car-free neighborhood in Tempe, AZ)

A residential neighborhood built without space for private cars, prioritizing pedestrians and micromobility.

Last Mile Problem

The challenge of connecting public transport services to the final destination of residents.

Micromobility

Lightweight, small-scale transportation (e.g., e-scooters, bikes) typically used for short trips.

Miami's Underline

A project transforming the land below Miami's MetroRail into a linear park and urban trail.

Brickline Greenway (St Louis)

A planned greenway network in St. Louis connecting parks and neighborhoods.

Ciclovía (Bogotá)

An event where city streets are temporarily closed to cars and opened for cyclists, pedestrians, and recreational activities.

Vélib Bicycles, Paris

A large-scale public bike-sharing system in Paris.

Capital City Bikeshare

A public bike-sharing system.