After the World Trade Center attacks, planners, neighbors, and Mayor Bloomberg supported reweaving the site into the city's street grid, in the process undoing "a painful planning error of the 1960s." Security concerns seem to have won out, however.
"With the blank slate offered by a catastrophic attack, planners, soon joined by the mayor himself, saw a chance to re-establish a great crossroads in the middle of ground zero: Fulton and Greenwich Streets, tying the second World Trade Center into the city — north, south, east and west," writes David W. Dunlap. "Now, however, they see that vision slipping away, as security concerns trump urban planning."
"The Police Department has proposed encircling the site with a fortified palisade of guard booths, vehicle barricades and sidewalk barriers," he explains.
“The argument that these measures will disconnect the site from the rest of Lower Manhattan ignores the fact that people largely experience the city on foot and on bikes,” said Richard C. Daddario, the deputy police commissioner for counterterrorism, in defending the plan. “The measure of connectiveness should not be the volume of vehicle traffic passing through the site.”
FULL STORY: World Trade Center May Be Isolated Again, This Time by Security Measures
Building Secure Yet Welcoming Public Spaces
Strategies for securing public spaces from vehicle attacks and other acts of terrorism without sacrificing accessible, vibrant urban places.
The Link Between Urban Design and Crime
A meta-study shows that public realm interventions can help reduce crime rates.
Designing Safer Cities
For women and other vulnerable groups, navigating the urban space can be fraught with real and perceived dangers.
National Parks Layoffs Will Cause Communities to Lose Billions
Thousands of essential park workers were laid off this week, just before the busy spring break season.
Retro-silient?: America’s First “Eco-burb,” The Woodlands Turns 50
A master-planned community north of Houston offers lessons on green infrastructure and resilient design, but falls short of its founder’s lofty affordability and walkability goals.
Delivering for America Plan Will Downgrade Mail Service in at Least 49.5 Percent of Zip Codes
Republican and Democrat lawmakers criticize the plan for its disproportionate negative impact on rural communities.
Test News Post 1
This is a summary
Test News Headline 46
Test for the image on the front page.
Balancing Bombs and Butterflies: How the National Guard Protects a Rare Species
The National Guard at Fort Indiantown Gap uses GIS technology and land management strategies to balance military training with conservation efforts, ensuring the survival of the rare eastern regal fritillary butterfly.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
EMC Planning Group, Inc.
Planetizen
Planetizen
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service