Entitled "The Will of the Amazon: Thirty Years on South America’s Great Frontier," it's a great report about his work in this fascinating region of the world -- and with lots of photos.
Saturday, May 12, 2012
UAP's John Browder: Thirty Years on South America’s Great Frontier
Entitled "The Will of the Amazon: Thirty Years on South America’s Great Frontier," it's a great report about his work in this fascinating region of the world -- and with lots of photos.
Friday, May 11, 2012
New Book on Planning in Post-Socialist Countries by UAP's Sonia Hirt
About the book:
"The fall of state socialism in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union was arguably the most significant political event of the late 20th century. For many, this dramatic historic shift was symbolized by the tearing down of the Berlin Wall, an iconic emblem of fear and division. Yet only twenty years later, many new walls—both physical and imaginary—have been erected across Eastern Europe, including redrawn state borders, partitioned cities, and myriad walled-off urban spaces.
Iron Curtains: Gates, Suburbs, and Privatization of Space in the Post-socialist City explores the human dimension of new city-building that has emerged in East Europe. Utilizing firsthand research culled from more than 100 interviews conducted primarily in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia—a city whose public spaces have unravelled over the last two decades—Sonia Hirt examines the ways people live and experience the new, post-socialist urbanism. Also addressed are what these new spaces tell us about their builders, users, and inhabitants. Embracing an explicitly cultural approach, the author suggests that disappointment with socialist and post-socialist conditions has led to mass skepticism toward the public domain, further resulting in a radical de-construction of public spaces. Iron Curtains offers provocative insights into the complex relationship between society and space during times of fundamental change."
Cities in Transition: A Guide for Practicing Planners
From the Metropolitan Institute at Virginia Tech:
"Earlier this month Metropolitan Institute Associate Director Joseph Schilling and Alan Mallach of the Brookings Institution were in Los Angeles at the American Planning Association’s annual conference promoting the new PAS report on Cities in Transition. The report offers practicing planners a comprehensive menu of place-based strategies for addressing different dimensions of urban distress—from the reclamation of vacant properties to rebuilding local government and civic capacity. Schilling and Mallach view cities in transition through a typology that includes older industrial, shrinking cities, fast growing boom-n-bust cities, declining first tier suburbs and small, but growing gateway cities. All of these cities, large and small, east and west, share similar challenges of trying to confront the convergence of many socioeconomic transitions."
Read more
"Earlier this month Metropolitan Institute Associate Director Joseph Schilling and Alan Mallach of the Brookings Institution were in Los Angeles at the American Planning Association’s annual conference promoting the new PAS report on Cities in Transition. The report offers practicing planners a comprehensive menu of place-based strategies for addressing different dimensions of urban distress—from the reclamation of vacant properties to rebuilding local government and civic capacity. Schilling and Mallach view cities in transition through a typology that includes older industrial, shrinking cities, fast growing boom-n-bust cities, declining first tier suburbs and small, but growing gateway cities. All of these cities, large and small, east and west, share similar challenges of trying to confront the convergence of many socioeconomic transitions."
Read more
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
CAUS 50th Anniversary Design Competition
ICON COMPETITION | CAUS 50th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
The College of Architecture and Urban Studies (CAUS) at Virginia Tech is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2014 and is sponsoring a competition for the design of an icon and a poster to commemorate the occasion.
awards
First Prize $5,000 | Honorable Mentions $500/each
02 July – Registration deadline
03 September – Electronic submissions due
24 September – Finalists’ printed posters due
jury
Sagi Haviv | Chermayeff & Geismar
Lisa Mahar | Kid O
Rocco Piscatello | Piscatello Design Centre
www.50years.caus.vt.edu
The College of Architecture and Urban Studies (CAUS) at Virginia Tech is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2014 and is sponsoring a competition for the design of an icon and a poster to commemorate the occasion.
awards
First Prize $5,000 | Honorable Mentions $500/each
02 July – Registration deadline
03 September – Electronic submissions due
24 September – Finalists’ printed posters due
jury
Sagi Haviv | Chermayeff & Geismar
Lisa Mahar | Kid O
Rocco Piscatello | Piscatello Design Centre
www.50years.caus.vt.edu
Monday, May 7, 2012
Call for TEDxVirginiaTech Speaker Nominations
TED is coming to Virginia Tech!! On Saturday, November 10,
2012, the inaugural TEDxVirginiaTech event will take place, and we are currently
inviting speaker nominations from the Virginia Tech community. The
deadline for speaker nominations is Friday, May 18, 2012. Those who are
nominated should be excellent presenters with amazing ideas… ideas worth
spreading. This year's theme is "knowing."
To learn more about TEDxVirginiaTech, the theme, the
nomination process, and to nominate someone to speak at this event, please
visit
If you have any questions, please contact the
TEDxVirginiaTech Steering Committee Chair, Dr. C. Edward Watson, Associate
Director of the Center for Instructional Development and Educational Research
(CIDER) at edwatson@vt.edu (540-231-7930).
May 8 APA Policy Breakfast on Housing Policy
From APA:
"APA Policy Breakfast
The Rise of Renting & the Future of Housing Policy
May 8, 2012
8:00–9:00 a.m. (networking breakfast beginning at 7:30 a.m.)
American Planning Association
1030 15th Street, NW, Suite 750 West
Washington, DC 20005
Featured Speaker
Matthew Yglesias
Slate's business and economics correspondent, writer of the Moneybox blog & author of the newly published The Rent is Too Damn High
Please join the American Planning Association for a policy breakfast discussion on the impact of the rise of rental and multifamily housing on housing and community policy and economics. Homeownership and mortgage policies were at the center of the housing crisis that plunged the nation into the deepest recession since the Great Depression. Increasingly, it appears that recovery in the housing market will be driven by renters and multifamily housing.
Both demographic and real estate trends point to the vital role of rental housing in building strong communities and the overall economy.
· Nationwide apartment vacancy rates are at a decade low while average rents continue to rise to the highest level in more than four years.
· Housing construction has been led by multifamily housing starts with single family construction continuing to decline. In February, multifamily starts grew 21.1% while single family starts declined nearly 10%. Multifamily housing construction is up 85.4% from a year ago and has fully recovered to pre-recession levels.
· Morgan Stanley estimates that converting foreclosed properties to rental properties would generate 1.8 million jobs.
· Three large population segments likely to dominate the housing market: Gen Y, retiring baby boomers, and homeowners displaced during the recession show strong preferences for multifamily and rental housing.
What are the implications of this shift for policymakers and planners? How should housing policy — from Washington to local zoning boards — change in response to the demand for rental and multifamily housing? How should housing and neighborhood policy respond to the challenge of foreclosed properties? How should housing finance policy and institutions change?
Join APA for an examination of these trends, policy options and the implications for the nation's communities. APA hosts quarterly policy breakfasts featuring leading experts, policymakers and thought leaders talking about the key issues affecting planning and community development.
Space is limited. Please RSVP to govtaffairs@planning.org if you plan to attend.
About the Speaker
Matthew Yglesias is Slate's business and economics correspondent. Before joining the magazine he worked for the Center for American Progress' ThinkProgress blog, the Atlantic, TPM Media, and the American Prospect. His first book, Heads in the Sand, was published in 2008. His second, The Rent Is Too Damn High, was published in March. His popular twitter feed (@mattyglesias) has nearly 40,000 followers."
"APA Policy Breakfast
The Rise of Renting & the Future of Housing Policy
May 8, 2012
8:00–9:00 a.m. (networking breakfast beginning at 7:30 a.m.)
American Planning Association
1030 15th Street, NW, Suite 750 West
Washington, DC 20005
Featured Speaker
Matthew Yglesias
Slate's business and economics correspondent, writer of the Moneybox blog & author of the newly published The Rent is Too Damn High
Please join the American Planning Association for a policy breakfast discussion on the impact of the rise of rental and multifamily housing on housing and community policy and economics. Homeownership and mortgage policies were at the center of the housing crisis that plunged the nation into the deepest recession since the Great Depression. Increasingly, it appears that recovery in the housing market will be driven by renters and multifamily housing.
Both demographic and real estate trends point to the vital role of rental housing in building strong communities and the overall economy.
· Nationwide apartment vacancy rates are at a decade low while average rents continue to rise to the highest level in more than four years.
· Housing construction has been led by multifamily housing starts with single family construction continuing to decline. In February, multifamily starts grew 21.1% while single family starts declined nearly 10%. Multifamily housing construction is up 85.4% from a year ago and has fully recovered to pre-recession levels.
· Morgan Stanley estimates that converting foreclosed properties to rental properties would generate 1.8 million jobs.
· Three large population segments likely to dominate the housing market: Gen Y, retiring baby boomers, and homeowners displaced during the recession show strong preferences for multifamily and rental housing.
What are the implications of this shift for policymakers and planners? How should housing policy — from Washington to local zoning boards — change in response to the demand for rental and multifamily housing? How should housing and neighborhood policy respond to the challenge of foreclosed properties? How should housing finance policy and institutions change?
Join APA for an examination of these trends, policy options and the implications for the nation's communities. APA hosts quarterly policy breakfasts featuring leading experts, policymakers and thought leaders talking about the key issues affecting planning and community development.
Space is limited. Please RSVP to govtaffairs@planning.org if you plan to attend.
About the Speaker
Matthew Yglesias is Slate's business and economics correspondent. Before joining the magazine he worked for the Center for American Progress' ThinkProgress blog, the Atlantic, TPM Media, and the American Prospect. His first book, Heads in the Sand, was published in 2008. His second, The Rent Is Too Damn High, was published in March. His popular twitter feed (@mattyglesias) has nearly 40,000 followers."
May 9 Talk on Public Space at NBM
From the National Building Museum:
"Charles H. Atherton Memorial Lecture:
Whose Space? Public Land in the Nation's Capital
Wednesday, May 9, 6:30 - 8:00 pm
What are the limits to the use of public space? And who gets to decide? From the Bonus Army comprised of World War One Veterans camped out on the banks of the Anacostia River to the Occupy D.C. movement in McPherson Square Park, protests and demonstrations often test the boundaries of public property and the first amendment. Architect, urban designer, and City College of New York Professor Lance Jay Brown, FAIA discusses the complex role of open space in our ever urbanizing environment.
Following Professor Brown’s presentation, a panel of respondents explore how design can play a role in creating spaces that serve a variety of functions from large demonstrations to everyday use. Respondents include:
· Historian Lucy Barber
· Landscape architect Faye Harwell
· Secretary of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts Thomas Luebke
· National Building Museum curator Susan Piedmont-Palladino (moderator)
The Charles H. Atherton Memorial Lecture program commemorates the life and legacy of Charles Atherton, who served for almost four decades as Secretary of the U. S. Commission of Fine Arts. The lecture series is dedicated to providing a forum for discourse on the planning and design of Washington, D.C.
1.5 LU HSW (AIA) / 1.5 CM (AICP) / 1.5 LA CES (ASLA)
Register now.
Learn more about this series."
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