Dream City
A great article (How should we design the city of our dreams?) that starts a new series on Salon about how our cities are changing.
A favourite part for me:
In 1999, Gravel needed a thesis topic for his joint degree in architecture and urban planning. The 27-year-old grad student knew one thing about Atlanta: It was a bitch to get around. So he created a plan for the BeltLine, a 22-mile “emerald necklace” of parks, light rail and new development encircling the city. Today, it’s actually being built. The improbable project seems to have come to fruition through sheer enthusiasm: “Neighborhood groups, church groups, pedestrian advocacy organizations, cycling organizations,” says Gravel. “There was a huge groundswell of public support, and it came from the bottom up. The people of Atlanta owned this project before the mayor did.”
Read the whole article.
Follow the series Dream City.
