Design with the other 90%: Cities
Went to this exhibit yesterday about ways to improve living in cities in developing countries, the theme being that for the first time in history, a majority of people are living in cities. There was focus on solutions for cheap and affordable building materials and housing designs for informal settlements, with a convergence of architecture and design firms working on improving different aspects of improving cities, like redoing stairs and walkways, redoing sewer systems, etc. It was all really neat, and makes me wish I was a civil engineer to be able to work on this.
This one part stood out for me, an ‘urbanism manual for precarious settlements,’ published by the University of Buenos Aires’ Secretariat of Community Action. It’s sort of an all around guide for creating an urban environment. It’s also in Spanish so I had fun translating / trying to understand it. Also a piece about bus express lanes and other sustainable urban development plans in Guangzhou!
I’m curious as to long-term impact of these initiatives, especially after reading that GOOD article about the failure of innovative development ideas.
