Our studio had the amazing opportunity to do a site visit to New Orleans this past week. It was informative, dynamic, and essential to the direction our studio is taking! We toured the city on Sunday to explore different areas of New Orleans. We had the chance to meet Jessica Watt with CDM Smith, Spackman Michaels and Mossop, and Dana Brown Landscape Architects for our understanding of the built environment on Monday. Tuesday we got to meet with Professors at Tulane University, grab lunch at Cafe Reconcile, and met with the owner of The Blue House. It was a rewarding trip, and we are all excited to keep sharing our findings from the trip and our designs as we move forward!
“The low-lying topography of Lower Manhattan from West 57th St down to The Battery, and up to East 42nd St is home to approximately 220,000 residents and is the core of a $500 billion business sector that influences the world’s economy. Hurricane Sandy devastated not only the Financial District, but 95,000 low-income, elderly, and disabled city residents. Infrastructure within the 10-mile perimeter was damaged or destroyed, transportation and communication were cut off, and thousands sat without power or running water. “The Big U: Rebuild By Design” is a $335 million dollar design response to the devastation Manhattan dealt with.”
The project is broken into three different phases: East River Park, Chinatown, and Battery to Brooklyn Bridge. The main themes in all of the landscapes are to have them provide a buffering zone between the disaster and the city itself. Berms are an intervention time and time again. The ten continuous mile stretch of protection for the city respond to individual neighborhood typology as well as community-desired amenities. Though the design does capture the community ideals, nowhere in the design has the input of children been involved. Involving the youth of NYC could allow them to help shape the legacy and story NYC is creating right now.
The Bridging Berm provides vertical protection for the Lower East Side from future storm surge and rising sea levels. The Berm also offers elevated routes into the park, with many unprogrammed spots for resting, socializing, and enjoying views of the park and river. Both berms and bridges are wide and planted with a diverse selection of salt-tolerant trees, shrubs, and perennials, providing a resilient urban habitat. The video below expands upon how the flood protection for the city is evolving and expanding to make New York City less vulnerable to superstorms and more resilient to climate change. It’s a bit of a long watch (45 minutes) but the information is great on understanding how we can work with communities to protect themselves from the changing climate.
The Bay Street Corridor a series of land use actions including zoning map amendments, zoning text amendments and a disposition of City-owned property to support the implementation of the Bay Street Corridor Neighborhood Plan. As a neighborhood, it will be more resilient to climate change as well as a more resilient community base with affordable housing and mixed-use development.
Lower Manhattan Climate Resilience Study Excerpt:
In March, 2019, Lower Manhattan released their “Climate Resilience Study” that outlines an overview of Manhattan, a climate risk assessment, a climate adaptation toolkit, and suggests different approaches throughout the city to mitigate the impacts of climate change. This page outlines the different mitigations based upon buildings, streets, utilities, and the edge of the city meeting the water. They are excellent strategies to implement in a city vulnerable to coastal damage from climate change.
The population of New York City, NY was 8.63 million people in 2017. 73% of New York City’s low-income areas do not meet the legislature requiring 2.5 acres of parkland per 1,000 residents. We know that lack of access to green space has devastating, enduring impacts from childhood to adulthood. New York City is implementing resilient, inclusive parks as a step to being a child-friendly city.
All age ranges are being involved in the park development in New York City. I was able to get in contact with The Trust for Public Land to discuss the parks they have implemented in the city. Their focus in NYC has been both about making the city more child-friendly and more climate-resilient. With 27 different park interventions, The Trust for Public Land has been working since 1972, to protect more than 3.3 million acres and completed more than 5,400 park and conservation projects.
The most replicable child-friendly interventions I have found have been either working in parking lots to change the space from traffic centered to play centered or working with schoolyards to create parks that are open later than the schools are like PS 111M in Hell’s Kitchen, New York City, NY.
Interactive Map of Child Friendly Interventions in New YorkCity:
Figure Ground Drawing of New York City:
This image shows the stark contrast between building space and street space. There are three different parks in this image as well, but the streetscape dominating the landscape is very apparent. The area in red is a park intervention done in 2004 called Teardrop park. Including park spaces in a city spanned so expansively by streets in crucial to having a child friendly city. Another mitigation to handle the streets would be to adapt several to pedestrian friendly walkways or to create a sky-walk structure the way other parts of New York City already have.
Teardrop Park, New York City, NY
Teardrop Park was a design done by Michael Van Valkenburg Associates. I included it in the child-friendly city post because it provides a space for children to escape from the streetscape shown above. Bringing the more inventive play and natural textures into the backdrop of New York City is hugely important. It was designed to refer to the Hudson River Valley as it once was. There is little Climate Resilience present in this design, which could have really been a spectacular addition, but Teardrop park is certainly a beautiful place to visit and. a fantastical place for kids to play.
PS 111M, Hell’s Kitchen, New York City NY
According to the Trust for Public Land “The site is open to the public after school and during school breaks until dusk, seven days a week, as part of the Schoolyards to Playgrounds Program. This one-acre playground captures over 700,000 gallons of stormwater per year.” This park intervention was an excellent opportunity for children to become more involved in their place of education, learn about stormwater management, and it provides a safe place for them to be off the streets. It was completed.
PS 261K Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, NY
Located in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, this playground includes artificial turf field, running track, rain garden, permeable pavers, trees, gazebo with rain barrels, outdoor classroom in council ring, planter boxes, storage shed with green roof, benches, basketball court, kickball area, color seal, painted games, stage, recycling center and water fountain. The green infrastructure elements capture 500,000 gallons of stormwater each year.
Human Context:
This video gave some insight into the lives of some of the people living in New York. Starting at 8:28 we get a glimpse into children in the context of the city. We see a mother worrying about her child and a child worrying about his future. The whole video is incredibly powerful, and the series humanizes the city of New York in a way that makes the concerns and everyday life occurring there more accessible.
Stamford, Connecticut is the definition of a child friendly city. It’s a safe place for kids to grow up, to learn, to explore, and to become individuals. Children have a huge variety of places to go, both by themselves and with their families. Stamford has the conveniences of a large city, but the feel of a small town. This is a city where communities come together help and protect each other, and their children.
Child Friendly Places
Long Island Sound provides a huge array of recreational opportunities, and Stamford has an incredible variety of child friendly spaces including libraries, parks, museums, restaurants and plazas. The public library system is the largest in the state, with multiple branches and locations throughout the city. Other child friendly places include Stamford Children’s Museum, Stamford Museum and Nature Center, Stamford Observatory, Bartlett Arboretum and Gardens, Soundwaters Community Center for Environmental Education.
Mixed Use Neighborhoods
https://patch.com/connecticut/stamford/downtown
The city has also been pushing the development of mixed use neighborhoods since 2008. Neighborhoods like these are particularly child friendly because kids only have to travel short distances to reach almost anything. This creates a very different, and sometimes safer, feel than walking through blocks of residential areas before reaching any businesses.
“I’m still impressed with my neighborhood. Everyone is so friendly and we all wave when we pass by.”
–“Young Family”
Mixed use neighborhoods also make parents feel more secure about letting their children go out by themselves because they have better connections with the people who live and work in their immediate community. Parents know that they can let their children walk to get ice cream, and that they will be surrounded and watched by people who will look out for them.
Mill River Park
Mill River Park is a shining example of why Stamford is an excellent city for children. Mill River, which runs through downtown Stamford, used to be a major flood risk to the city. The river was polluted, filled with debris, and unsafe for interaction with the water. All of this changed when the city decided to complete an extensive restoration project. Now an ASLA awarded design, Mill River Park is the ideal space for the youth of Stamford to play, learn, and explore.
The first phase of Mill River Park was creating an amazing playground for the city’s younger kids. This phase was particularly exciting for the kids, because they were able to help design the playground.
After it was designed, the community came together to complete a “barn-raising” construction of the playground. Thousands of volunteers from the Stamford area came together to build the playground in under a week. Both the youth and adults of Stamford feel attached to the playground because they were able to be apart of its design and construction. The area surrounding the playground is planted with over 18,000 flowers for both children and adults to enjoy and investigate. The playground was completed in 2006, and has been bringing kids joy ever since.
“I like it because it has ladders and there’s a castle.”
-Ethan, 5, “Mill River Park and Greenway.”
The second phase of the project was the restoration of Mill River, which began in 2009. By removing two dams in the area, the river was able to run freely for the first time in over 360 years, and it made it possible for visitors to access the river’s edge for the first time in a century. The design team also made riffles and pools to create habitat for aquatic and terrestrial species, as well as many habitat areas on land. The kids who visit the park love that they can safely view, and sometimes even interact with, animals in the middle of their city. Park visitors have been posting pictures on social media and the Mill River Collaboratives website of all types of wildlife in the park, including rarely seen ground nesting birds and river otters.
There have been many completed and planned phases to Mill River Park since the restoration of the river. Completed projects include a great lawn, pavilion, ice rink/fountain play area, greenway, and the kid favorite carousel. A Discovery Center Park Building is planned to begin construction next summer, which will bring even more fun programs and amenities for kids to the park. Mill River Park Collaborative also has plans to continue expanding the park in multiple directions, which is exciting news for children all over Stamford.
“We have donated a handicapped-accessible Chariot to help assure that all can enjoy the magic of the carousel ride in the heart of Stamford.”
-“Come Visit”
The community has fully embraced the new park and all that is has to offer. In fact, visitors are seen in the park all year-round sightseeing, exploring, or participating in the hundreds of programs offered. A series of walking paths was built along the river and into surrounding neighborhoods to create easy access to the park. This was especially great for the children in the community because it allowed them a safe path to walk to and from the park by themselves.
Within the first two years of completion, both elementary and high schools in the area used the park as an outdoor classroom. In a future phase, there are plans to connect the park with Hart School and build them their own special outdoor classroom. Mill River Park also engages with the local schools through their Stewards program, where high school students get the opportunity to learn hands on skills about environmentalism.
Mill River Park is a space for kids to enjoy both active and passive recreation. It invites people to the water’s edge, especially children. The shallow and gentle flowing river makes it easy for children to interact and explore, but still be safe. The informal stone walkways that cover the park promote kids to explore. The design team wanted Mill River Park to be an “active learning playground” for all ages of Stamford to enjoy.
Funding
Funding for the $8 Million restoration of Mill River.
Mill River Park was part of a larger $100 million project to change the urban landscape of Stamford. So far, all of the phases of the park have cost about $15 million. Mill River Collaborative holds a 10-year renewable contract with the city to oversee the design, construction, maintenance and programming of the park. Roughly 30% of the parks annual budget comes from the city, and the remaining is provided for by donations from community members.
Safety
Stamford is ranked an impressive 16th safest city in the nation, and is by far the safest large city in Connecticut. This plays a large role in a child’s independence. Since crime rates are low, parents feel safe letting their kids travel by themselves. Both children and parents are assured that a kid walking to and from school will make it safely.
“We have spent the past 20 years making the downtown a very, very safe place to be with both police patrols and ambassador patrols.”
-Sandy Goldstein, President of the Downtown Special Services District
Transportation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connecticut_Transit
The amazing transportation network in Stamford is another factor in the independence of the children who live there. Stamford is apart of the Greater New York metropolitan area, so they are connected to the North Grand Line train. Although this line is great for commuting to and from the Big Apple, kids are more likely to use the city’s fantastic bus system. The bus system is clean, safe, friendly, and goes almost anywhere in Stamford, including many child friendly locations. The buses allow for the youth to be independent and travel wherever they want to go safely.
Culture
Another reason why Stamford is such a great place for children to grow up is the unique culture in the area. Since it is close to New York, Stamford is a very diverse community where many different cultures are celebrated. In fact, over 35% of the city’s population is foreign born, and 45% speak a language other than English at home.
“We value and respect all our children and families by celebrating their differences and showing appreciation for their unique gifts and contributions.”
-“Young Family”
A few of the cultural celebrations that the city hold include The Amore Italian Street Festival, Stamford Greek Festival, French Cinematheque Festival, Navratri Dandiya Event, and the Israeli Folk Dance Celebration. All of these cultures come together at the children’s schools, making them more culturally aware and knowledgeable.
This video highlights Stamford children celebrating the diverse community in their schools.
Programs
CLC
CLC, or Children’s Learning Centers, is one of the many amazing children’s programs in Stamford. CLC was one of the first kids programs in the nation to accomplish the Early Childhood Program Accreditation standards, and the organization continues to achieve very high ratings. CLC’s mission is to make sure that every child of Stamford has access to quality childhood education. They pride themselves in giving kids a “head start” to living the American dream, and helping underprivileged children get a fair shot at succeeding.
“We achieve this by cooperating, collaborating, and coordinating with our community social service agencies. We work to be more efficient and more productive in the face of declining governmental resources and in developing community support to provide best in class early childhood programming.”
-“Children’s Learning Centers of Fairfield County”
CLC works to close the achievement gap between disadvantaged and advantaged children. The Children’s Learning Center ensures that every child in the program is physically, nutritionally, medically, and emotionally cared for. This allows for the kids to have an optimal learning experience, no matter their economic status.
Snapology
“Snapology.”
Snapology is a program that is held at a local children’s center in Stamford. The program is based off of the idea that kids learn best through play and hands-on activities. Snapology works to help kids reach their creative potential, which helps them do better in school. They do this by using LEGO® bricks and K’Nex and technology on iPads and laptops. The year-long program allows kids to play with the toys, and learn STEAM based knowledge at the same time. Children can make their own robotic models and creations while also learning about gear ratio, sensors, simple machines, and programming. The Snapology program is now gearing kids up for the Star Wars inspired Robotics Wars where they can solve challenges and build robots.
References
“2015 ASLA Professional Awards.” Mill River Park and Greenway | 2015 ASLA Professional Awards, 2016, www.asla.org/2015awards/95842.html.
amol1812. “Indian Kids Dance Performance at Stamford, CT.” YouTube, YouTube, 2 Mar. 2013, www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMBkZuzMiY4.
“Collaboration for Climate Resilience in Stamford, Connecticut.” C2ES Solution Forums, 2017, www.c2es.org/site/assets/uploads/2016/03/collaboration-climate-resilience-stamford-connecticut.pdf.
“Come Visit.” Mill River Park Collaborative, millriverpark.org/.
“Mill River Park and Greenway.” OLIN, 2016, www.theolinstudio.com/mill-river-park-and-greenway.
“Mill River Stewards: Exploration.” Mill River Park Collaborative, 2019, millriverpark.org/conservation/youth-internships/mill-river-stewards-exploration/.
Nickerson, John. “Stamford Police Say Downtown Is Safe, despite Homicide and Other Recent Crimes.” StamfordAdvocate, Stamford Advocate, 19 Mar. 2015, www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Stamford-police-say-downtown-is-safe-despite-6134408.php.
“Our Mission.” Children’s Learning Centers of Fairfield County, 2019, www.clcfc.org/our-mission/.
As a coastal city, Stamford, Connecticut is especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change. The city has already begun to notice more episodes of extreme weather and natural disasters, and will only continue to experience more as climate change progresses. In order to stay afloat, the people of Stamford have to make their city as resilient as possible.
Threats
In the past decade, the effects of climate change have already changed the landscape of Stamford. Heavy events of rain and snow, floods, droughts, and even tropical storms have become more prevalent. The most severe case being record storm surge Hurricane Sandy in 2012. The storm 70 mph winds left over 60 percent of the city without power for a week. Clean up and repair costs from the hurricane cost the city an estimated $7 million. If improvements are not made to the infrastructure and landscape of the city, these costs could become all too common.
These maps were created using data gathered by NOAA Technical Report (2017). This data was assembled as part of a larger project, the U.S. National Climate Assessment.
Getting Started
After the devastating repair costs in 2012, the city realized how vulnerable they are to climate change, and have been pushing resilient actions ever since. Many of their efforts have gone through the Stamford 2030 District. The districts aim to reduce water and energy use within cities, specifically through transportation systems and commercial businesses. Stamford was the 13th city to join the districts, and many more have affiliated since.
This interactive map shows a snapshot of the work each 2030 District city is doing.
“Stamford is one of 12 cities to join a North American network of 2030 Districts. Each district is a public-private partnership of property owners, managers, and developers with local governments, businesses, and community stakeholders to provide a business model for urban sustainability through collaboration, leveraged financing, and shared resources. The 2030 Districts are charged with the long-term effort of achievable and measurable goals for renovating hundreds of millions of square feet of existing urban and suburban areas and infrastructure, as well as for infill development and redevelopment.”
–“Collaboration for Climate Resilience in Stamford, Connecticut”
This news clip aired in 2013 when Stamford first began to understand the importance of resilience. –“Conn. DEEP Deputy Speaks in Stamford.”
The first step that Stamford took to increase resilience was to find a baseline of how the city was already doing. They began leveraging public-private partnerships to access vulnerability. The real action started in March of 2015 when Stamford partnered with city departments, AECOM and IBM to see how the city was graded on the City Disaster Resilience Scorecard.
This scorecard provides a way for cities and governments to understand how resilient their city is to natural disasters. The questionnaire was created to help guide cities on how to adapt and become better prepared for natural disasters as climate change affects cause more damage. The goal of the scorecard is to challenge cities, and to let them know there is always more that can be done.
“The need for cities and companies to address climate resilience is growing. Stamford 2030 serves as an innovative model for cities and companies interested in developing and advancing their resilience strategy.”
–“Collaboration for Climate Resilience in Stamford, Connecticut”
Stamford also held a workshop in 2015 to brainstorm new ways that the city could increase their resilience. Those in attendance were diverse stakeholders from all over the city, including: city officials, non-government organizations, the Business Council of Fairfield County, utilities and hospitality sector, and representatives from the regional planning agency. The workshop made it clear that although Stamford has many strengths, they also have weaknesses.
The city’s strengths include excellent emergency response and overall safety, good engagement of electric and utility companies in disaster planning, and a strong hazard plan. It was determined that Stamfords key areas to focus on to become more resilient to climate change were: creation of a long-term resilience strategy, establishing better recovery plans, improving existing infrastructure within the city, and increasing involvement and awareness of citizens and business in the use of local climate change data.
“Stamford is going a step further by making resilience a unique focus for the Stamford 2030 District.”
–“Collaboration for Climate Resilience in Stamford, Connecticut”
The City Disaster Resilience Scorecard and workshop were vital in identifying the key problems that face Stamford if climate change damage continues to affect their city. By accessing the city’s vulnerabilities, officials became better prepared to help businesses and other stakeholders to create positive modifications in Stamford.
What They’re Doing
After identifying Stamfords weaknesses, the city began to plan and adapt for climate change symptoms. Programs were put in place, grants were applied for, citizens and business communities were pushed to enact change. Below are just a few of the transformations that have begun to take place in Stamford.
Stormwater
“Connecticut Gutter, LLC.”
One exciting approach that Stamford is taking to combat climate change is evaluating and modifying their stormwater systems. Improved stormwater management systems will become extremely important to coastal cities as more effects of climate change are seen. Heavier rains, floods, and intense storms could cause damage to many different parts of the city if not managed in the best ways possible. The city has been adapting a methodology created in Seattle to promote property owners to implement on-site stormwater practices.
The main idea behind it all is that small changes add up to create a big difference. To help make these goals a reality, Stamford 2030 received a grant that will aid communities in the planning and adapting of best management practices. These adaptations look at the extreme effects that could be heading towards Stamford due to climate change, and how to best prepare for it. They were able to map out predictions of climate change effects such as increased precipitation and sea-level-rise, and hope to start enacting change soon. Stamford 2030 hopes that these evaluations and process will also soon be able to help cities all over Connecticut.
Promotional and informational video of how the stormwater management systems are installed.
Infrastructure: Mill River Park
Originally a huge risk in the city, which developed into a major green infrastructure and restoration project, Mill River Park has become a huge success for Stamford. Mill River runs through Stamford, and for years frequently flooded the downtown and other areas of the city due to issues created by dams, pollution, debris, and channelizing. The design team (lead by OLIN) tasked with the project had the challenge of designing a master plan that would both restore the river, and reconnect the city with nature.
“This green infrastructure project not only provided habitat rehabilitation and reduced risk of flooding, but an opportunity to develop surrounding park space and unite the downtown with the waterfront, offering revitalization to the area as a whole.”
–“2015 ASLA Professional Awards”
“Collaboration for Climate Resilience in Stamford, Connecticut”
Figure-ground drawing of Stamford and Mill River Park.
Overall, the restoration was an $8 million project. First, the two dams were removed and channelization fixed, allowing the river to flow freely for the first time in centuries. Next, hundreds of new native plants were introduced back into the environment, providing habitat for wildlife. Aquatic and terrestrial habitats were also restored. Pools, riffles, and meanders were created to bring the river back to its natural state. The floodplain was also reintroduced, which has drastically reduced the damaging effects of stormwater in downtown Stamford and surrounding areas. The river that used to be a huge threat to the city can now handle a water volume from almost every type of storm event, which will be critical in the years to come as climate change brings more extreme storms. The design has already helped Stamford during the last two hurricanes; there was no significant damage to the park or the surrounding area because the river was able to naturally flood. In the end, the design team was able to create a 28-acre park and 3-mile greenway that highlights sustainability, culture, research, education, and recreation.
“With a design that emphasizes sustainability, recreation, civic engagement, culture and education within an ecologically diverse and lush environment, the green infrastructure will serve the city for generations to come.”
–“2015 ASLA Professional Awards”
Government
In 2018, the State of Connecticut created the bill, Connecticut SB 7: An Act Concerning Climate Change Planning and Resiliency (Public Act 18-82). This legislature requires all state and federally-funded coastal infrastructure projects to take sea level rise into account during the planning process. Connecticut coastal cities are now required to take into consideration that sea level will rise by two feet by 2050.
This legislature will start affecting Stamford on October 1, 2019.
The main goals are to:
“take into consideration risks associated with increased coastal flooding and erosion, depending on site topography, based on this sea level change scenario
identify the impacts of increased flooding and erosion on infrastructure and natural resources
make recommendations for the siting of future infrastructure and property development to minimize the use of areas prone to such flooding and erosion
take into consideration the state’s greenhouse gas reduction goals”
–“Connecticut SB 7”
To further prepare for climate change affects, other legislation is also underway, including one with a goal to decrease greenhouse gas emissions 45% by 2030.
Youth Involvement
One of Stanford’s most successful climate change initiatives has been the Mill River Stewards program. This is a summer-long program that is available for high school students in the Stamford area. The stewards go through a field-based internship where they learn valuable lessons about environmentalism, urban park stewardship, successful park design, and careers in conservation.
“The hard skills garnered from these projects improve Stewards’ environmental literacy by allowing them to look at a habitat or site and understand the cause and effects of what is happening there.”
-“Mill River Stewards: Exploration”
“These hands-on projects help the Stewards understand and apply design elements that make the park an interesting landscape to enjoy.”
–“Mill River Stewards: Exploration”
Students who participate in the program gain hands-on experience through activities like erosion prevention, soil health improvement, and runoff management projects. One of the goals of the program is that students improve their ability to understand the landscape and its constant changes. Stewards that have completed the program report that they have made a difference in their city and its landscape.
“I’ve definitely gained an appreciation for the environment.”
-Student “Mill River Stewards: Exploration”
Here is another short video about how Stamfod youth are getting involved in their environment. “USA, Nestlé”
References
“2015 ASLA Professional Awards.” Mill River Park and Greenway | 2015 ASLA Professional Awards, 2016, www.asla.org/2015awards/95842.html.
“Connecticut SB 7: An Act Concerning Climate Change Planning and Resiliency (Public Act 18-82).” Connecticut SB 7: An Act Concerning Climate Change Planning and Resiliency (Public Act 18-82) | Adaptation Clearinghouse, 2018, www.adaptationclearinghouse.org/resources/connecticut-sb-7-an-act-concerning-climate-change-planning-and-resiliency-public-act-18-82.html.
“Mill River Park and Greenway.” OLIN, 2016, www.theolinstudio.com/mill-river-park-and-greenway.
“Mill River Stewards: Exploration.” Mill River Park Collaborative, 2019, millriverpark.org/conservation/youth-internships/mill-river-stewards-exploration/.
“See Your Local Sea Level and Coastal Flood Risk.” Climate Central, riskfinder.climatecentral.org/municipality/stamford.ct.us?comparisonType=municipality&forecastName=Basic&forecastType=NOAA2017_extreme_p50&level=6&unit=ft#reducing-your-risk.
“Stormwater Management In Response To Climate Change Impacts: Lessons From The Chesapeake Bay And Great Lakes Regions (Final Report).” EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, 19 May 2016, cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/global/recordisplay.cfm?deid=310045.
“USA, Nestlé. “#NestléCares National Volunteer Day: Stamford, Connecticut.” YouTube, YouTube, 18 Aug. 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=9s8Anx8kD8k.
As cities diversity, densify, and globalize, it is increasingly important for urban design to respond to the changing needs of urban populations, especially vulnerable and underrepresented populations such as young people.
The Fall 2019 LA 402 Section A studio led by Dr. Shirtcliff will focus on design strategies for the inclusion of youth in design for climate change and resilience in New Orleans, LA.
Background
On May 25, 2018 Mayor LaToya Cantrell signed an executive order to create the Office of Youth and Families (OYF) to address these challenges. OYF was conceived to support systems-level change for vulnerable youth and families. https://nola.gov/office-of-youth-and-families/ The City of New Orleans is also in the process of completing a Parks Master Plan, Youth Master Plan, Public Library Master Plan, Hazard Mitigation Plan Update, Comprehensive Recovery Plan, and Sewerage and Water Board Master Plan. While this is still just the beginning, OYF has built tremendous momentum and has already teamed up with ARUP (see Cities Alive Brochure), placing design and planning at the forefront of addressing systems-level changes. Further, OYF has prioritized both top-down opportunities as well as pulling from the ground-up through multiple non-governmental organizations. Children and youth are now, more than ever, a top priority for New Orleans’ physical, social, and economic development.
Our Charge
As Fourth Year Landscape Architecture students, you’ve mastered the design process!
However, for “A Child-Friendly City” we won’t have a site. How could there be a site for all of the youth living in New Orleans? Never mind the complexity of trying to transport all of the individuals who don’t have access to reliable, private or public transportation, we would be over-assuming that we could solve all of their problems with design. What role can design play? Beyond families, youth need: programs, recreation, education, and employment. Aside from the obvious activities, design doesn’t seem to fit in (Figure). Urban design challenges start with people. So, let’s reevaluate the design process to be about people instead of a bounded site.
Our Goals Goal One: Climate change is affecting coastal communities around the world. Our studio will prioritize identifying opportunities and barriers for youth in urban design for climate change.
Goal Two: Resilience in urban design is measured through people. Our studio will identify alternative infrastructures that address the unique needs of young people and families.
Goal Three: Inclusive design is only possible by successfully translating across barriers, eg. designers meet with clients and share ideas through representations like models and drawings. Our studio will generate new, creative communication assets to aid The City of New Orleans in making a Child-Friendly City.
Definition
The United Nations defines a child as any human being from the age of 0 through 17. Children have unique needs that change across this critical developmental period, from infants and toddlers, to teens and young adults. Our Child-Friendly City Urban Design Process considers the developmental period in its entirety.
Strategy
The urban design studio departs from site-based interventions to advance urban design as a continuous process or dialogue in the evolution of cities. The approach is more like having a conversation with the city rather than contributing another fragment to its well-worn pages. Like all stories, we will begin by framing the context of our studio within a broader global narrative (phase 1). Once the background for a child-friendly urban design process has been assembled, our characters will go off on their adventures. Phase 2 uses a path or story-line approach to capture the mundane details of the built environment that are infused in the daily life of children and youth living in New Orleans. Urban designers are adept in “seeing” cities as adults, so we create cities for adults, setting aside pockets for children and families. But our charge is to see a city from 95cm and above. To tell this story we will walk a line, what de Certeau referred to as “the pedestrian speech act.” The use of transects, a line repeatedly followed across the city, permits the studio to create novel storylines that we can place in the Child-Friendly City narrative. The end product will, literally, be a unique story-line that aims to bring each path into a conversation. At this point, our studio will travel to New Orleans to trace our story-lines in real time, engaging the sights, smells, sounds, and messy life of the urban environment. Each story will be shared with members of the City of New Orleans who would like to see this conversation evolve. Our studio will return to Ames, Iowa with new inspiration and a commitment to (Phase 3) creating and sharing a new, child-friendly story.
PHASE 1: Setting the Stage
Expert Inquiry: Climate Change, Coastal Cities, and Foregrounding Youth in Design. How are coastal cities adapting infrastructures to respond to climate change? How are youth included? Individual effort.
Precedent Study: Child-friendly Cities Tools and Techniques. Case studies and precedent work that builds towards our inclusion effort. Individual effort.
Inclusion: Develop and design social media, blogs, etc. intended to improve translation. Connect with existing youth programs, places, and networks found in expert inquiry, precedent study, and in New Orleans. #neworleansyouth The online platform will be our primary means of generating new creative communication assets to share with the City of New Orleans. Class effort with individual assignments.
PHASE 2: Drawing the Line
Mapping Transects: Past, Present, Future: Students in teams of 3 – 4 will draw a line across the city. The line will not be straight and must be completely accessible to a child walking. The line must cross: a residential area, elementary, middle, and high school, interstate, canal, low-point, high-point, urban center, and urban edge. The line will be studied at each of these key points and every 1/2 mile. Synthesize inquiry, precedents, and inclusion into maps that begin to model strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats in New Orleans hard and soft infrastructure systems. This is where systemic change begins at the ground level.
A Path to Change the Story Proposal: Teams. Before Intervention. Focus on route, path, and obstacles considering climate change, resilience, and youth inclusion. Primary outcome is a 2 minute and 30 second video packed with what you have learned from inquiry, precedents, mapping across your story line in New Orleans. You will collect narrative place (and maybe people) data while in New Orleans and include this into your prototype presentation Tuesday, October 8 with members of the City of New Orleans. The prototypes can be revised before the final phase 2 review on 10/18.
PHASE 3: Changing the Story
Final Proposal: After intervention. Same route, path, and obstacles with resolved interventions. Primary output again is a three – four minute video that builds upon prior work to demonstrate opportunities for youth inclusion in the design of a child-friendly, resilient New Orleans. Students are encouraged to explore social media platforms and multiple modes of representation, communication, and storytelling to help change the story. For final reviews, students will share videos and print material at three scales: city, path, and pedestrian. All media will be available on the studio website. All work must be correctly labelled with student names to count towards final grades. Final student work will be available on website as a PDF. Any material can be electronically shared via Google Drive link. Send request to Ben Shirtcliff: bens@iastate.edu.
Our studio had the amazing opportunity to do a site visit to New Orleans this past week. It was informative, dynamic, and essential to the direction our studio is taking! We toured the city on Sunday to explore different areas of New Orleans. We had the chance to meet Jessica Watt with CDM Smith, Spackman Michaels and Mossop, and Dana Brown Landscape Architects for our understanding of the built environment on Monday. Tuesday we got to meet with Professors at Tulane University, grab lunch at Cafe Reconcile, and met with the owner of The Blue House. It was a rewarding trip, and we are all excited to keep sharing our findings from the trip and our designs as we move forward!
The most replicable child-friendly interventions I have found have been either working in parking lots to change the space from traffic centered to play centered or working with schoolyards to create parks that are open later than the schools are like PS 111M in Hell’s Kitchen, New York City, NY.
become individuals. Children have a huge variety of places to go, both by themselves and with their families. Stamford has the conveniences of a large city, but the feel of a small town. This is a city where communities come together help and protect each other, and their children. 
Mill River Park is a shining example of why Stamford is an excellent city for children. Mill River, which runs through downtown Stamford, used to be a major flood risk to the city. The river was polluted, filled with debris, and unsafe for interaction with the water. All of this changed when the city decided to complete an extensive restoration project. Now an ASLA awarded design, Mill River Park is the ideal space for the youth of Stamford to play, learn, and explore.
The second phase of the project was the restoration of Mill River, which began in 2009. By removing two dams in the area, the river was able to run freely for the first time in over 360 years, and it made it possible for visitors to access the river’s edge for the first time in a century. The design team also made riffles and pools to create habitat for aquatic and terrestrial species, as well as many habitat areas on land. The kids who visit the park love that they can safely view, and sometimes even interact with, animals in the middle of their city. Park visitors have been posting pictures on social media and the Mill River Collaboratives website of all types of wildlife in the park, including rarely seen ground nesting birds and river otters.
projects include a great lawn, pavilion, ice rink/fountain play area, greenway, and the kid favorite carousel. A Discovery Center Park Building is planned to begin construction next summer, which will bring even more fun programs and amenities for kids to the park. Mill River Park Collaborative also has plans to continue expanding the park in multiple directions, which is exciting news for children all over Stamford. 
sightseeing, exploring, or participating in the hundreds of programs offered. A series of walking paths was built along the river and into surrounding neighborhoods to create easy access to the park. This was especially great for the children in the community because it allowed them a safe path to walk to and from the park by themselves. 
Originally a huge risk in the city, which developed into a major green infrastructure and restoration project, Mill River Park has become a huge success for Stamford. Mill River runs through Stamford, and for years frequently flooded the downtown and other areas of the city due to issues created by dams, pollution, debris, and channelizing. The design team (lead by OLIN) tasked with the project had the challenge of designing a master plan that would both restore the river, and reconnect the city with nature. 
However, for “A Child-Friendly City” we won’t have a site. How could there be a site for all of the youth living in New Orleans? Never mind the complexity of trying to transport all of the individuals who don’t have access to reliable, private or public transportation, we would be over-assuming that we could solve all of their problems with design. What role can design play? Beyond families, youth need: programs, recreation, education, and employment. Aside from the obvious activities, design doesn’t seem to fit in (Figure). Urban design challenges start with people. So, let’s reevaluate the design process to be about people instead of a bounded site.
