OR

IENTATIO

N

…all these people,

these total strangers, in

a single train whose engine

controls their destiny.

—M

urder on the Orient Express,

Sidney Lumet 1974

Orientation

offers a

way

out of

a situation

in w

hich one

is lost

or confused.

Clues

are pieced

together, a narrative emerges, and

the direction forward becom

es clear.

One finds a path and a bearing. This

process requires the application of

rational thinking, interpretation, and

some am

ount of guesswork. In the

end, orientation is a tool used to

create a point of view—

it helps you

figure out what to expect and how

to

navigate it.

But of course there are m

any different

kinds of orientation: orientation of

churches and

other buildings;

of

coins; of curves; and, of course, of

students; political,

sexual, digital/

analog, and cartographic orientation.

And there are just as many (if not

more) kinds of disorientation.

The latter is generally an unpleasant

sensation, as it has a tendency to rob

one of capabilities and abilities. This

is true on the most basic level (if you

are disoriented it is difficult to make

sense of things—to w

alk, talk, make

your w

ay through

the w

orld) and

metaphorically: if you lack direction,

it is hard to function, to plan and

achieve.

But w

e know all this already. W

hat’s

actually surprising is how often the

application of a rational system to

a disorienting situation is, in reality,

arbitrary, or even irrational. In order

to avoid disorientation we m

ust find

a way to agree on rational system

s

that don’t necessarily reflect reality—

this is the paradox of re-orientation:

needing to be lost to be found.

Take som

ething seem

ingly sim

ple,

like the

orientation of

maps.

You

may not realize that the convention

of orienting maps to the N

orth did

not com

e about

until Ptolem

y’s

Geography in the 15th century—

and

even then, it was lim

ited to Western

cultures. Many previous m

aps, and

later maps m

ade in other parts of the

world, w

ere oriented toward the East

(hence the word orientation, derived

from the Latin oriens, for East).

Buckm

inster Fuller

also tried

to

escape the despotism of the northerly-

oriented map, by creating “dym

axion

maps”

which

could be

oriented

toward “inside” or “outside,” w

ithout

requiring the kind of distortion of the

relative size of landmasses created

by the Mercatur projection system

.

This w

as both

a question

of

geometric precision and political

equalization, a

move

toward

revising the privileging of “global

north” in our understanding of

the world.

But even w

ithin the convention

(now by far the m

ost widely

accepted) of

northerly-

oriented m

aps, there

is

variation w

ithin the

idea

of “N

orth.” The

compass

direction (“magnetic” north)

diverges from “true” north,

as local differences in the

flow of electrical currents

in the Earth’s outer core

vary and

change over

time. This difference, or

“declination,” must be

accounted for by

navigators or

orienteers finding

their w

ay w

ith a

compass, lest they w

ander away from

their destination

or founder

on the

rocks.

If the northerly orientation of magnets

does not suffice for navigation, neither

does the

seeming

hyper-exactness

of G

PS coordinates—

which,

like

orthographic projection, might just be

a bit too real, more real than anything

we can perceive. Anyone w

ho has had

to puzzle through trying to match

up projection systems in a G

IS

knows that the application of

different system

s for

the

interpretation of

hyper-

ex

ac

t data points changes

eve

r y t hi n

g.

Given

the fact

that there

is an

infinite

number of possible

pro

j ec

t i on

systems,

sometim

es i

t

seems

impossible

to

find the

right one.

Yet you

must m

atch some projection to

the data, regardless of the realities

that must be ignored. It is im

possible

in the end to preserve area, shape,

bearing, direction, distance, and scale

in any projection. Something m

ust be

distorted or disregarded in order for the

bigger picture to become clear.

In fact

we

are constantly

applying

variously problem

atic projection

systems,

not only

to spatial

and

cartographic data, but to everything

we sense and experience. R

esearch on

proprioception (muscle or “locom

otive”

sense; the

way

that the

brain

understands the

body’s m

ovement

through space) has shown that in fact

the brain probably uses an internal

model to determ

ine how to com

mand

the body to move. That internal m

odel

is projected outward w

hen the body

moves, in order to tell the body w

here

it begins and where it ends in space.

If something goes w

rong with the

circuits in the brain that control

this process, the body can no

longer move—

though nothing

is physically wrong.

And projection

has a

darker side,

too—

many

psychologists

maintain

that

pe

r so

na

l i t y

disorders are

the result

of

ps

yc

ho

l og

i ca

l

projection. W

hereas it

is

necessary for

the m

ind to

perceive and understand the world

through a veil of its own perceptions,

if there is something w

rong with that

veil, the world w

ill appear distorted,

sometim

es dangerously

so. A

person who cannot tolerate his

own feelings w

ill ascribe

them to others, thus

developing a

di s

t or t e

d

view of

conversations,

photographs?

Could

we

improve upon the

i nt e

rde

pe

nd

en

t

relationships created

by multiple iterations

in different media?

Whatever

orientation

system

is chosen—

digital or

analog,

projected or magnetic—

once a direction forward

is puzzled

out and

agreed upon,

we

are

all collectively

pushed

forward by that orientation.

In the

end there

is a

kind of inevitability to it,

the basis of a collective

understanding, and

a

comm

on direction. While

you may retain your ow

n

individual orientation,

in order

to function

in

the w

ider culture

(or

get anyw

here on

the

subway)

you m

ust

understand

the

collective one.

As the

current

UR

BAN

editors,

we

have decided

to re-orient

this

publication tow

ard a

more

quick-response,

visible presence,

and

to continue

to question

and interpret our collective

orientation, the locomotive of

our destiny. We hope that you

will help us direct U

RB

AN tow

ard

becoming

a voice

of reason

(and, occasionally, unreason), an

enjoyable read, and a resource for

conversation and collaboration.

—The EditorsIn M

anhattan, avenues run north and

south. Num

bers decrease from W

est

to East.

Streets run

west

to east.

Num

bers decrease

from

North

to

South. Num

bered streets are preceded

by an east or west prefix. Fifth Avenue

is the border between the East and

West Sides, so building num

bers begin

at 1 at Fifth Avenue and go up in both

directions towards the rivers.

BU

T In Queens, be careful! num

bers

run west-east and north-south. To

further confuse things, Streets, Drives,

Avenues, and Places may all have the

same nam

es, but they are different.

Subway

lines run

North-South

beneath the

avenues above.

For example, the A train is the

Eighth Avenue express.

Entrances are

typically

located on

street

corners w

ith a

staircase

for

descending into

the station.

If

a station

is

marked w

ith a

large green

ball, you

can buy a

those around

him.

Isn’t it

possible,

though, that

empathy—

the capacity

for sensing

and understanding

the

feelings of others—is som

ething like

psychological projection when properly

oriented?

In a sense, projection systems and X-Y

grids are useful and necessary ways

of simplifying the im

mensely com

plex

process of figuring out where w

e are,

what

is happening

around us,

and

where w

e are going. And the more

essential it is that “where w

e are” and

“where are w

e going” be understood,

the sim

pler the

orientation m

ust

be. For example, N

ew York C

ity’s

subway

maps

take considerable

liberties w

ith the

idea of

North,

fitting it to the city’s grid in a way

that makes sense to the tens of

millions

of transit

customers

daily w

ho m

ust understand

which w

ay to go in order

to avoid mass confusion.

But

this orientation

doesn’t really

reflect

geographical reality

as much as a

us e

f ul ,

collective

i r rea l i ty—a

ut i l i t a

r i an

distortion.

In this

way

NYC

subway

maps

resemble

“cognitive

maps,” w

hich are compiled

from

anecdotal evidence

(often hand-draw

n m

aps of

individuals’ “pictures” of a city).

These provide an alternative to

the

manipulation

of cardinal

directions for

the purpose

of

orientation, by instead orienting

maps

to landm

arks, or

nodes,

recognizable to

those w

ho

traverse a city’s public spaces.

Following Kevin Lynch, the m

ore

recognizable these

nodes, the

more legible the public space, and

the friendlier and more open the

urban experience.

Of

course, the

way

we

remem

ber,

navigate, and

learn urban

spaces

is changing

along w

ith evolving

technologies, from

crow

d-sourced

data to platforms like G

oogle Earth.

What does it m

ean to be a digitally

oriented urbanist? Our bodies speak

analog language while our brains are

learning to be digital. The city is where

these two m

odes collide and collude,

creating a digital reality full of visceral,

concrete com

plexity begging

to be

planned, organized, and tamed for the

sake our future world.

Technology is already doing much of

our work for us, show

ing us where to

go, and how to get there—

it teaches

us history,

suggests possible

futures, and interprets the present

qualities of

places. H

ow

does

this compare w

ith our analog

methods? Is there a distinction

between digital and analog

versions of

libraries,

catalogs, site visits,

SUBM

IT TO

URBAN

SUBM

IT to one of

our sections:WORLD

NATIO

NAL

METRO/R

EGIO

N

OPIN

ION

WRITE ABOU

T ANYTH

ING—

from new

s to technology to a profile

to sports.

Send us MAPS

and INFOGRAPH

ICS!

Direct your graphical

submissions tow

ard

our sections:

*World

*National

*Metro/

Region

*Opinion

Send submissions to

urban.submissions@

gmail.com

Put the section in the subject

heading.

“World”

“National”

“Metro/

Region” “Opinion”

Hint: U

se your LiPS responses

and your reading-responses.

Adapt som

ething you’ve

already

written for the new

spaper format.

Submissions

should be

approximately 500 w

ords.

Coming in our next issue:

ASK A PLANN

ER!

Guest columnists w

ill answer

your burning questions about

planning.

Send letters

to urban.

submissions@gm

ail.com

with “Ask a Planner” in the

subject line.

Each edition of Urban w

ill have

a topical focus for its front-

page feature article and the

Opinion page.

The focus for the next issue:

Zoning and the First

Amendm

ent:

Freedom, Religion, and Politics

If you are interested in writing

the front-page

piece please

submit an abstract.

URBAN

is HIRIN

G!

Qualified

assistant editors

sought for

copy-editing and

layout.

Write to urban.subm

issions@

gmail.com

with “Assistant Editor Position”

in the subject heading.

COME

TO OU

R FIRST

MEETIN

G:9.15.10 @

1:00

UP STU

DIO

NA

VIG

ATIN

G TH

RO

UG

H

NY

C

MetroC

ard inside; if a station

is marked w

ith a red ball, you

need to already have a MetroC

ard

to enter.

South of,

or “below

,” 14th

Street

and N

orth or

“above” 50th

Street,

some subw

ay lines begin to veer East

towards B

rooklyn and Queens.

Many

subway

station entrances

provide access to both the uptown

and downtow

n platforms, but som

e

entrances only lead to one or the other.

Be careful if you have an unlim

ited ride

card! If you go in the wrong entrance,

you’ll have to wait 15 m

inutes before

you can use the card again at that

station.

Two subw

ay lines run crosstown (East-

West): the S (Shuttle) runs beneath

42nd Street between Tim

es Square and

Grand C

entral Station. The L Train runs

beneath 14th Street and travels East-

Westw

ard between Eighth Avenue and

Brooklyn, stopping at U

nion Square

along the way. A num

ber of buses run

crosstown, the m

ost useful of which

are the buses that cut through Central

Park at 96th, 86th, 79th, 72nd and 66th

streets.

Broadw

ay intersects avenues where all

the major subw

ay stations are located:

Eighth Avenue at 59th Street (Colum

bus

Circle), Seventh Avenue at 42nd (Tim

es

Square), Sixth Avenue at 34th (Herald

Square and Macy’s), and Fifth Avenue

at 14th (Union Square).

Subway

trains are

subject to

track

changes, which m

eans a certain train

will

stop running

along a

line and

another train will act as a substitute. This

is most often due to track m

aintenance

and usually occurs on the weekends. If

you see white posters on the platform

columns,

pay attention.

These are

service announcements. You can also

check the MTA w

ebsite for schedule

changes: http://ww

w.m

ta.info/

A MetroC

ard allows one free transfer

within 2 hours of first sw

iping your

card. You can transfer from bus to

subway, subw

ay to bus, bus to bus,

or between select subw

ay stations.

Inside each subway station, in

addition to a map of the subw

ay

system, there is also a detailed

neighborhood m

ap. It’s

a

good idea

to check

out

the map before you leave

the subway, but it’s also

great to know that if

you’re lost, you can

always duck into a

subway stop and

check out a map

to find

your

way around.

Wh

en

trains are

OR

IENTATIO

N

…all these people,

these total strangers, in

a single train whose engine

controls their destiny.

—M

urder on the Orient Express,

Sidney Lumet 1974

Orientation

offers a

way

out of

a situation

in w

hich one

is lost

or confused.

Clues

are pieced

together, a narrative emerges, and

the direction forward becom

es clear.

One finds a path and a bearing. This

process requires the application of

rational thinking, interpretation, and

some am

ount of guesswork. In the

end, orientation is a tool used to

create a point of view—

it helps you

figure out what to expect and how

to

navigate it.

But of course there are m

any different

kinds of orientation: orientation of

churches and

other buildings;

of

coins; of curves; and, of course, of

students; political,

sexual, digital/

analog, and cartographic orientation.

And there are just as many (if not

more) kinds of disorientation.

The latter is generally an unpleasant

sensation, as it has a tendency to rob

one of capabilities and abilities. This

is true on the most basic level (if you

are disoriented it is difficult to make

sense of things—to w

alk, talk, make

your w

ay through

the w

orld) and

metaphorically: if you lack direction,

it is hard to function, to plan and

achieve.

But w

e know all this already. W

hat’s

actually surprising is how often the

application of a rational system to

a disorienting situation is, in reality,

arbitrary, or even irrational. In order

to avoid disorientation we m

ust find

a way to agree on rational system

s

that don’t necessarily reflect reality—

this is the paradox of re-orientation:

needing to be lost to be found.

Take som

ething seem

ingly sim

ple,

like the

orientation of

maps.

You

may not realize that the convention

of orienting maps to the N

orth did

not com

e about

until Ptolem

y’s

Geography in the 15th century—

and

even then, it was lim

ited to Western

cultures. Many previous m

aps, and

later maps m

ade in other parts of the

world, w

ere oriented toward the East

(hence the word orientation, derived

from the Latin oriens, for East).

Buckm

inster Fuller

also tried

to

escape the despotism of the northerly-

oriented map, by creating “dym

axion

maps”

which

could be

oriented

toward “inside” or “outside,” w

ithout

requiring the kind of distortion of the

relative size of landmasses created

by the Mercatur projection system

.

This w

as both

a question

of

geometric precision and political

equalization, a

move

toward

revising the privileging of “global

north” in our understanding of

the world.

But even w

ithin the convention

(now by far the m

ost widely

accepted) of

northerly-

oriented m

aps, there

is

variation w

ithin the

idea

of “N

orth.” The

compass

direction (“magnetic” north)

diverges from “true” north,

as local differences in the

flow of electrical currents

in the Earth’s outer core

vary and

change over

time. This difference, or

“declination,” must be

accounted for by

navigators or

orienteers finding

their w

ay w

ith a

compass, lest they w

ander away from

their destination

or founder

on the

rocks.

If the northerly orientation of magnets

does not suffice for navigation, neither

does the

seeming

hyper-exactness

of G

PS coordinates—

which,

like

orthographic projection, might just be

a bit too real, more real than anything

we can perceive. Anyone w

ho has had

to puzzle through trying to match

up projection systems in a G

IS

knows that the application of

different system

s for

the

interpretation of

hyper-

ex

ac

t data points changes

eve

r y t hi n

g.

Given

the fact

that there

is an

infinite

number of possible

pro

j ec

t i on

systems,

sometim

es i

t

seems

impossible

to

find the

right one.

Yet you

must m

atch some projection to

the data, regardless of the realities

that must be ignored. It is im

possible

in the end to preserve area, shape,

bearing, direction, distance, and scale

in any projection. Something m

ust be

distorted or disregarded in order for the

bigger picture to become clear.

In fact

we

are constantly

applying

variously problem

atic projection

systems,

not only

to spatial

and

cartographic data, but to everything

we sense and experience. R

esearch on

proprioception (muscle or “locom

otive”

sense; the

way

that the

brain

understands the

body’s m

ovement

through space) has shown that in fact

the brain probably uses an internal

model to determ

ine how to com

mand

the body to move. That internal m

odel

is projected outward w

hen the body

moves, in order to tell the body w

here

it begins and where it ends in space.

If something goes w

rong with the

circuits in the brain that control

this process, the body can no

longer move—

though nothing

is physically wrong.

And projection

has a

darker side,

too—

many

psychologists

maintain

that

pe

r so

na

l i t y

disorders are

the result

of

ps

yc

ho

l og

i ca

l

projection. W

hereas it

is

necessary for

the m

ind to

perceive and understand the world

through a veil of its own perceptions,

if there is something w

rong with that

veil, the world w

ill appear distorted,

sometim

es dangerously

so. A

person who cannot tolerate his

own feelings w

ill ascribe

them to others, thus

developing a

di s

t or t e

d

view of

conversations,

photographs?

Could

we

improve upon the

i nt e

rde

pe

nd

en

t

relationships created

by multiple iterations

in different media?

Whatever

orientation

system

is chosen—

digital or

analog,

projected or magnetic—

once a direction forward

is puzzled

out and

agreed upon,

we

are

all collectively

pushed

forward by that orientation.

In the

end there

is a

kind of inevitability to it,

the basis of a collective

understanding, and

a

comm

on direction. While

you may retain your ow

n

individual orientation,

in order

to function

in

the w

ider culture

(or

get anyw

here on

the

subway)

you m

ust

understand

the

collective one.

As the

current

UR

BAN

editors,

we

have decided

to re-orient

this

publication tow

ard a

more

quick-response,

visible presence,

and

to continue

to question

and interpret our collective

orientation, the locomotive of

our destiny. We hope that you

will help us direct U

RB

AN tow

ard

becoming

a voice

of reason

(and, occasionally, unreason), an

enjoyable read, and a resource for

conversation and collaboration.

—The EditorsIn M

anhattan, avenues run north and

south. Num

bers decrease from W

est

to East.

Streets run

west

to east.

Num

bers decrease

from

North

to

South. Num

bered streets are preceded

by an east or west prefix. Fifth Avenue

is the border between the East and

West Sides, so building num

bers begin

at 1 at Fifth Avenue and go up in both

directions towards the rivers.

BU

T In Queens, be careful! num

bers

run west-east and north-south. To

further confuse things, Streets, Drives,

Avenues, and Places may all have the

same nam

es, but they are different.

Subway

lines run

North-South

beneath the

avenues above.

For example, the A train is the

Eighth Avenue express.

Entrances are

typically

located on

street

corners w

ith a

staircase

for

descending into

the station.

If

a station

is

marked w

ith a

large green

ball, you

can buy a

those around

him.

Isn’t it

possible,

though, that

empathy—

the capacity

for sensing

and understanding

the

feelings of others—is som

ething like

psychological projection when properly

oriented?

In a sense, projection systems and X-Y

grids are useful and necessary ways

of simplifying the im

mensely com

plex

process of figuring out where w

e are,

what

is happening

around us,

and

where w

e are going. And the more

essential it is that “where w

e are” and

“where are w

e going” be understood,

the sim

pler the

orientation m

ust

be. For example, N

ew York C

ity’s

subway

maps

take considerable

liberties w

ith the

idea of

North,

fitting it to the city’s grid in a way

that makes sense to the tens of

millions

of transit

customers

daily w

ho m

ust understand

which w

ay to go in order

to avoid mass confusion.

But

this orientation

doesn’t really

reflect

geographical reality

as much as a

us e

f ul ,

collective

i r rea l i ty—a

ut i l i t a

r i an

distortion.

In this

way

NYC

subway

maps

resemble

“cognitive

maps,” w

hich are compiled

from

anecdotal evidence

(often hand-draw

n m

aps of

individuals’ “pictures” of a city).

These provide an alternative to

the

manipulation

of cardinal

directions for

the purpose

of

orientation, by instead orienting

maps

to landm

arks, or

nodes,

recognizable to

those w

ho

traverse a city’s public spaces.

Following Kevin Lynch, the m

ore

recognizable these

nodes, the

more legible the public space, and

the friendlier and more open the

urban experience.

Of

course, the

way

we

remem

ber,

navigate, and

learn urban

spaces

is changing

along w

ith evolving

technologies, from

crow

d-sourced

data to platforms like G

oogle Earth.

What does it m

ean to be a digitally

oriented urbanist? Our bodies speak

analog language while our brains are

learning to be digital. The city is where

these two m

odes collide and collude,

creating a digital reality full of visceral,

concrete com

plexity begging

to be

planned, organized, and tamed for the

sake our future world.

Technology is already doing much of

our work for us, show

ing us where to

go, and how to get there—

it teaches

us history,

suggests possible

futures, and interprets the present

qualities of

places. H

ow

does

this compare w

ith our analog

methods? Is there a distinction

between digital and analog

versions of

libraries,

catalogs, site visits,

*World

*National

*Metro/

Region

*Opinion

Send submissions to

urban.submissions@

gmail.com

Put the section in the subject

heading.

“World”

“National”

“Metro/

Region” “Opinion”

Hint: U

se your LiPS responses

and your reading-responses.

Adapt som

ething you’ve

already

written for the new

spaper format.

Submissions

should be

approximately 500 w

ords.

Coming in our next issue:

ASK A PLANN

ER!

Guest columnists w

ill answer

your burning questions about

planning.

Send letters

to urban.

submissions@gm

ail.com

with “Ask a Planner” in the

subject line.

Each edition of Urban w

ill have

a topical focus for its front-

page feature article and the

Opinion page.

The focus for the next issue:

Zoning and the First

Amendm

ent:

Freedom, Religion, and Politics

If you are interested in writing

the front-page

piece please

submit an abstract.

URBAN

is HIRIN

G!

Qualified

assistant editors

sought for

copy-editing and

layout.

Write to urban.subm

issions@

gmail.com

with “Assistant Editor Position”

in the subject heading.

COME

TO OU

R FIRST

MEETIN

G:9.15.10 @

1:00

UP STU

DIO

uR

ba

n

IN THIS ISSUEFACULTY PROFILES

GREEN NYC LIVING WITH INDUSTRY

AFRICA SPECIAL REPORTTRAVEL SPOTLIGHT: JAPAN

DEVELOPERS ARE NOT DEVILSBALANCING NYC

TRANSPORTATION

SEPTEMB

ER 2

01

0 SPEC

IAL O

RIEN

TATIO

N ISSU

E

A C

OLU

MB

IA U

NIVER

SITY GSA

PP PUB

LICA

TION

MetroC

ard inside; if a station

is marked w

ith a red ball, you

need to already have a MetroC

ard

to enter.

South of,

or “below

,” 14th

Street

and N

orth or

“above” 50th

Street,

some subw

ay lines begin to veer East

towards B

rooklyn and Queens.

Many

subway

station entrances

provide access to both the uptown

and downtow

n platforms, but som

e

entrances only lead to one or the other.

Be careful if you have an unlim

ited ride

card! If you go in the wrong entrance,

you’ll have to wait 15 m

inutes before

you can use the card again at that

station.

Two subw

ay lines run crosstown (East-

West): the S (Shuttle) runs beneath

42nd Street between Tim

es Square and

Grand C

entral Station. The L Train runs

beneath 14th Street and travels East-

Westw

ard between Eighth Avenue and

Brooklyn, stopping at U

nion Square

along the way. A num

ber of buses run

crosstown, the m

ost useful of which

are the buses that cut through Central

Park at 96th, 86th, 79th, 72nd and 66th

streets.

Broadw

ay intersects avenues where all

the major subw

ay stations are located:

Eighth Avenue at 59th Street (Colum

bus

Circle), Seventh Avenue at 42nd (Tim

es

Square), Sixth Avenue at 34th (Herald

Square and Macy’s), and Fifth Avenue

at 14th (Union Square).

Subway

trains are

subject to

track

changes, which m

eans a certain train

will

stop running

along a

line and

another train will act as a substitute. This

is most often due to track m

aintenance

and usually occurs on the weekends. If

you see white posters on the platform

columns,

pay attention.

These are

service announcements. You can also

check the MTA w

ebsite for schedule

changes: http://ww

w.m

ta.info/

A MetroC

ard allows one free transfer

within 2 hours of first sw

iping your

card. You can transfer from bus to

subway, subw

ay to bus, bus to bus,

or between select subw

ay stations.

Inside each subway station, in

addition to a map of the subw

ay

system, there is also a detailed

neighborhood m

ap. It’s

a

good idea

to check

out

the map before you leave

the subway, but it’s also

great to know that if

you’re lost, you can

always duck into a

subway stop and

check out a map

to find

your

way around.

Wh

en

trains are

crowded,

it is important

to m

ove to

the

center of the subway

car to

make

room

for

other riders. Standing by the

door even if you move to the side

makes it difficult for people getting on

and off the train. Also, get up

for disabled, pregnant, and

other passengers who m

ay

not be able to stand.

If a subway entrance is

closed at

night, don’t

panic. NYC

subways run

24 hours, so chances are

there’s another entrance to

the station nearby.

Every subway car has a m

ap inside.

If a train comes and you w

ant to get on

it (especially late at night, when they run

less frequently), get in and look at the

map, even if you’re not sure it’s the right

train.

Hailing cabs: w

hen just the center

is lit,

highlighting the

medallion

number, the cab is available. W

hen

the medallion num

ber, as well as

the side lamps are lit, the cab

is off-duty. When no lights

are lit, the cab already has a

fare they are bringing to a

destination.

1 TR

AIN

UPTO

WN

TO

CU

TR

ICK:

Rather

than

transfer at

96 th

Street during

the m

orning

ru

sh

,

ch

an

ge

trains at

72 nd.

YO

U A

RE H

ERE

CH

IEF EDITO

RS: G

EOR

GIA

BU

LLEN: W

EB G

RETA

BYR

UM

: CO

NTEN

T JEN ELETTO

: DESIG

N M

IA PEA

RS: LA

YOU

T

FEATURE: PROFILES OF EXTREMELY LOCAL FIGURES

Professor, Urban Planning Program; Chair, Docotoral Subcommittee on Urban Planning

Bob Beauregard’s recent research and writing is mainly focused on policy for shrinking cities. He is an advisor on a EU-funded project in Germany titled “Shrink Smart;” he is also on the Steering Committee of the American Assembly’s “Contracting Cities” project, and is involved with planning for a fall conference on shrinkage here at Columbia. He has just finished a chapter titled “Strategic Thinking for Shrinking Neighborhoods” as part of a book called “Cities After Abandonment.” His current work also includes ongoing writings on the postwar history of the U.S. city, as well as another writing project that attempts to meld Actor Network Theory, with its focus on non-human things, with planning theory.

Program Director; Associate Professor of Urban Planning

Lance Freeman works with the Built Environment and Health group, an interdisciplinary research program that uses spatial data to examine the impact of the built environment—including land use, public transit, and housing—on physical activity, diet, obesity, and other aspects of health. The BEH group is also studying class and race differences in neighborhood environments. Combining census data with information on retail stores and consumer services, it examines whether New York’s low-income and minority neighborhoods have less access to the stores and services they need on a daily basis.

Assistant Professor, Urban Planning Program

Clara Irazábal’s work addresses the following overarching research question: How do the processes and politics of placemaking, especially in Latin America and Latina/o US—impact community development and socio-spatial justice? She is particularly interested in uncovering dialectic tensions in systems of power, knowledge, and subjectivities as they are enacted in and through spaces. This work comprises a twofold exploration: 1) Placemaking and Identity (How do the processes and politics of placemaking shape individual and collective subjectivities, and how do those subjectivities in turn shape sociocultural spaces?); and 2) Politics of Urban Design and Planning (Who makes and benefits from planning decisions; what are the

political values, traditions, and tensions that impact urban planning and design?). Currently Irazábal is exploring the fields of immigrant, religious, and tourist geographies, especially their transnational dynamics. Her ongoing projects include work on tourism development in Costa Rica, planning trends in Latin America, and the dynamics of the immigrant experience in Los Angeles, the New York metro region, and around the globe.

Assistant Professor, Urban Planning Program

David King’s research explores the intersection of transportation and land use planning. Current projects include a historical analysis of the co-development of transportation systems and land uses in the New York region, an examination of the institutional and regulatory constraints inhibiting sustainable transportation planning, and a study measuring exposure to auto-related pollution for transit users.

Professor of Urban Planning

Elliott Sclar is an economist and urban planner, and is currently director of the Center for Sustainable Urban Development (CSUD) at Columbia University’s Earth Institute. His research interests include urban economic development planning, transportation and land use planning, and the economics of privatization. CSUD is one of eight global centers of excellence in Future Urban Transport supported by the Volvo Foundations of Gothenburg, Sweden. Sclar’s ongoing CSUD project is focused on developing a viable transportation system that will address the greater demand for services as the population increases in Nairobi and an outlying neighborhood, Ruiru. Much of this work is in collaboration with the University of Nairobi and various community groups that have a vested interest in the success of the project.

Assistant Professor of Urban Planning, Director of the Technological Change Lab

Smita Srinivas focuses on institutional, industrial, and technological changes in what are called “late industrial economies,” places of rapid and recent economic change such as India, China, Brazil, and Indonesia, as well as several others in the context of European history. She is interested in comparative economic and institutional theories about how states and planners can regulate markets and non-market institutions. Her writing covers the complexities of economic regulation of particular market sectors as well as labour market informality, the tensions

between the nation-state and the city, and social protection politics. Srinivas is working on a Columbia Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy (ISERP) funded project on sectoral and social protection changes in India, and on two books, one on national and urban planning dilemmas in balancing production, consumption, and delivery within the crucial health sector, and another on diverse technological innovations that address important community needs and how they fit with economic and industrial theories and urban political history.

Assistant Professor of Urban Planning; Director of the Community & Capital Action Research Lab (C2ARL)

Stacey Sutton’s research and teaching examine questions related to local economic development, community planning, commercial revitalization, ethno-racial stratification, and neighborhood change. Her latest research project, “Commercial Restructuring in NYC,” engages with various policy and popular debates that arise when “commercial gentrification”—large-scale commercial redevelopment—causes community bookstores, independently-owned pharmacies, local eateries, specialty shops, and numerous other small-scale retail and service establishments to vanish abruptly from well-traversed corridors. Commercial rents rise, forcing longstanding corner stores to relocate or close; clusters of culturally distinctive enterprises dissipate while national chain stores owned by “outsiders” proliferate. More specifically, the “Commercial Restructuring in NYC” research project draws on mixed methods and a historical perspective to advance knowledge about the magnitude of retail change across city neighborhoods; planning and policy mechanisms shaping the city’s commercial landscape; collective action among business-owners, residents, and other community interests; and how the spatial effects of retail dynamics manifest from Melrose and Morningside Heights to Forest Hills and Fort Greene.

Director, Spatial Information Design Lab

Sarah Williams’s research focuses on the intersection of technology and the urban realm, with a particular emphasis on using mobile computing to better understand urban spaces. She specializes in the representation of digital information/mapping and ecological design & planning. The Spatial Information Design Lab (SIDL) uses innovative mapping and representational techniques to study urban issues such as the spatial dynamics of creative cities and mobile air quality monitoring. SIDL is also

launching several new projects this year, including a new course in social media and planning, “Crowd Sourced City,” in which students will work with Nokia cellphones and Navteq’s digital mapping database to study how social media sites can be used to help non-profit agencies collect the information they need. A recent grant from the Rockefeller foundation also supports SIDL’s effort to study how new data visualization strategies affect urban policy and how volunteered data on social media sites can be used to help us better understand and plan for urban places.

ENVIRONMENT

Peter Jenkins, MS Urban Planning & International Policy (SIPA) 2012

Globally, buildings are responsible for 30% of all energy consumption, and produce only 15% of greenhouse gas emissions. In New York City, the picture looks very different. Because of the city’s dense urban development and its high rates of transit ridership, along with its significant seasonal temperature variations, buildings are the greatest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, at nearly 80%. This means that any serious attempt to address climate change in New York City must begin with effective building energy management.

With over 3,000 buildings in its portfolio, New York City’s government is in a prime position to lead by example in reducing the city’s overall climate impact. Based on a 2005 inventory of greenhouse gas emissions, municipal operations represent 6.5% of the 58.3 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent generated annually by New York City. By comparison, that 6.5% of total emissions generated by municipal operations—3.8 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent—is comparable to citywide annual emissions for Oslo or Geneva, and nationwide emissions for Iceland or Rwanda.

To lessen its contribution to global climate change, New York’s government has therefore developed an ambitious plan to reduce its own energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by 30% below its 2006 baseline by 2017. These efforts are intended to serve as a model for efforts to reduce overall city emissions by 30% below the 2006 baseline by 2030. This reduction was outlined in PlaNYC, the city’s long-term sustainability plan, and legally defined by Local Law 22 of 2008. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has committed a sum equivalent to 10% of the City’s $1 billion annual energy budget for 2009 over a nine-year period, totaling $900 million for municipal energy conservation efforts.

BOB BEAUREGARD

AS BUILDINGS GO (GREEN), SO GOES THE CITY

M E T R OSEPTEMBER 2010 SPECIAL ORIENTATION ISSUE

PAGE 2

LANCE FREEMAN

CLARA IRAZÁBAL

DAVID KING

ELLIOT SCLAR

SMITA SRINIVAS

STACEY SUTTON

SARAH WILLIAMS

owned buildings safer and cleaner places to live, work, and learn, while improving New York’s environment and reducing its contribution to global climate change.

Greta Byrum, MS Urban Planning 2011

Upon first encountering the Bove v. Donner-Hanna Coke Corporation decision of 1932, many planners are dismayed by the Court’s apparent callousness. In this decision, the New York Supreme Court decided against a woman suing a coke factory over the noise and pollution it generated, which filled her home with soot and gave her

headaches. The court’s holding argues: Certain areas must be given over to industry, without which the country cannot long exist…This is not the case of an industry, with its attendant noise and dirt, invading a quiet residential district. It is just the opposite. Here a residence is built in an area naturally adapted for industrial purposes and already dedicated to that use. Plaintiff can hardly Athat her peace and comfort have been disturbed by a situation which existed, to some extent at least, at the very time she bought her property, and which condition she must have known would grow worse rather than better as the years went by.

At first this reads like a typical example of well-funded big business interests steamrolling over the rights of the less powerful. After all, planners are taught to be advocates for the people, fighting for their right to healthy environments for living.

On second thought, though, perhaps Justice Edgcomb has a point. Given the impact on real people’s lives and

livelihoods of the current recession, which has resulted in a series of blows to the industrial sector (especially in places like Detroit) perhaps it is time to re-assess the need for industrial advocacy. After all, healthy environments for living don’t mean much if people don’t have livelihoods.

As manufacturing has moved overseas over the last few decades, the American industrial landscape has become increasingly barren. The Rust Belt is rusting away—warehouses sit empty, and a huge pool of skilled labor sits idle. Important machining and management knowledge is being lost as the country’s workers turn toward service jobs or unemployment payments for subsistence.

The recent re-valuation of intermodal freight transport and the establishment of new transportation hubs suggest a possible strategy for creating industrial

centers. Detroit is well poised to become a model, as domestic and overseas companies are already turning to the city’s empty plants (complete with tools and manufacturing equipment) and its skilled workforce to fabricate prototypes and small batches of everything from lithium-ion batteries to molded-plastic water filters and wind-turbine blades. And with the transport link already in place, the city is well oriented for shipping and exporting.

A July 2010 Brookings Institute report recommends that the country turn toward exporting to reboot its economy; President Obama has said that he wants to increase exports by 50% over the next 5 years—an ambitious goal, but one that is reachable if we think creatively about industry.

However, thinking creatively about industry implies large-scale reorientation. First of all, the model of industrial expansion that was in place in this country throughout most of the 20th century—of de-regulation in order to stimulate industrial growth—

will not work in the context of a 21st-century environmental crisis. Methods and means of regulation as well as of manufacturing itself must be rethought.

This is already happening to some extent in Detroit, mostly as the accidental result of the government’s bailout of the auto industry. Beholden to taxpayers and the administration, the industry is voluntarily adopting new, tougher emissions efficiency standards. According to some industry spokespeople, the most important thing for them is having consistent and clearly stated regulations, so that they know how to prepare and plan.

But in order to target areas for the establishment of particular industrial clusters, a thoroughgoing inventory of our industrial areas nationwide is necessary. This means documenting everything from land use and zoning to transport links to available work force.

The Initiative for a Creative Inner City, together with Philadelphia planning and design firm Interface Studio, is currently coordinating research and planning strategies with local economic development organizations. A report on Philadelphia’s industrial lands is almost complete, with another underway for Detroit. This work provides a much-needed update to survey information that is in some cases decades old, as well as an opportunity to think regionally and comprehensively about industrial strategies.

Perhaps the most compelling reason to re-think industry in America is that it allows manufacturing methods to be re-oriented toward sustainable practices. Planners must

be involved with this process, as—in Justice Edgcomb’s words—“haphazard city building is ruinous to any city.” Comprehensive planning makes sustainability more viable; as, for example, byproducts from a particular manufacturing process may be used as raw materials for another, so placement of industrial clusters is important, as well as transport links. And of course the placement of industrial clusters with relation to residential zones is also crucial.

So although it’s easy to have sympathy for Anonia Bove’s sooty windowsills and her headaches, it’s also necessary for planners to have some sympathy for the struggles of our manufacturing plants—and to help them develop comprehensive clean and green manufacturing processes to reduce throughput and increase efficiency (in materials as well as production). Too often, planners get caught up on simple dichotomies—people are good, industry is bad. But when industry is done right, it can be about the people and for the people.

And, as buildings comprise such a large percentage of the city’s emissions, reduction efforts inevitably focus on reducing energy use in the 3,000 plus NYC-owned and -operated buildings, ranging from offices to schools, community centers, fire-houses, libraries, museums, hospitals, and wastewater treatment plants. Improvements in building energy performance are largely focused on retrofitting the inefficient designs of the past.

As the lead agency for coordinating municipal energy conservation and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, the Division of Energy Management (within the Department of Citywide Administrative Services) has conducted energy audits and retrofits in nearly 350 NYC buildings since PlaNYC was launched, leading to an emissions reduction of 91,500 metric tons and $21.6 million in reduced energy costs. Most of these retrofits involve routine upgrades, like replacing outdated T-12 fluorescent lamps, installing occupancy sensors and controls on lighting systems, upgrading inefficient chillers and boilers, and installing automated building management systems for more effective energy use.

NYC is also investing in new and improved infrastructure to reduce energy demand and provide clean power supply. This includes relatively simple measures, like re-surfacing roofs with “cool” reflective coating to lessen the urban heat island effect and associated health risks from heat and air pollution as well as reducing air-conditioning loads. The City is also investing in a variety of clean energy technologies, including hybrid and clean-fuel conversion in its vehicle fleets, installation of solar photovoltaic and solar thermal systems, and the capture and reuse of methane gas from wastewater treatment plants for heating, pumping, and other process needs.

Finally, NYC is applying 21st century tools for more effective energy management. Smart meters will provide real-time energy data on building energy use, enabling building users to respond to spikes in energy demand and avoid blackouts during summer peak load periods. To make this information more accessible, the Division of Energy Management is developing the Energy Cost Control and Conservation (EC3) and the Sustainability Energy and Property Tracking System (SEPTS) online databases, which will allow building users and City employees to access and track a variety of information from a centralized location, such as ongoing energy use and savings, site and spatial data, design and construction work, and compliance with environmental laws.

Though still a long way from achieving its emissions reduction target, through a combination of improved technology, planning, and management, New York City’s government is well oriented toward making the 3,000 plus City-

M E T R OA COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY GSAPP PUBLICATION

PAGE 3

WHO FIGHTS FOR THE FACTORIES?

PLANNING FOR INDUSTRY IN THE 21ST CENTURY

FRITZ LANG METROPOLIS, 1927

Sanggyung Kang - MS Urban Planning 2010 &Jorge Ubaldo Colin Pescina - MS Urban Planning 2011

Land Use And Community Infrastructure Mapping Project, Accra Millennium Cities Initiative At The Earth Institute

Accra is a flat city of red dirt and too few trees. Along its dusty roads you see a mix of second-hand Korean cars, new Chinese models, and expensive

w o r l dSEPTEMBER 2010 SPECIAL ORIENTATION ISSUE

European brands for the lucky few. Like many cities in Sub-Saharan Africa, Accra has experienced significant growth during the last twenty years. Rural-to-urban migration has fueled a real-estate boom that caters to new wealth—as well as the expansion of sprawling informal settlements for the less fortunate, and countless built areas that serve everybody in between.

This scattershot development process has created a handful of charming neighborhoods around the city. Nima is one of them. A Muslim community in central Accra, Nima was founded around sixty years ago by farmers and merchants from Northern Ghana. Today it houses a vibrant and diverse community of migrants from different

parts of Ghana and other West African countries, as well as locals with more long-term roots in the area.

But its high unemployment rate, low education levels, and inadequate infrastructure provision have earned Nima designation as an area of “endemic poverty” according to Accra’s local government and to international NGOs working in the region. Nima East, the neighborhood’s most troubled sector, consists of around 600 structures that lack connection to the water and sewer systems and can only be accessed on foot via narrow corridors.

Our introduction to Nima East this summer came as the result of a cooperative effort between the Earth Institute and

t h e U n i v e r s i t y of Ghana. Community leaders suggested that our team look at this sector as the first step in a larger study documenting and mapping land use, existing structures, width and accessibility of roads, and the characteristics of available community facilities—schools, clinics, public water tabs, public baths and mosques, etc.

Our fieldwork during these two months has been both surprising and enriching. It has allowed us to discover the versatility and entrepreneurship thriving

in Nima’s narrow alleys—and further, to observe some of the often-unseen links between the local informal economy and city’s larger social and economic systems. This is a phenomenon that cannot be understood if one retains an overly broad conception about poverty; it requires a reorientation of preconceptions about economic viability and local systems of exchange. Cooperation between the Earth Institute and the University of Ghana has taught us about the area’s abundance of local talent—which is too often ignored—and has pointed out the important of local talent in the perpetuation of research and development projects. In our first meeting with the local chiefs and religious representatives, during which the conversation was translated simultaneously to the local Twi and Ewe languages, we were given a blessing and asked to complete the project not simply with a report, but with a push for a much-needed street through the neighborhood.

As our mapping and surveying project comes to a partial end, their words come back to us as a necessary

MAPPING FOR BETTER URBAN SPACES IN

NIMA, ACCRA

PAGE 4

GHANA

Typical rural houseSUSANA ISABEL MIRA

JORGE UBALDO COLIN PESCINA

because people in Uganda are used to ‘mzungus’ (white people, foreigners) who come to their country and do things for them, not with them. But what do these NGOs leave behind when their development projects end?

In Uganda, 80% of the workforce is employed in the agriculture sector. For this reason, Africa 2000 Network (A2N), a local NGO, is oriented toward improving sustainable livelihoods on smallholder farms. A2N trains farmers in agricultural technologies, marketing and resource mobilization. It promotes active participation, the empowerment of local communities, and capacity-building for ecologically sustainable development. At least—these are the organization’s stated objectives. Unfortunately, there are many obstacles and complications.

Of course, when you go as a volunteer to poorer sections of Africa as I did this summer, you expect to find difficulties. What surprised me was how the people we were trying to help were often the ones creating the obstacles—they were simply not as interested in our help as I had thought they would be. It was hard for me to understand why the farmers weren’t making the greatest effort possible to take advantage of what A2N was offering them.

But after a while I realized several things that helped me to understand this dynamic. First of all, the farmers had never asked for the help we were offering them. Also, it would be one thing to give them money or goods (which they would have happily accepted), but it was quite another to ask them to develop capacities they knew nothing about, taking them away from what they knew and were comfortable with, and demanding their time and effort. And finally, and most importantly, they seemed happy with their lives—even knowing that they were not the most comfortable or prosperous.

Working in this environment is frustrating at times. But there are always a few people—the visionaries—leaders who are willing to work hard to make changes for their community. William Katwalume is one of these: he attended all the training sessions and ended up leading the market project; he convinced the group to ask for a micro-loan in order to build a stronger

farmers association; he negotiated hard for the market space, reducing the owner’s demands to a third of the original price; and he arranged all the details of starting the group’s market stand. William is one of those who make you feel that the work you do together will have a long-lasting impact—that working with them, not for them, was worth the effort.reminder of an urban planner’s duties:

not just reports, but better urban spaces.

Susana Isabel Mira, MS Urban Planning, 2011

“If your group wants to open a market stand to sell its products in Iganga town, you will need to make some initial investment to pay for rent, transportation and salaries. How are you planning to get the money?,” I ask William Katwalume, a farmer representing the Buwaaya Development Farmer Trainers Association (BUDFA), a 1000-strong group of Ugandan farmers. He keeps quiet and looks at me, waiting for an answer. I can tell he is expecting me to make an offer—that the NGO I’m working for will step in and provide the resources. He also wants me to negotiate with the owner of the market space to get a good deal for the rent, and to arrange the transportation for their products. He expects all this

w o r l dA COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY GSAPP PUBLICATION

REPORT FROM UGANDA

PAGE 5

UGANDA

Woman drying rice under the sun before milling

SUSANA ISABEL MIRA

Typical rural houseSUSANA ISABEL MIRA

JORGE UBALDO COLIN PESCINA

TWO-PART SPOTLIGHT: URBANISM IN JAPANADVENTURES IN THE LAND OF THE

RISING SUN

In May, Kris Ongoco and Gita Subramony (both MS Urban Planning 2010) traveled to Japan as part of a Japanese Urbanism architecture study group. As the only planners in the group, they uncovered correspondences between culture, cities, and architecture—and discovered Kobe beef.

Kristian Ongoco

I observed two major themes while traveling through Japan: (1) This is Old, and (2) That is New. Japan’s Old vs. New dichotomy has been well-studied, as it is a clear indication of views on culture, society, and cities. You can feel the Old colliding with the New while riding on the Shinkansen (high-speed train) through rural areas, watching farmers harvest their rice paddies. But the New is growing apace, and it is alive and well—as seen in constant new construction, and in Japanese teenagers’ obsession with computers and cell phones.

But how did this cult of Newness

come about? Before Commodore Perry’s expedition to Japan, it was an isolated country—rich in culture, strong in values, and for the most

part, rural. The 20th century was a turning point for Japan, as rapid modernization, the world wars, and economic growth drove rural residents to move to urban areas. Today, almost 80 percent of Japan’s population lives in urban areas. Global competition and Western influences began to shape Japanese culture toward a “bigger is better,” ethos, leaving Old influences and preservation efforts behind.

In Kyoto, the former imperial capital of Japan, Old and New are both in evidence. Throughout a visit to the Imperial Palace and the city’s temples and its shrines, with their natural building materials and ancient symbolism, Old resonates. But even here,

the built environment is inexorably becoming New. In the 1990s, more than 40,000 old wooden homes were destroyed for new development. Also, several controversial new large-scale projects were juxtaposed with the city’s traditional Japanese architecture. These include the Space Needle-esque

Kyoto Tower, the Kyoto Hotel Okura (which required a waiver for exceeding height restrictions) and the glass-fronted Kyoto Station, built over the protests of many of Kyoto’s residents. But how far will New go? In 2005, the historic pre-war Dojunkai apartments were demolished to make way for Omotesando Hills, Tokyo’s version of Rodeo Drive. Once again, New wins, Old loses.

Omotesando is adorned with luxury shops and boutiques, from Gucci to Tod’s, where high-end retail and edgy architecture create a lavish experience for the consumer. A place like Omotesando represents a kind of attractive and unattainable Newness for Japan’s younger generation, much at odds with older generations’ frugal and practical tastes.But for many Japanese, this Disneyland shopping experience is rare, as the

country’s economy has weakened. What was once a prosperous and strong middle class has given way to growing polarities. It remains to be seen whether the New will continue to prevail in this economic climate, or whether, in the face of economic realities, Old will become New again.

The Old and the New are present in almost every country, city, and neighborhood. Developers push for the New, while preservationists pull for the Old. But I felt the New pushing with all its force as I experienced the unbelievable, unscalable and disorienting sight of Tokyo’s Teleport City. It is the embodiment of the fascination with technology and innovation that has long been a part of Japanese culture. But Japan, let’s not lose the Old in the New: it’s possible that the push for advancement to overrun Japan people love and adore—but it’s also possible to move beyond a simple dichotomy, to appreciate both Old and New for what they have to offer.

Gita Subramony

Two days after graduation, I left for

Japan. The entire trip, a few weeks in total, felt more like a Haruki Murakami wild sheep chase than a measured meditation on urbanism in an industrialized non-western place. We were shuttled around to observe and photograph buildings, spending a lot of time in transit: buses, bullet trains, ferries, subways, cabs, bicycles.I spent much of that transit time thinking about Kobe beef—and also thinking about planning. Kobe beef might be the most delicious thing I’ve ever tasted. And planning…

Planners are supposed to imagine the future, to create something that connects short-term solutions and long-term vision. Above all, planners must not get sucked into the field of the mundane and completely boring; creativity is necessary when you are planning for people, since we are a very bizarre species (nonsensical at times,

and very emotional). Tokyo Teleport City, located on Odaiba Island in Tokyo Bay, deserves points for trying to imagine the future. But it ultimately fails at imagining human beings in its environment. Odaiba Island is man-made, constructed in the 1850s to serve as a barrier to (space?) invaders. It was not until the 1980s, at the height of the Japanese economic bubble, that development plans for Odaiba emerged, and Tokyo Teleport City was born.

Everything in Tokyo Teleport City looks like the Death Star: The Fuji TV building, Tokyo Big Sight, the Telecom Center, the Miraikan (“Future Museum”). There is also a misplaced replica of the Statue of Liberty, a huge unused parking lot, and a newly landscaped park and promenade. The buildings are on a galactic scale, the distances between sights of interest feel like light years, and when we visited, there were very few people outside on a beautiful spring day. In Tokyo Teleport City, no one can hear you scream. Also, Darth Vader, may or may not be your neighbor. The architecture is dramatic and very eye-catching, but the relationships among the features are murky, disorienting, and lack human scale.

Far from Tokyo Teleport City, in Japan’s Inland Sea, lies Naoshima Island. Noashima is known for its few

art museums, art installations, and its recycling center. It remains largely undeveloped. On a sunny day, we took a ferry to the island, rented bikes, and explored the hilly terrain. The cliffs allowed for panoramic views of the sea and far-off islands; on the beaches, little red jellyfish bobbed in the water. I imagined Naoshima as an alternate future to Tokyo Teleport City. The sleepy village felt like a nascent Martian colony; this was where we could try again to correct our previous drafts of our vision for society. There is space yet for futures imagined and built by humans and for humans, not droids.

I still do not know if we are just practicing for the future here on Earth, or if we have already gotten there. If we do colonize Mars, we will have to imagine a future there that is oriented towards our own species. Planners, I think, will be essential.

LOSING THE OLD FOR THE NEW

THE FUTURE IN JAPAN, AND BEYOND

w o r l dSEPTEMBER 2010 SPECIAL ORIENTATION ISSUE

PAGE 6

Naoshima Chichu Art MuseumGITA SUBRAMONY TOKYO BIG SIGHT KRISTIAN ONGOCO

TOD’S BUILDINGKRISTIAN ONGOCO

PACIFIC OCEAN

Philippines

China

N. Korea

Korea

Taiwan

Russia

Japan

whereas real estate developers focus on individual sites. Indeed, distinct concepts such as construction materials, FAR, and expenses are developers’ top concerns, much more so than urban planners’. Decisions such as how many apartments, how much glass, and the overall rate of return burn incessantly in the minds of developers. However, this is not by choice, but by necessity. Like an architect, a developer has a vision, and in order to make that vision a reality these concepts must be considered,

evaluated, and solidified. For each project the developer must become a specialist—the polar opposite of the comprehensive planner. Thus, on one end of the spectrum sits the planner, who is occupied with bettering the whole community, while on the other end sits the developer, occupied with bettering a single site. As a result, planners and developers are often subtly taught that they are archenemies, and that they will never be able to reconcile their differences. However, in an increasingly interdependent world it has become absolutely critical that both planners and developers recognize that they, in fact, need each other. Developers need planners to establish frameworks for growth, and planners need developers to perform the dirty work. It’s now time to realize that, although we are at opposite ends of the spectrum, it is nevertheless a spectrum that we share. The point at which each profession accepts the goals of the other is where we can truly leverage the skills and mastery of both.

Seem kind of dreamy? While it is to some extent, we must also understand that it is a very real possibility. In fact, we occasionally already find ourselves here: contextual zoning, affordable housing zoning, public-private partnerships, and special district zoning are a few processes in

which both professions work side-by-side to substantially grow and improve urban areas. And although it’s true that planners and developers have different sets of goals, their goals are not mutually exclusive.

Planners should encourage themselves to work in concert with developers. Start today. Despite what some curmudgeons assert, the two professions are not inherently at odds. Real estate developers are extremely intelligent and devoted individuals,

committed to bringing their visions to fruition. In this way developers are actually not all that unlike urban planners. Without a doubt, the mark of a great planner is the capability to consider points of view on other parts of the spectrum—especially those parts that are the farthest away. We all stand to benefit immensely from new understanding and cooperation among all the individuals that are shaping the future of our urban areas.

Josef Szende, MS Urban Planning 2010

In the past year we›ve seen devastating fare increases and service cuts in New York. More than in any other city in the country, people here depend exclusively on transit to get around. For New Yorkers, fare hikes amount to extortion; reductions in bus service are tantamount to social isolation. Until a more viable transit funding system is put in place, forcing riders to pay more for less service will be the MTA’s only option. We›ve experienced the dark days of transit before—times when New York’s vital system didn’t work—

and no one wants to go back there.

A better method for funding transit has not only been conceived of—and even implemented in London—but has also been modeled for the New York City region. Charles Komanoff, working for Ted Kheel’s Nurture Nature Foundation, has developed the Balanced Transportation Analyzer to understand the benefits of a driving fee in downtown New York. He advocates the driving fee as a solution that can account for every variable in New York’s transportation

system. I’m working with Mr. Komanoff currently and learning a great deal about transportation modeling.

The idea is simple: charge drivers for their trips into central Manhattan, in the same way that transit riders must currently pay their fair share. Drivers who don’t want to pay can leave their cars at home and take transit. Drivers who are willing to pay will have a faster and easier trip into the city.

Although at first the idea of drivers being forced to pay to drive in Manhattan may seem pernicious and unfair, it’s important to remember the costs that driving imposes by default on the rest of society. One of the biggest problems with cars is actually their size.

Cars take up space while they’re on the road, and inevitably get in into a jam once a large enough number are trying to squeeze through narrow points in the roadway. When not moving, cars are even worse—especially in New York, where they take up the most valuable real estate per square foot in the country at the rate of 270 square feet per car.

A truly balanced transportation system has to account for its costs to everyone. Taxi riders in central Manhattan will have to pay more because, like all other trips in cars, taxi rides have an effect on everyone sharing the road. On the other hand, the space demands of cyclists and pedestrians are so small that it is not necessary for them to pay anything. Though there are many pedestrians and cyclists in Manhattan right now, it would take many more of them to create a bike jam or walking jam.

The best part of a balanced transportation system is that better choices are made available for all modes of transportation. Transit riders will have better-funded service and discounted fares. Drivers, truckers, bus riders, and cyclists will all have fewer passenger vehicles to contend with on the road. And New York will not have to live month-to-month without knowing how its lifeblood transit system will pay its bills.

Peter Katz, MS Urban Planning 2010 & Real Estate Development 2012

Real Estate Development—few other phrases make urban planners cringe quite like this one. It conjures up a vision of conniving, perpetually-looking-for-a-buck developers that are willing to sell their souls for the highest monetary profit. Max out the FAR of a site and fill it with luxury condos. “Build to lease, not to last,” the old adage goes.

Before I continue spewing worn out anti-developer rhetoric I am obligated to say that, in fact, not much of it is true. Like many of life’s generalizations, prejudice against developers is based on the behavior of a handful of individuals or companies that have a disproportionate influence on our collective opinion. Two words: Bruce Ratner. But the reality is that there are legions of developers that do not fall quite so neatly into this bucket. In fact, they don’t fall into this bucket at all, and both Columbia and GSAPP realize this. Ever consider why we’re all in the same building? Suddenly, the 4th floor of Avery does not seem quite as foolish as you may have contended.

On the most macro scale urban planning concerns itself with orchestrating the growth of urban areas so that their built, economic, and social characteristics are continually improved. Urban planners constantly seek to improve the functionality and distribution of resources among urban areas. Like “natural” ecosystems, human systems are simultaneously in a state of flux and stability. Planners have a holistic orientation to this reality, and dedicate their professional lives to ensure that the entire urban system remains balanced while both growing and improving. Humanity’s most outstanding planners (Carson, Burnham, Duany, etc.) were intuitively aware of the unseen interactions among all urban elements, and believed embracing these would guarantee both growth and improvement. And although you may not agree with their particular ideas, you cannot deny that each of them exhibited an extraordinary level of understanding and comprehensiveness.

Yet this is exactly what instigates many of the misunderstandings between real estate developers and urban planners. Planners pride themselves on their holistic, citywide orientation,

SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVEL(OPER)

THE TIME IS RIGHT NOW:BALANCING NEW YORK

CITY’S TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM

O P I N I O NA COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY GSAPP PUBLICATION

PAGE 7