Livable Cities Observed

BEING REPRINTED BY POPULAR DEMAND

A Source Book of Ideas and Images for
City Officials, Planners, Architects
and Community Leaders

Suzanne H. Crowhurst Lennard
Henry L. Lennard

272 pages; 180 illustrations

ISBN 0-935824-06-5 (paper)
Lib. Of Congress Catalogue Card #94-075057

“LIVABLE CITIES OBSERVED is a most wonderful book. It has the capacity to help improve the livability of cities throughout our country and, in fact, around the world for years to come.”

Joseph P. Riley Jr.
Mayor, City of Charleston, SC

“LIVABLE CITIES OBSERVED is a treasure trove of good, human scale design ideas.”

Donald MacDonald, Architect, San Francisco

Urban Identity ** Architectural Structure and Fabric ** Maintaining the Character of the City’s Architecture ** The Structure of a Healthy City ** Side Effects of Incentive Development ** Development “Implant”: Montpellier, France ** Failure to Maintain Identity: Ulm, Germany ** The Shop/House: Building Block of a Healthy City ** The Wisdom of the City ** Who Can Save the City’s Identity?

2. Public Space Design

Social Principles ** Design Principles ** Traffic Free ** Location and Size ** Threshold and Enclosure ** Architectural Frame ** Complexity, Backdrop ** Paving, Steps ** Walls, Railings ** Nature, Planters ** Focal Points, Fountains ** Bollards ** Seating, Building Ledges

3. Art for the Public

To Identify a Building ** Historic Locations ** Traditional Crafts, Trades and Occupations ** Local Individuals ** Traditional Festivals ** Legends, Folk Tales and Poems ** Social Comment ** The Child and Public Art ** Public Art and the Disabled ** Local Traditions, Regional Identity ** Celebrating Community ** Cultural Heritage ** City Identity & History ** Guidelines for Art in Public Places ** Criteria for Evaluating Proposals for Public Art ** The Essence of Public Art

4. Balanced Transportation Planning

Pedestrian Shopping Street ** Pedestrian Networks ** Vehicle Access ** Traffic Free City Centers ** The “Carpet” of the City ** Economic Benefits of Pedestrian Zones ** The “Woonerf” or “Living Street” ** Traffic “Taming” Mechanisms ** Balanced Transportation ** Visitor Transportation ** Bicycles ** Walking

PART II – THE SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT

5. The Public Realm & the Good City

History ** Significance ** People Watching ** Meeting in Public ** Significant Conversation ** Models of Social Life ** Multiple Perspectives ** Visibility ** Level of Involvement ** Enhanced Awareness ** Decline & Revival of Public Spaces

6. The Good City for Children

Ignoring Children ** The City as Playground ** The Public Realm as Teacher ** Meaning in the Urban Environment ** Functions of Public Places for Children ** The Good City for Children

7. Values for the Good City

Recovering the Good City ** Values ** Ethics of Decision Making

PART III – ENLIVENING THE CITY

8. Community Festivals

Community Functions ** Streets Paved with Flowers: Cannara, Italy ** Palio, Siena ** Carnival ** Basel Fasnacht ** Carnival, Venice

9. Street Entertainment

Cultural Diversity ** Variety of Performers ** Triangulation ** Benefiting Business ** Performers & the Handicapped ** Clowns Reappear ** Regulations ** Enhancing Public Social Life

10. Farmers’ Markets

The Market as a Social Context ** Role of Vendors ** Ideal Market Configurations ** Weekly Market ** Market Technology & Displays ** Frame Structures & Waggons ** Lighting & Water ** Social Rhythm of Daily Farmers’ Market ** Special Markets & Christmas Markets ** Brief Case Studies: Freiburg im Breisgau, Bern. Munich, Verona, Rouen, Salzburg, Tübingen, San Luis Obispo, California. ** Salient Features

11. Outdoor Cafes and Restaurants

Cafes ** Location ** Protection from the Elements ** Nighttime Dining ** Comfort

12. Mix of Building Uses

The Residential Population ** Shops & Businesses ** Workplaces

PART IV – CITIES OF VISION

13. Antwerp, Belgium

Architectural Heritage ** Rebuilding the Urban Fabric ** Restoration ** Harmony Rules ** Repopulating the City Center ** Pedestrian Zone ** Urban Spaces & Restoration ** Outdoor Cafes & Restaurants ** The City & the River

14. Erlangen, Germany

Traffic & Transportation ** Pedestrian Networks ** Limiting Traffic ** Bicycles ** Public Transportation ** Green in the City ** Parking Areas ** Inner Courts & Open Areas ** Industrial Conversion ** Community Awareness & Participation ** Green in Erlangen ‘82 ** Green in Erlangen ‘87

15. Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany

Appropriate Architecture ** Development of Pedestrian Zone ** Transportation Planning ** Farmers’ Market ** Festivals & Street Entertainers ** Design of a New Urban Neighborhood: “Rieselfeld”

16. Ravensburg, Germany

The Heart of the City ** Underground Parking ** Streetscaping, Traffic Quietening ** Renovation ** Community Participation ** Produce Market ** Regional Train Service

17. Venice, Italy

Ideal Urban Spaces ** Special Qualities of Social Life ** Campo Santa Margherita ** Campo San Barnaba ** Campo San Bartolommeo & Campo San Luca ** Campo San Fantin

PART V – FAILURE & RENEWAL OF THE MODERN CITY

18. Failure of the Modern City

Architectural Ideology ** The City as an Economic Machine ** Mass Housing for the Poor ** Beauty Does Matter ** Conceptions of People ** The Abandonment of the Public Realm

19. Rebuilding Community

Rebuilding Community ** The “Inclusive Community” ** Creating Public Urban Places ** Increasing Accessibility ** Reintegrating a Mix of Uses ** Developing Citizen Participation

20. Principles for the Livable City

Restoring the Heart of the City: Ten Principles ** Mass Housing: Nine Principles ** Reshaping Suburbia: Ten Principles ** New Urban Neighborhoods: Eleven Principles

Acknowledgements
Footnotes
Bibliography
Index of Cities
Index of Names
Biographical Notes