Third Wave Urbanism

This week’s episode gets to the heart of the matter — being a woman in a city and what that means for the otherwise patriarchal planning processes that have formed cities up until now. It can’t be avoided, and we argue that it shouldn’t, if we’re to improve cities for everyone. 

Stick around to the end for a very special teaser of Katrina’s upcoming project The Women Led Cities Initiative, as well as a very special #urbanistwomenatwork whereby we feel old and attempt to give recent urbanist grads some advice as they enter the workforce. 

As always, you can keep up with our thoughts and send us your comments on Twitter or Instagram: 

Katrina can be found at @think_katrina

Kristen can be found at @blackurbanist

And if you like these conversations and advocating for human-scale cities, you can donate to our efforts on our Patreon page at www.patreon.com/thirdwaveurbanism. Thank you all for listening!

Here are the references in this episode:

Vice Motherboard - Sexism in the City: https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/sexism-and-the-city

For those continuing eduction, Kristen’s article on questions to ask when deciding on a career in placemaking: http://theblackurbanist.com/questions-to-ask-and-traps-to-avoid-when-considering-a-career-in-placemaking/

Katrina’s sneak peek sign-up page for The Women Led Cities Initiative: http://womenledcities.com

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Intro and closing music is “Urban Life” by Gustavs Strazdin used under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license: creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/legalcode

The one, the only, Jane Jacobs. This week's episode needs very little introduction. Kristen and Katrina talk about the latest documentary Citizen Jane: Battle for the City, and the implications of privilege in protest, women in urbanism, historic preservation, and the "bad guys" (and planning paradigm) that she fought against.

We are also excited to highlight our new outro Urbanist Women at Work! We’re looking forward to sharing your advice as women in urbanism on social media by using the hashtag #urbanistwomenatwork, or you can email us your anonymous submission at [email protected].

As always, you can keep up with our thoughts and send us your comments on Twitter or Instagram:

Katrina can be found at @think_katrina

Kristen can be found at @blackurbanist

And if you like these conversations and advocating for human-scale cities, you can donate to our efforts on our Patreon page at www.patreon.com/thirdwaveurbanism. Thank you all for listening!

Here are the references in this episode:

The new documentary: http://www.altimeterfilms.com/citizen-jane-battle-for-the-city/

Platetizen's review: https://www.planetizen.com/node/92603?utm_source=newswire&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=news-05152017

Next City's article: https://nextcity.org/daily/entry/how-jane-jacobs-affected-new-york?utm_source=Next+City+Newsletter&utm_campaign=c5a5132682-Daily_677&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_fcee5bf7a0-c5a5132682-44102657

Washington Post's take: https://www.washingtonpost.com/goingoutguide/movies/citizen-jane-battle-for-the-city-gives-urban-planning-the-excitement-of-a-thriller/2017/05/04/022401cc-2f3a-11e7-8674-437ddb6e813e_story.html?tid=sm_fb_lily&utm_term=.6de8817b43a3

Jane Jacob's Walks: http://www.janejacobswalk.org/

Intro and closing music is “Urban Life” by Gustavs Strazdin used under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license: creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/legalcode

What happens when young boys take the streets? In Philadelphia a recent informal “critical mass” event sparked outrage from a local news anchor who even went so far as to criticize their “manliness” due to riding a bike. 

Personally, we love these guys (so long as their staying out of serious trouble). In this episode we touch on teens using streets as their public space, how to keep youth out of trouble through things like after-school programs, and even how the media should be thinking about these kinds of deeper urban issues. 

This is also the first episode introducing our new outro Urbanist Women at Work! We’re looking forward to sharing your advice as women in urbanism on social media by using the hashtag #urbanistwomenatwork, or you can email us your anonymous submission at [email protected]. 

As always, you can keep up with our thoughts and send us your comments on Twitter or Instagram: 

Katrina can be found at @think_katrina

Kristen can be found at @blackurbanist

And if you like these conversations and advocating for human-scale cities, you can donate to our efforts on our Patreon page at www.patreon.com/thirdwaveurbanism. Thank you all for listening!

Here are the references in this episode:

Streetsblog article on the Philly teen freeway takeover: http://usa.streetsblog.org/2017/04/28/the-backstory-and-aftermath-of-phillys-teen-bicycle-freeway-takeover/

Spoke Magazine's feature on the teens in Philadelphia: http://www.spokemag.co/one-way-philadelphia-pedal-bikers/

Drug prevention in Iceland: https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2017/01/teens-drugs-iceland/513668/

Philly.com teen mob: http://www.philly.com/philly/news/Police-officer-injured-responding-to-teen-mob-in-Center-City.html?utm_campaign=Philly.com+Twitter+Account&utm_source=Twitter.com&utm_medium=Philly.com+Twitter+Account

Critical Mass: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_Mass_(cycling)

Intro and closing music is “Urban Life” by Gustavs Strazdin used under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license: creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/legalcode

Tactical urbanism is a bottom-up and top-down urban intervention typically aimed towards improving cities for everyone. From Park(ing) Day to Better Block, tactical urbanism has turned streets into safe cycle tracks and unused asphalt into pedestrian plazas worldwide. But what if it's done for the purposes of preventing people from using a space? Who has the right to be tactical - and who doesn't?

This week's episode is based on a recent incident in Washington DC whereby a rogue armrest appeared on a bench overnight. Presumably, the tactical act was aimed at preventing the homeless population from sleeping on the benches - or was it aimed at preventing harassment? So much to unpack in this one, from the right to exist in public to homeless shelters and park design. Take a listen and let us know what you think!

As always, you can keep up with our thoughts and send us your comments on Twitter or Instagram:

Katrina can be found at @think_katrina

Kristen can be found at @blackurbanist

And if you like these conversations and advocating for human-scale cities, you can donate to our efforts on our Patreon page at www.patreon.com/thirdwaveurbanism. Thank you all for listening!

Here are the references in this episode:

Hostile urbanism on the bench in Washington DC: https://ggwash.org/view/63245/guerrilla-anti-homeless-dividers-appear-in-mount-pleasant-lamong-park-what-does-this-say-about

Tactical Urbanism via Streetplans: http://www.street-plans.com/

Interactive Resource Center: http://interactiveresourcecenter.org/

The mural in Chicago: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/04/24/remixing-or-plagiarism-in-chicago-a-battle-over-a-mural-of-michelle-obama/?utm_term=.cf109db0fc58

Intro and closing music is "Urban Life" by Gustavs Strazdin used under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license: creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/legalcode

Richard Florida - love him or hate him there's no denying he is a mainstay of urban theory. After his bestselling book "The Rise of the Creative Class" drove a new era of innovation and commercial redevelopment - some say to a fault - we find ourselves in cities that are suddenly pricing out entire segments of their population as the gap between lower and upper class only increases across the US.

In this episode we discuss his new book "The New Urban Crisis" (and the speaking series that goes with it) in an effort to unpack the issues of inequality, agency, and neoliberal policies that have shaped our current situation. What does Florida think we should do? Is this a repackaging of his old concepts? And does he do enough to think outside of the box and bring in the kind of radical - and ethical - futurism that our cities need?

As always, you can keep up with our thoughts and send us your comments on Twitter or Instagram:

Katrina can be found at @think_katrina

Kristen can be found at @blackurbanist

And if you like these conversations and advocating for human-scale cities, you can donate to our efforts on our Patreon page at www.patreon.com/thirdwaveurbanism. Thank you all for listening!

Here are the references in this episode:

City Lab article: “Two takes on the fate of future cities”

https://www.citylab.com/housing/2017/04/two-takes-on-the-fate-of-future-cities/521907/?utm_source=nl__link3_042117

Washington Post: “This guy convinced cities to cater to tech-savvy millennials. Now he’s reconsidering”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/digger/wp/2017/04/17/as-the-creative-class-divides-america-its-inventor-richard-florida-reconsiders/?utm_campaign=6c045158c6-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2016_12_20&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Editorial%20and%20Events&utm_term=.86428f27dd8e

CityLab article: "Cities can’t fix the new urban crisis"

https://www.citylab.com/politics/2017/04/the-case-for-regionalism/524013/?utm_source=nl__link3_042417

Scholarly critique: “Doing a Florida thing: the creative class thesis and cultural policy” http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10286630902763281

And his original creative class thesis: http://creativeclass.com/rfcgdb/articles/4%20Cities%20and%20the%20Creative%20Class.pdf

Philadelphia’s office of Arts, Culture, and the Creative Economy: http://creativephl.org/

Intro and closing music is "Urban Life" by Gustavs Strazdin used under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license: creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/legalcode

Following the election in the US, we were faced with a different set of realities - personally, politically, even spiritually. Now that we're in a more productive space (finally), we're moving forward to make a difference where we can, while exploring ways to impact city space for our most vulnerable citizens.

In this episode we talk about a recent Next City article on designing a public space in Stockholm, Sweden, specifically around women who are absent in the space. What does this mean to make a space with women in mind? What is the feminist city? By occupying space as a woman, whether during the Women's March on Washington or even in the simple act of a picnic, are we asserting our rights to space? And is that even enough? What more can be done?

All this and more in our first episode of 2017 as we get back on the mic! Keep an eye out for more frequent content on recent urban news as we figure out the best way to stay positive and productive.

As always, you can keep up with our thoughts and send us your comments on Twitter or Instagram:

Katrina can be found at @think_katrina

Kristen can be found at @blackurbanist

And if you like these conversations and advocating for human-scale cities, you can donate to our efforts on our Patreon page at www.patreon.com/thirdwaveurbanism. Thank you all for listening!

Here are the references in this episode:

Next City article "Stockholm Suburb is Transforming Public Square with Women in Mind": https://nextcity.org/daily/entry/stockholm-suburb-design-public-square-women-safety

Safe Bars in Washington DC: http://safebars.org/

And of course, the Women's March on Washington: https://www.womensmarch.com/

Intro and closing music is "Urban Life" by Gustavs Strazdin used under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license: creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/legalcode

This episode explores the future of driving, or more specifically the predicted future of autonomous/driverless/self-driving vehicles. No matter what you call it, it has a lot of both ethical and human-centered issues, and as we continue testing this technology both in simulations and the real world, we're coming to realize that "smarter" may not necessarily be better.

Going "back" to simpler models of shared streets and bolstering public transportation may not necessarily be as sexy, but is a fully autonomous future really going to live up to predictions? Listen in as we unpack Transit Oriented Development, the Trolley Dilemma, and a bit of Star Trek for good measure - and then let us know what you think on Twitter (https://twitter.com/ThirdWaveUrban) or Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/thirdwaveurbanism/).

Note: We would like to mention briefly that this episode was recorded before the election here in the United States. We've been taking some time to process the results and are working on a follow-up episode based on our recent live conversation at Pipeline Philly on women and cities. So stay strong, and stay tuned!

As always, you can check out our respective Twitter and Instagram accounts for more urban observations:

Katrina can be found at @think_katrina

Kristen can be found at @blackurbanist

And if you like these conversations and advocating for human-scale cities, you can donate to our efforts on our Patreon page at https://www.patreon.com/thirdwaveurbanism. Thank you all for listening!

Here are some articles referenced in this episode:

Self driving cars are not 5 years away: https://shift.newco.co/self-driving-cars-are-not-five-years-away-7f4474002995#.xtgk3vc2u

Forbes - self driving cars will kill TOD: http://www.forbes.com/sites/billconerly/2016/08/08/self-driving-cars-will-kill-transit-oriented-development/#46845ebb134d

Pittsburgh as test-city: http://www.citylab.com/commute/2016/08/uber-self-driving-cars-pittsburgh/496499/?utm_source=nl__link1_081916

Self-driving cars - autopilot fail and what we’ll be doing in them: http://www.citylab.com/tech/2016/09/linknyc-pulls-web-access-from-its-wi-fi-kiosks-over-porn-use/500015/?utm_source=nl__link1_091516

Government regulations on self-driving cars: http://www.citylab.com/commute/2016/09/the-us-dot-officially-puts-a-car-in-the-self-driving-race/500744/?utm_source=nl__link6_092116

Price of driverless cars: http://cityobservatory.org/price-of-autonomous-cars/?utm_content=bufferea713&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Will driverless cars make streets safer for biking/walking? http://usa.streetsblog.org/2016/09/22/will-u-s-dots-self-driving-car-rules-make-streets-safer-for-walking-and-biking/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Streetsblog+%28Streetsblog%29

Will driverless cars protect black people from police violence? http://www.citylab.com/tech/2016/09/will-self-driving-cars-protect-black-people-from-police-violence/500933/

Guardian - How computers are setting us up for disaster: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/oct/11/crash-how-computers-are-setting-us-up-disaster?CMP=share_btn_tw

Mercedes driverless cars policy: https://www.fastcoexist.com/3064539/self-driving-mercedes-will-be-programmed-to-sacrifice-pedestrians-to-save-the-driver

Jaywalking is not a crime: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AFn7MiJz_s

The reality of electric cars (and also driverless?) http://www.copenhagenize.com/2016/10/electric-cars-where-will-energy-come.html

Intro and closing music is "Urban Life" by Gustavs Strazdin used under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license: creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/legalcode

When we think about New Orleans we conjure up an image of mystique, music, but also history, and even despair. Kristen made a visit recently in what is the first of our City Spotlight series, focusing on three amazing women helping to make their city a better place for everyone. Listen in on their conversation to hear more about what challenges still remain in this "seductress" of a city, and what the future holds in these capable hands.

A big thank you to the lovely ladies who were featured on this podcast - you can find out more about them and their work at their respective sites:

Naomi Doerner - https://www.linkedin.com/in/naomi-doerner-8538175

Suzanne Mobley - http://www.tulanecitycenter.org/suzanne/

Melissa Lee - http://noraworks.org/about/team

Thank you for listening! And as always, you can find more at thirdwaveurbanism.com/ and check out our social media accounts for more urban observations:

Katrina can be found at twitter.com/think_katrina

Kristen can be found at twitter.com/blackurbanist

Intro and closing music is "Urban Life" by Gustavs Strazdin used under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license: creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/legalcode

Bikes have become in many ways a loaded term you're either for or against. They incite aggression when bike lanes replace car parking, and bring up questions of gentrification and equity when dispersing bike share corrals or protected lanes. So what is it about bikes - a fun youthful activity - that turns them into a contested form of transportation as an adult? It's no secret that we like bikes, and in this episode we discuss a few recent articles on the subject, and return to what got us on a bike (and sticking with it) over the years.

Thank you for listening! And as always, you can find more at thirdwaveurbanism.com/ and check out our respective social media accounts for more urban observations:

Katrina can be found at twitter.com/think_katrina

Kristen can be found at twitter.com/blackurbanist

Portland's "bikeway innovation":

http://bikeportland.org/2016/08/02/say-hello-to-crossbikes-portlands-latest-bikeway-innovation-188841

Bike share and protected bike lanes: http://www.fastcoexist.com/3062446/world-changing-ideas/the-key-to-making-cities-safer-protected-bike-lanes-and-bike-shares?utm_content=buffer1da46&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Police on bikes after the RNC: https://nextcity.org/daily/entry/rnc-police-bike-unit-trump

Cycling is worth the “risk”: https://ig.ft.com/sites/urban-cycling/

Kristen’s Bike Story: http://theblackurbanist.com/on-a-woman-and-her-bikes/

Katrina's recent bike "innovation" rant: https://thinkurban.org/2016/09/04/its-time-to-put-an-end-to-bikeway-band-aids/

Intro and closing music is "Urban Life" by Gustavs Strazdin used under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license: creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/legalcode