Editors: Andrew L. Dannenberg, Howard Frumkin, and Richard J. Jackson (Island Press, 2011) Real estate agents are known for using many tricks to sell a house.  But perhaps no line could ever be as enticing as ‘live here and you will live longer’.  This is the principle on which the book Making Healthy Places is based – that it is possible to plan and design communities which improve the health of residents.  Conversely, it is possible, and some would say easier, to plan and design communities which actively worsen the health of residents. This link between city planning and public health is nothing new and was particularly prominent during the Victorian age when many urban planning interventions aimed to tackle the worsening health conditions of industrialized cities and towns.  Ebenezer Howard's famous Garden City Movement set out to create a utopian settlement where the clean air and water could overcome the health concerns of the time.  And more recently the urban renewal projects of the 1960s were often couched in terms of eliminating overcrowding and the associated negative health conditions of city dwellers.

Not another Jane Jacobs review.  Unfortunately yes.  If you are reading this blog, chances are high that you have a dog-eaten copy of Death & Life lying around your home as a reminder of graduate school.  Planners and non-planners alike have increasingly become familiar with the ideas and language of Jane Jacobs and it is hard to go a week without seeing her quoted in a newspaper or magazine article.  Furthermore, with 2011 marking the 50th anniversary of the original publication of Death & Life, expect plenty more reaction and commentary.  So is there anything left to say?  Thankfully, yes.

Following the UN declaration in 2008 that the majority of people now live in cities, there has been an explosion of city-themed commentary in magazines, newspapers and books.  The Economist and The Walrus have both run notable urban-themed issues and now Scientific American has followed the lead and dedicated the September 2011 issue to cities.  These media outlets have capitalized on the broad scope that city analysis permits - allowing musings on geography, sociology, architecture and governance to name a few.  There is also a realization, stressed in the Scientific American feature, that cities are the future. Not too long ago cities were characterized by urban decay, riots and white flight to the suburbs, whereas they can now embody economic powerhouses that drive innovation.  City commentary also focuses on the growing 'green' agenda, where by virtue of having a smaller carbon footprint urban dwellers can provide lessons for responding to climate change.  It is in this context that Scientific American praises the positive role of cities and calls for public policy to provide greater support to our growing cities.  Though the magazine provides 11 separate articles, I focus on a couple of the key themes below.

Though the summer weather has stayed away, Vancouver is experiencing a growth in street activity.  The increased number of specialist food vendors is being rightfully celebrated as the city's foodie culture breaks out into the street.  Parts of downtown and beyond are also regularly closed to improve the pedestrian experience as part of the 'VIVA Vancouver' initiative.  Downtown Granville Street, for example, is pedestrianized at weekends to accommodate street entertainment and outdoor seating.  Yet despite this resurgence I feel something is missing from Vancouver's public spaces.  Newspaper kiosks. To a European urbanist the prevalence of newspaper boxes in a city is strikingly impersonal, not to mention lacking in choice and design.  This may be a strange time to be defending print media, but the kiosk is not dead (at least not yet) and can be a tool for enriching Vancouver's public spaces.