Episode Summary
This week's episode covers three key patterns:
- If you're a developer, get back to basics and consider using timber, rather than concrete and steel. It seems crazy to say with recent fluctuations in lumber prices but check out mass timber. It might save you money and help the planet.
- Think about how to use existing infrastructure in your city to make more playable elements. If you don't want playable just put up a mural that people will be proud to tag themselves in.
- Consider building a "market strategy" in your town. Public markets are one of the oldest uses of public space and can help stimulate the local economy and bring vibrancy to your town.
Links To Sources
World's tallest timber tower (3 min read). As of Q3 2021, over a thousand buildings in the United States have used the same method (source)
More insights into building a playable city (pdf: 64 pages) by design firm Urban Conga.(marketing site)
3 strategic actions for supporting city markets (5 min read)
Outside The Episode
The Ascent is slated to be 283 ft tall and would surpass the 280 ft Mjos Tower in Norway. This would make the Ascent the tallest mass timber building in the world.
"There is no logic that can be super imposed on the city; people make it and is to them, not buildings, that we must make fit our plans." - Jane Jacobs.
As discussed in this episode, an example of what data you can collect, measure, and communicate it to key stakeholders as part of the 7 strategies for making market cities. According to Project for Public Space, "This is a snapshot of Toronto's markets in 2019. Data was collected through online research and market survey, as well as data from the Greenbelt Farmers Market Network and Farmers Market Ontario reports."
Episode Transcript
Hey everybody it's Kyle. Where, on this podcast, I share, discuss, ponder, and try to connect some dots through the best content I've discovered each week related to urban planning, architecture, and cities.
Ultimately, trying to learn, what are the patterns of development?
Big pattern right out of the gate, maybe it's a trend, might not be a pattern yet...
The worlds tallest timber tower is being built in Milwaukee, WI.
Timber, wood, and tall aren't usually words associated with one another. American engineers famous for inventing the sky scrapper with a combination of steel and concrete. To this day that method is most common when you're looking to build up.
Maybe not anymore.
Timber is (believe it or not) still cheaper to use. It's certainly easier to use and could potentially be more durable in the long run.
According to the team behind the project in Milwaukee, quoting Tim Gokman, "Mass timber construction requires 90% less construction traffic, 75% fewer workers on-site, and is 25% faster than traditional construction."
These potential efficiencies lead to cost savings for the developer and construction team because they're simply planning on using less resources.
If you can't read between the lines here, it means it's greener. You're burning less carbon. A concrete structure went up in my neighborhood, for months every morning I would watch multiple trucks go down my street hauling pre fabricated pieces from where they were manufactured to the site. It's expensive. Tim Gokman with New Land Enterprises thinks mass timber can help him save money and be a little nicer to the planet.
While this sounds new (and in a way were going way back to the basics) but this change, this new trend isn't new.
According to woodworks.org there's 1,169 mass timber projects active in the United States as of q3 2021.
The reason why most people don't do this is 1) development is hard. 2) you go out of your way to try something "new" and it's going to get even harder. The international Building Code specifically limited the construction of tall timber buildings for safety.
This is part of the reason all the new developments made of wood look the same -- that's a whole different episode...
Anyway anyway...
Let's follow up on something from last weeks episode.
Playable cities.
Digging into the idea more I found a design studio Urban Conga that embraces the idea of playable cities. In the show notes there's a link to their 64 page e-book, I'll share with you their top 10 guide lines to consider while making your city more playable:
- Keep play open ended - Creating a playful moment doesn't have to mean creating a singular way of using something
- Utilize preexisting infrastructure - cheaper, more efficient, and allows people to feel more comfortable
- Create inclusive, shared playable opportunities
- Work with your community - design for people not places
- Design intentionally for the space - create something that fits the place which it resides
- Make it inviting both during the day and at night
- Keep it simple but wondrous
- Make it convent to access
- Create play for all ages (see #3)
- Remember the why - ah yes - Simon sinek's idea - start with why. People don't buy what you do, they buy why you do it. Apple - Think differently. Right?
In this context you're likely trying to create something that's visually attractive and can create a multi functional space.
I editorialized a bit in there but those are the 10 keys for playable spaces by Urban Conga.
Last up, strategic actions to take to make your city a market city.
You might be asking yourself, why do you want your city to be a market city?
The article by Kelly Verel on Project for Public Spaces Blog discusses strategies to make market happen but lets take a step back.
Public markets are as old as civilization. Cities have been shaped by the rise and fall of their markets. Starting with the open air markets of tribes, to the town square, to the financial markets, the malls, the websites and platforms of today --- bringing people together buy/sell/trade stuff --- is at the core of humanity.
Ok...so you want your city to tap into that. That energy that activity. You pair a market, with some playable space, build some new mass timber housing projects, you've got your self a dynamic neighborhood. So how to get markets to your town
Kelly discusses 7 strategies:
- A market city will include a wide variety of types of markets in a city as part of one market system
- ...organize a diverse coalition of partners and shareholders who can take action together to achieve common goals
- ...measures the value of their markets and understands how they function
- ...prioritize and support healthy affordable safe food and goods to be produced
- ...regularly invest in market facilities and management skills of market operators
- ...helps diverse types of vendors start and grow businesses
- ...markets are public spaces and welcomes different kinds of people
I want to call out #3 specifically...measure the value of your market and how they function. There's magic there...Peter Drucker the famous business management guru said, "what gets measured gets managed." This measurement will be an essential part of the feedback loop of communicating value to the community at large and is usually a missed part of the puzzle.
This weeks articles lead to 3 key patterns:
- If you're a developer, get back to basics and consider using timber, rather than concrete and steel. It seems crazy to say with recent fluctuations in lumber prices but check out mass timber. It might save you money and help the planet.
- Think about how to use existing infrastructure in your city to make more playable elements. If you don't want playable just put up a mural that people will be proud to tag themselves in.
- Consider building a "market strategy" in your town. Public markets are one of the oldest uses of public space and can help stimulate the local economy and bring vibrancy to your town.
That's all for this week...
