Metropolitics

The Emergence of Ecological Thinking in the City

Charles-François Mathis & translated by Oliver Waine — 2022-09-27T05:00:00Z

What place does ecological thinking have in the field of urban planning? In describing the use of vegetation in cities since the 19th century, Charles-François Mathis examines the historical evolution of planning choices and the foundations of a new “ecological urbanism.”
Wherever I may go today, if the opportunity arises, if I have an hour to spare in an unknown city, a complacent drift takes me along the streets, towards these placid chlorophyllous enclaves encircled nowadays by the

- Essays / landscape, nature, gardens, ecology, parks, urban development, urban planning, environment, history

Birdwatching in the City: A Case for Multispecies Tourism

Elizabeth Cherry & August Davidson-Onsgard & Lisa Jean Moore — 2018-01-16T06:00:00Z

This essay analyzes the growth of urban avitourism—wildlife tourism focused on birds—as an activity that drives humans and revenue to urban centers. Two sociologists and a birder/wildlife photographer consider the implications of heightened human awareness of nature in cities.
Birds as urban celebrities
In early December of 2015, a painted bunting was sighted in Brooklyn's Prospect Park. Birders from all over the New York metropolitan area learned of the bird's arrival through their “rare

- Essays / parks, nature, New York, tourism, wildlife, urban tourism, avitourism, urban wildlife, migratory birds, bird habitats, birds, birding, birdwatching, wildlife tourism, ecotourism, urban parks

Swept Away: Public Work and the Politics of Employment in New York City's Parks

John Krinsky & Maud Simonet — 2017-09-06T04:36:46Z

Upwards of 4,000 unionized civil-service workers once cleaned and maintained New York City's parks. Today about 1,800 such workers share this task with volunteers, employees of nonprofit organizations on contract with the city, community-service sentencees, and former welfare recipients doing temporary parks work in hopes of obtaining permanent positions. John Krinsky and Maud Simonet trace the evolving political economy of parks work in New York, demonstrating its impact on workers. They also

- From the Field / parks, civil service, green spaces, employment, work, New York, sexual harassment, trade unions, community service, volunteers, workfare

Between Green Paris and Immigrant Paris: The Politics of the Jardins d'Éole

Maura McGee — 2017-03-21T06:00:00Z

As leaders in global cities reimagine and rebuild their metropolises as green capitals of the future, who has the right to the new sustainable city? In her review of Andrew Newman's Landscape of Discontent: Urban Sustainability in Immigrant Paris, Maura McGee comments on the contradictions of ecological urbanism in northeast Paris.
Global discourse on urban sustainability has sparked a green turn in urban policy, planning, and design. Local officials deploy environmental policies not just to

- Reviews / France, parks, Paris, green spaces, environmental justice, urban sustainability, ecological urbanism, Jardins d'Éole, Cour du Maroc, Mal-Logés, Bertrand Delanoë

“Placemaking”: a new approach to designing and managing urban public spaces

Michèle Jolé & Stéphane Tonnelat — 2010-11-23T16:22:04Z

Based in New York City, PPS or "Project for Public Spaces" is an innovating urban planning and design company at the forefront of the contemporary trend of advocacy for better public spaces around the world. Though they regard Paris as an inspiring example, they also suggest ways to enhance the role of its public spaces towards more lively and more economically sustainable neighborhoods.
---- Dossier : Espaces publics urbains et concertation Kathy Madden is senior vice-president of Project

- Interviews / public space, placemaking, parks, video