Fun urbanism: Making repelling bollards more inviting

Bollards are booming since the 9/11 bombings in the United States and more recent vehicular terrorism in London (and elsewhere). Bollards and other defensive architecture may protect buildings and sidewalks from vehicles, but they typically don’t encourage people to come enjoy public spaces. Jersey barriers are probably only redeemable by really great graffiti or art …

Fun urbanism: Putting more people and more play in playgrounds

From Medium: A Q & A with Meghan Talarowski about why London playgrounds are more active and draw more adults than in the USA: The playgrounds are much more open-ended. They also have riskier, more adventurous elements, like giant tree houses or huge slides. So they attract a much wider age-range. A lot of the …

Fun Urbanism – Spring edition

As Minnesotans know, the end of winter brings green leaves and potholes. Fixing potholes and repairing sidewalks are important Spring tasks, but in the meantime perhaps we might simply enjoy them with The Pothole Gardener.  

No fun urbanism

Sarah Goodyear doesn’t want us to have fun.  She complains fun urban tricks like swings, slides and games are “dangerously beside the point” of making cities safer, cleaner and more livable. I think this criticism misses the point.  Swings and slides are not “design solutions” and I don’t believe they’re intended to solve big city …