You know it when you walk by a spruced up front stoop, or walk through a park with plentiful benches — the little design elements make a big difference in our day to day urban lives. Now, thanks to the Center for Active Design, science has shown just how much of an impact these “extras” have on not only how welcome we feel in a place, but also importantly our sense of trust in institutions and overall city satisfaction. 

What implications do these findings have on our built environment? How do we apply these principles in an equitable way? And what can we do to ensure that our cities are promoting citizen-led action and prioritizing these small but mighty design elements for everyone? Tune in to hear more about this unprecedented survey, as well as the latest shoutout to this week's #urbanistwomenatwork. 

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

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

Articles referenced in this episode:

Main article from Fast Co Design — Science is proving why urban design matters more than ever: https://www.fastcodesign.com/90131075/science-is-proving-why-urban-design-matters-more-than-ever

The original study, the Assembly Civic Engagement Study, from the Center for Active Design: https://centerforactivedesign.org/assembly-civic-engagement-survey

A briefly mentioned article on Little Free Library controversy: https://www.citylab.com/life/2017/05/the-case-against-little-free-libraries/523533/

A proposed (and thankfully retracted) bill on getting approval for civic-minded sidewalk additions in Philadelphia: http://planphilly.com/articles/2017/02/06/after-blowback-blackwell-scraps-her-sidewalk-bill

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 Science of Civic Life

We are so delighted to have been invited to this year’s annual NACTO Designing Cities conference! In this very special live recording we talk with Skye Duncan, Director of the Global Designing Cities Initiative, about their upcoming initiative on children and caretakers. A huge thank you to Corinne Kisner and the entire team at NACTO for inviting us to present, and to Jeff Wood of The Overhead Wire for the live broadcast and podcast recording! 

Don’t forget — we’re a crowdfunded podcast! If you like our intersectional take on urbanism, you can contribute to our efforts by becoming our patron. Check out our Patreon page at www.patreon.com/thirdwaveurbanism for more details. Thank you to our supporters, and thank you all for listening, sharing, and doing what you do!

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

Episode references:
NACTO’s Designing Cities Conference: https://nacto.org/conference/designing-cities-conference-chicago-2017/

The Global Designing Cities Initiative: https://globaldesigningcities.org/

The Overhead Wire podcast with Jeff Wood: https://theoverheadwire.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

LIVE in Chicago at NACTO Designing Cities Conference w/ Skye Duncan!

African Americans make up about 12 percent of the population in the U.S. but only about two percent of registered architects, with African American women consisting of .02 percent of architects overall. If the practice is meant to reflect the people being designed for, it will need to find ways to promote diversity within the field and in educational programs. In this episode we talk with three members of Perkins+Will, one of the first big US studios to hire a Director of Global Diversity, who are aiming to do just that. 

Our guests include: Gabrielle Bullock, an active member of NOMA (the National Organization of Minority Architects), Director of Global Diversity and leader of Perkins+Will’s Diversity+Inclusion+Engagement Strategic Plan; Nick Seierup, Design Principal in the Los Angeles office and inaugural Visiting Scholar at Tuskegee University; and Kevin Holland, Director of Operations at Perkins+Will LA, also on the Architectural Advisory Board at Tuskegee University and a past President of NOMA. 

Don’t forget — we’re a crowdfunded podcast, which means we rely on YOU! If you like our intersectional take on urbanism, you can contribute to our efforts by becoming our patron at www.patreon.com/thirdwaveurbanism. Thank you to our supporters, and thank you all for listening, sharing, and doing what you do!

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

Episode references:
Perkins+Will Diversity + Inclusion + Engagement Initiative: https://perkinswill.com/purpose/diversity

Perkins+Will and Tuskegee University Annual Visiting Scholar Program: http://perkinswill.com/news/tuskegee-university-launch-annual-professional-visiting-scholar-program

National Organization of Minority Architects: http://www.noma.net/

Architects Newspaper’s interview with Gabrielle Bullock: https://archpaper.com/2016/10/talks-gabrielle-bullock-director-global-diversity-perkinswill/
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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

Making Architecture More Diverse w/ Perkins+Will

The night has the power to invoke a myriad of emotions — from fear to romance, melancholy to excitement. Whatever your feelings, the fact remains that the nighttime consists of half of our time on this earth, and that means half of our time in our cities as well. What can we do to ensure that our cities are truly taking advantage of their 24-hour needs? What does it mean to design for nighttime? 

In this episode we talk with Leni Schwendinger, an expert on nighttime design and Director of Nightseeing (and so much more!), on the many types of light, what to do on a light walk, and how to take a holistic look at our cities’ daily light cycles. 

Don’t forget — we’re a crowdfunded podcast, which means we rely on YOU! If you like our intersectional take on urbanism, you can contribute to our efforts by becoming our patron at www.patreon.com/thirdwaveurbanism. Thank you to our supporters, and thank you all for listening, sharing, and doing what you do!

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

Episode references:
The Nighttseeing™ Program: http://www.nightseeing.net/

The video of Smart Everyday Nighttime Design in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDRG0R8kB1E&feature=youtu.be

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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

Nighttime Design w/ Leni Schwendinger

Cities are host to a variety of cultural assets, from local music to theatre, community arts and nightclubs. But not all of them prioritize these assets or their infrastructure — the spaces where creatives work, live and perform. In the quest to attract the “creative class”, these cities can neglect the very culture creators who made them attractive places to begin with. For the sake of avoiding the scourge of the “non-place”, Rebecca Greenwald has a simple request: listen to your creatives, preserve your cultural assets, and create a culture that is authentic and attractive for locals and tourists alike. 

Check out our conversation with Rebecca, and be sure to check out her article with Yvonne Lo on Next City for more on the full report for the World Cities Culture Forum. 

Don’t forget — we’re a crowdfunded podcast, which means we rely on YOU! If you like what you hear, contribute to our efforts by becoming our patron at www.patreon.com/thirdwaveurbanism. Thank you to our supporters, and thank you all for listening, sharing, and doing what you do!

Episode references:
Making Space for Culture (World Cities Culture Forum) : 
http://www.worldcitiescultureforum.com/assets/others/171020_MSFC_Report_DIGITAL.pdf

Making Space for Culture: How Cities Can Preserve Their Valued (and Valuable) Cultural Assets - https://nextcity.org/daily/entry/making-space-for-culture-how-cities-can-preserve-their-valued-and-valuable

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

Cities and Culture w/ Rebecca Greenwald

A podcast highlighting the new normal of urbanism in our globalized cities, as told by Kristen Jeffers and Katrina Johnston-Zimmerman - two female urbanists. 

Third Wave Urbanism

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