Kinder Institute Forum: Tamika L. Butler
EVENT : May 13, 2022
A national expert and speaker on issues related to the built environment and equity, Tamika L. Butler discusses institutional oppression, the importance of inclusive urban design, and how to make transportation and public spaces more equitable.
Urban Reads: Leslie Kern
EVENT : May 10, 2022
Leslie Kern discusses "Feminist City: Claiming Space in a Man-Made World."
An economist’s case for urban density: It’s just math
URBAN EDGE : March 28, 2022
Conversation about land use and building in cities often turns to questions of aesthetics or personal preferences. You find impassioned advocates of various kinds of architecture or lifestyle.
A wider view: Where Houston stands as it recovers from Harvey and builds its resilience
URBAN EDGE : March 15, 2022
What do trees, bike lanes, and billions in federal disaster aid have in common? They are some of the building blocks of Houston’s future—one that is safer, more equitable and better positioned to withstand future disasters. They’re also among the inventory of measures included in the Kinder Institute’s new Resilience and Recovery Tracker.
Scribbles from Switzerland: In a world of disruption, a tiny old European region has a lot of answers
URBAN EDGE : December 15, 2021
I just took a trip to Switzerland and southern Germany, and was amazed by what I saw and experienced. As a country goes, Switzerland is relatively old, landlocked, and small. However, despite its reputation for being just about chocolate and skiing, it’s also quite diverse, both socially and economically. Its terrain is wildly varied, combining mountains, valleys, plains and lakes, with historically strong and distinct areas clearly defined in each area. And Switzerland consistently ranks near the highest in terms of overall quality of life.
Kinder Institute Forum: Antoine Bryant
EVENT : November 10, 2021
Planner and community advocate Antoine Bryant discusses his work on affordable housing, equitable development and community-led design.
3 trends in urban planning that will shape how we live in the endemic-COVID era
URBAN EDGE : October 13, 2021
It is now clear that the pandemic will not be behind us anytime soon. The pandemic variants and skepticism over the vaccine have made the potential for herd immunity (requiring a very high vaccination rate globally) difficult if not impossible to attain. This means that we are probably going to have to live with COVID for the foreseeable future and to adapt continuously to its impacts to our way of life.
The Woodlands puts incorporation question up for a vote
URBAN EDGE : October 11, 2021
The Houston suburb of The Woodlands has been called an “invisible city” for the dense tree canopy that shrouds the extent of its development. It is invisible perhaps in another way: It’s not a city at all, but rather a patchwork of special districts, service contracts and interlocal agreements—a tenuous marvel of public-private partnership. But that could soon change.
Texas cities are as sprawling as ever. But they’re also more dense.
URBAN EDGE : September 15, 2021
The popular perception is that Texas’s metropolitan areas are sprawling all over the place because the state has so much land. The truth of the matter is a little more complicated, however. Yes, all the metros in Texas are sprawling – but they’re densifying as well. And when you “net it out,” the density is winning over the sprawl in the big metros – while the sprawl is winning over the density in the smaller ones.