Urban Planning

Q&A with Rose Gowen: How Brownsville is fighting public obesity and making a more vibrant city

Rose Gowen is a city commissioner and OB-GYN in Brownsville, a city of 180,000 that sits just north of the Texas-Mexico border. The greater Brownsville area has the highest poverty rate in the country – 35 percent – which has contributed to an obesity and diabetes epidemic. Gowen spoke with the Kinder Institute’s Ryan Holeywell about how the city is trying to combat a public health crisis. The interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Cities tap university expertise to cure urban ills

They’re trying to make “big data” more than a catch phrase.

Buses aren’t always convenient. Houston Metro plans to fix that.

Even though Kurt Luhrsen works for the Houston-area transit agency, he knows its bus system is less than ideal.

Mapping a community one parking spot at a time

Maps are one way to represent how we understand a given space.

Can you design a city by playing with toys? James Rojas thinks so.

Most adults aren’t interested in playing with toys. James Rojas hopes to change their minds. After all, he says, the future of their cities might depend on it.

Pierce Elevated May Go Back to the Future

Could Houston reconnect its downtown grid? If a new TxDOT plan for I-45 gets approved, midtown and downtown would look a lot more like they did in 1962.