Urban Planning

Architecture firm explores how to 3D-print houses

Gensler, the San Francisco-based design and architecture firm, says it’s working with a Chinese company to explore the possibility of producing homes using massive 3D-printers.

How Oklahoma City’s mayor put his city on a diet

Most communities are delighted to make any of the “top city” lists that have become ubiquitous in the media in recent years.

What happens when you let kids build a city?

East End residents used objects to represent police stations and recreation centers they want built in their neighborhood.

Can a building’s design promote healthy lifestyles?

For more than a decade, developers competed to brand their buildings as “green,” betting that tenants would pay a premium for a structure with energy-efficient features that could save money and or garner positive PR.

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.