Trend Watch March 2021

#ChooseToChallenge: landscape architects interviewed for International Women’s Day

The Australian Institute of Landscape Architects has published a series of interviews with inspirational female Landscape Architects from around the world to celebrate their leadership in both industry and gender equity.

Hear from the likes of Martha Schwartz, Kirsten Bauer, Mary Bowman, and Catherin Bull, to name a few. Find out about their career journey, how they have been supported along the way, and tips on combating gender issues.

Go to AILA’s IWD series.

The downside of the 15-minute city

The 15-minute city concept, in which residents live within a short walk or bike ride of all their daily needs, has been embraced by many mayors around the world during the global pandemic as a central planning tenet. However applying this model to North American cities may not prove as fruitful as interventions in European cities originally designed without cars in mind, writes Feargus O’Sullivan for CityLab.

“I am averse to this concept. It doesn’t take into account the histories of urban inequity, intentionally imposed by technocratic and colonial planning approaches, such as segregated neighborhoods, deep amenity inequity and discriminatory policing of our public spaces,” Toronto-based urban designer and thinker Jay Pitter told City Lab.

Read the article, Where the ’15-Minute City’ Falls Short.

Image: Pedro Netto on Unsplash.