Blog Exercise Seven

In our world today cities around the globe are becoming more and more alike in becoming what is now known as homogenous cities. They are all sharing the same properties as far as the way their cities are being globally advertised and have central business districts. These central business districts foundations include corporations, architecture and components that are not considered “local.” It is not unlikely to be able to build a skyscraper that looks as if you were in New York City in Shanghai or have a building in Rome resemble that of Moscow. Globalized advertising also has to do with this worldwide spread of westernization. Having similar looking cities means that in some way the city is going to have to be able to “stand out” in its own special way and draw tourist to their city, which can be done in a couple different ways. One of the ways cities are doing this is by building “icons” within their city. For instance, in the above pictures are examples of many different “icons” that cities have built up to attract people and to make their city stand out in their own special way. One of the pictures shows the golden gate bridge of San Francisco, being declared one if the Wonders of the Modern World having the longest suspension bridge main span in the world. Another is the Sydney Opera House in Sydney Australia. This building is a very uniquely built structure that was constructed by a Danish architect names Jorn Utzon. It is considered one of the best performing arts center in the world. Another iconic building is the Shard Tower that towers over the London skyline. It is currently one of the tallest buildings in the United Kingdom and with it made of glass reflecting the natural light is a wonder to see. One other stunning skyline is that of Hong Kong China, pictured above. It is known for how the use of colored lights at night being reflected on the water that the city sits beside. Rio is another prime example of iconic features because it uses a manmade monument as well as their surroundings. Rio uses not only a human built icon but also the landscape surrounding the area of the city as well to stand out in the worldly crowd. With beautiful beaches and surrounding mountain scape scenery, one cannot forget Christ the Redeemer looking over the town atop the mountain Corcovado. In addition to these pictures these are only a few among a plethora of different “icons” that make each city stand out in its own special way. There are many landscapes that are used to draw attention to their cities. For instance, Denver Colorado has Red Rock, one of the most iconic venues in the United States for concerts. Rome has plenty of historical architectural icons such as the Pantheon. One sign that everybody seems to know and have heard of that has no use to anyone what so ever is the Hollywood sign in California. Even though cities are becoming homogeneous in ways of having access to looking very similar, there will always be something that sticks out to tell a story about that particular city. Whether it be from the surrounding landscape to a huge magnificent building, to just a simple sign, cities around the world may become more alike but there will always be a way that their heritage of a piece of the city stays within their culture and makes the city different from the rest.

All the bairns o' Adam

Hey there, usual rules, but wait until after Thursday’s lecture to try to respond to this one…I will get the last couple graded by the end of this week…

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Blog Exercise Six

Here we are looking at social housing in Europe. Social housing is a type of public housing or affordable housing. Social housing key function is to provide accommodations that are affordable to people with low incomes. This in turn lowers the amount of rent owed by each tenant a month that is usually regulated by laws that are enforced. In Europe affordable housing is largely managed by nonprofit housing associations with very few private builders are involved. It does differ from country to country but mostly there social housing program is much more effective than the one we have here in the United States. Developers in the Netherlands and U.K. for example always have direct access to a large amount of financial resources. In the Netherlands there is a loan guarantee program that is funded by builders that allows them to borrow money from banks at extremely low rates, along with this there is a minimal amount of paperwork. The other reason is that both of these countries have vast amount of size and strength. Some housing developers own anywhere between 50,000 to 70,000 units, while others that are considered ‘smaller’ control around 20,000 units. An example of this great system is in a city called Tillburg in the Netherlands, which is the nation’s seventh largest city. Fifty one percent of the population is social housing. One more of the popular cities would be London, where an average of thirty percent of the population live in government housing. Another positive point is that there isn’t just a neighborhood of social housing. The units are mixed in all together not creating a line of on the market houses and social housing. Therefore it all blends together and the houses that are social housing look as if they were to be put on the market. A program that has come into place to contribute to the U.K.s housing system that is informative, rigorous, and reliable is BSHF. They make their research available to politicians and policy-makers, as well as to housing practitioners and other researchers. In 2009 they published a comprehensive review called The Future of Housing. It highlighted the eight key areas that need attention. These included house price volatility and increasing the range of housing providers in order to combat undersupply and increase the quality and variety of housing. (BSHF)Europe does a great job at putting the needs of housing first to everyone, no matter what social class or where you come from. There are problems that come along the way but the importance of everyone to have a roof over their head seems to always make the negative aspects disappear.

Works Cited
http://www.bshf.org/ukhpp/?lang=00
http://www.shelterforce.com/online/issues/133/europe.html

All the bairns o' Adam

These are all images of social housing projects in Europe…discuss (both the images and the history, execution and success of such projects)…

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Blog Exercise Five

Seeing America pre and post World War II is like looking at two totally different countries. Although pre World War II America is still developing in numerous ways but compared to after World War II it seems to be at a turtles pace. There are very important inventions that come into place such as, the telephone and automobile. Another feat before this era is the railroad system that is put in place all this with the industrial revolution being taken place. As far as the economy goes, it was suffering and barely there and when the Great Depression hit it was a severe spiral downhill. Needless to say World War II which was the main reason we got out of the Great Depression, helped jumpstart our economy as well as the growth of our country as well in all aspects. The winning of World War II gave people the confidence and optimism in themselves that they needed. One of the major events that took place was the event of “urban sprawl” or the spread of the suburban areas around the United States. The Federal Housing Administration was made into effect as a part of the National Housing Act in 1935. In a 1936 Bulletin the FHA took concepts from three people, Unwin, Perry, and Stein, and put them all together to come up with a concept of planning a neighborhood. Three forms were then laid out for a framework of residential street layouts; Curvilinear, Cul-de-sacs, and Courts. By 1959 this administration had helped three out of every five American families purchase a home and helped millions of families to repair their damaged homes. The FHA did not only help homeowners but banks, business establishments, farms, and building and loan associations. Another helpful attribute was The G.I. Bill of Rights that passed in 1945, helped veterans get money to go to school along with being able to afford and own homes. This helped the veterans want to further themselves after getting back from war and along with this start a family. In turn here comes the baby boom and population started to rise. With the added population and people buying houses, the economy started going up again with the necessity of needing/wanting to buy more goods for the house.
One other very important invention post World War II was the jet engine, by Frank Whittle in 1928 but not technically used until 1941 when the air forces started using them. The first U.S. jet was the Bell P-59A Airacomet. Mostly jets were used in the war or commercial use but then followed for public use as well as delivering mail and cargo. This in turn became huge airports which created more job opportunities that put more people being able to contribute to the economy.
Finally one of the most influential attributes to America that is pictured above is the Eisenhower Interstate Highway System. On June 29th, 1956 President Dwight Eisenhower signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act. This bill pertained to the elimination of unsafe roads, insufficient routes and all things that encompasses all troubles on roadways. This included a 41,000 mile of national systems of interstate and defense highways that linked a little over 90 percent of all cities with populations over 50,000. The cost of this act was distributed over a span of thirteen years that totaled a whopping twenty five billion dollars.
With these aspects that furthered the American economy after World War II, we start to see an America that is unafraid and striving for improvement. The optimism and confidence that was found among Americans just kept getting stronger throughout the years post World War II. We see this by the wills in the people of America. People who are fighting for their rights as individuals, fighting to stay a “free” country. From African Americans fighting so bravely for their rights to equality to the all the women who stood up for what they believed to fight gender standards. As far as a community of people we have come a long way since before the Great Depression and these are some of the things that influenced these happenings.

All the bairns o' Adam

Usual rules; reblog, 500 word commentary, remember to actually reference the images in your response…

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