How Adaptable Is Your Neighborhood?
Image courtesy of YARD & Company. Learn more about this project here.
The built environment of one’s neighborhood has profoundly shaped how people have weathered this pandemic. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated a host of structural inequalities in cities across the United States with differing experiences based on racial, gender and employment factors.
In light of this reality, YARD & Company began work last summer, in partnership with the University of Notre Dame Kellogg Institute for International Studies, on developing an Adaptive Place Toolkit (APT) that measures the adaptive capacity of neighborhoods based on how their built environment is shaped and managed. The APT helps communities come out of this crisis stronger than they went in by helping them audit their ability to adapt to prolonged disruption, mobilize tangible, concrete and visible actions during the crisis and to advance planning, design, and operational investments that make places much more capable to equitably adapt to future disruptions.
The APT includes six measurement indicators—Convertible Streets, Social Infrastructure, Safe and Active Transportation, Flexible Mixed-Use Mixed-Space, Air Quality and Nimble Management—to determine the adaptability of a place. The following section expands on each of these, using Cincinnati Ohio, as an example.
1. Convertible Streets - In an era of physical distancing, there has been a greater demand for access to outdoor space. Adaptive placemaking involves re-imagining how car-dominant roads can be converted into people-centric streets to be used for walking, biking and outdoor dining. Neighborhoods with a greater percentage of slower streets are better equipped to pursue such actions.
2. Social Infrastructure - As access to libraries, recreation centers and other traditional “third places” have become more limited due to the pandemic, the City of Norfolk, in partnership with YARD & Company, Work Program Architects and others developed Neighborhood Spots which serve as multi-purpose outdoor spaces where members of the community can gather together safely. The location for these sites was determined in part by utilizing an adapted version of the APT.
3. Safe and Active Transportation - The pandemic has sparked a bike boom nationally and Cincinnati is no exception as regional trail usage has increased by 30%. However, the cost of crashes involving pedestrians/cyclists in Cincinnati has also increased from $133 million in 2019 to $173 million in 2020 (with the total cost since 2012 exceeding $1.3 billion). In order to remedy this situation, it is important to prioritize investments in neighborhoods with transportation infrastructure that has historically not been safe for all users.
4. Flexible Mixed-Use Mixed Space - The presence of a growing local business district within a neighborhood is a positive indicator for economic vitality and it provides residents with critical social amenities. In order to make such spaces more accessible during a pandemic, Cincinnati is making permanent investments in outdoor seating in its downtown business district. As the city considers making similar investments in neighborhood business districts around the city, the APT provides an analysis framework that could better guide that decision process.
5. Air Quality - The dynamic connection between the built environment, air quality and public health is a critical component of adaptive communities. The City of Cincinnati’s Office of Environmental Sustainability recently conducted a comprehensive heat analysis to identify how different neighborhoods were impacted. This data, combined with other indicators including the presence of inner city highways and industrial sites, provides neighborhoods with a benchmark to assess the impact of its physical infrastructure on residential health.
6. Nimble Management - The final indicator in the APT measures how the built environment is managed based on the presence of a community development corporation. For example, during the pandemic, community leaders in Cincinnati’s College Hill neighborhood partnered with YARD & Company to redevelop and design a pop-up theater to provide safe entertainment to the neighborhood. Identifying strong community partners is essential for city leaders as they work to improve the adaptive capacity of neighborhoods.
These six indicators serve as the foundation for the Adaptive Place Toolkit which currently provides an audit for each of Cincinnati’s neighborhoods. The APT also includes recommended action steps based on best practices that YARD & Company has developed over the past year that can be used by city and neighborhood leaders to advance efforts that promote local resilience.
If you would like to learn more about this toolkit please contact us at: adaptability@buildwithyard.com.
About the Author
Joshua Pine uses research and data visualization to uncover often hidden storylines and solve problems related to people and place. He works as a Data Storyteller with YARD & Company based in Cincinnati, Ohio and as a research specialist with the National League of Cities. You can connect with Joshua on LinkedIn or follow him on Twitter.