FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Anthony Flint
617-661-3016 x116
IN VISIONING AND VISUALIZATION, NEW TOOLS TO AID CITIZEN INVOLVEMENT IN PLANNING SUSTAINABLE, LIVABLE COMMUNITIES
Focus on ‘people, pixels and plans’ integrates theory and practice, latest digital technology, and visual simulation tools for citizen participation in planning
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – A new book by the Lincoln Institute, Visioning and Visualization: People, Pixels and Plans, examines two important trends in planning – increased citizen “visioning” efforts to guide future growth in large metropolitan areas, and a wealth of technological innovations that vividly illustrate what future growth patterns will look like.
“Visioning allows citizens to claim a direct role in the creation of future built environments. Visualization lets those citizens, and designers, planners, developers, and public officials, better understand the consequences of their choices. This book presents the tools of visualization in the context of visioning as an evolving approach to public decision making,” said Armando Carbonell, chair of the Department of Planning and Urban Form at the Lincoln Institute.
Visioning and Visualization: People, Pixels and Plans (104 pages; Paperback; ISBN 978-1-55844-180-4) grows out of a series of workshops sponsored by the Lincoln Institute over the past five years, led by the co-authors, Michael Kwartler, founding director of the Environmental Simulation Center, and Gianni Longo, founding principal of ACP–Visioning & Planning. The volume—richly illustrated with more than 100 color figures, photographs, and computer simulations—follows the same format as the award-winning book Visualizing Density.
The authors present principles, techniques, and cases to explore how digital visualization tools can be integrated in a public process for more informed planning decisions. Evidence from communities throughout the country shows that public involvement supported by visualization leads to better plans and more livable places and communities.
Kwartler and Longo chronicle the history of public involvement in planning, including contemporary techniques using digital visualization tools to represent existing conditions, future scenarios and alternatives, and monitoring impacts, as well as opportunities for feedback. Four case studies provide useful illustrations of how visioning and visualization works: the Southwest Santa Fe City/County Master Planning Initiative in New Mexico; the Near Northside Economic Revitalization Planning Process for the City of Houston, Texas; the Kona Community Development Plan for the County of Hawaii; and Vision 2030: Shaping our Region’s Future Together, a five-county vision program developed for the Baltimore (Maryland) Regional Transportation Board.
This book will assist urban professionals, public sector leaders, and the public in navigating the complex and evolving public planning process.
Advance praise for Visioning and Visualization:
“We have come a long way since “planning by crayon” and “planning by edict.” This book richly illustrates state-of-the-art planning tools for public involvement, visualization, and simulation that truly are best practices.” -- William L. Allen, III, Director of Strategic Conservation, The Conservation Fund
“Finally, a coherent approach to community visioning that will serve as a valuable tool in building consensus across multiple stakeholders. This book will aid neighborhood leaders in demystifying the complex issues of urban planning and the built environment. It is a practical and adaptable set of methods to formulate and then visualize a set of strategies to inform equitable revitalization and redevelopment.” -- Miguel Garcia, Program Officer, Ford Foundation
“Visioning and Visualization knits together several heretofore separately documented strands … The result is a thoughtful, creative, and hopeful vision for our democratic commons supported by an empowering, accessible new technology. This clearly written, beautifully produced book presents a whole tapestry of public planning the way it should be, can be, and sometimes actually is.” -- Ron Thomas, AICP, Former Executive Director, Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission
About the Authors
Michael Kwartler, an architect, planner, urban designer, and educator, is the founding director of the Environmental Simulation Center (ESC) in New York City, a nonprofit research laboratory created to develop innovative applications of information technology for community planning, design, and decision making.
Gianni Longo is an architect and founding principal of ACP–Visioning & Planning in New York City. For the past two decades, he has pioneered the development of programs designed to involve citizens in the planning and decision-making process.
For review copies, please contact Anthony Flint at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, anthony.flint@lincolninst.edu. More information at www.lincolninst.edu.
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