I never realized the diversity of the word ‘map.’
It’s been an interesting and enlightening week researching the, what seems to be, infinite amounts of data, surveys, censuses, patterns, and methods that are involved in the concept of transportation as an urban system. Ironically though, it seems to be the nature of the beast (the designer) that for every new piece of datum learned or recorded, 13 new ideas/concepts/lessons are immediately dreamt up. I now realize that is the easy part; the gathering in a room and discussing, sharing, and carrying out dialogue with fellow peers. The real elbow grease is applied during the in-depth researching; the skimming, scanning, and reading of what seems to be thousands of pages, and the discovery of new details, however minute or colossal.
All is a testament to the complexity that is urban design. We’ve all heard ‘ a whole is defined by the summation of its parts,’ and boy are there a lot of parts. Hell, even the parts have parts. But that is what drives my eagerness of wanting to better understand all the components that must function successfully and simultaneously in order to create a positive urban environment. Moving to this new city, I cannot help but to see all the potential swarming around me. Cleveland seems to be famed for each and every one of its blunders or failures. I do not understand why so many are content with simply cursing their own city and moving on with the rest of their day, not even batting an eye. I strongly believe that the most influential system of the city is its people; their attitudes, intentions, desires, needs, and their mindedness, however open or closed it might be.
That being said, after this week I now fully appreciate the impact that transportation has on a city. It can honestly make or break an entire region. There are layers upon layers of information that can be gathered, influenced, and presented in order to create any number of concepts/theories depending on that particular individuals take. Which is why from now until the end of time, mankind will constantly design and redesign cities (both in practice and in theory) in a search for the perfect ‘utopian’ metropolis.
It’s been an interesting and enlightening week researching the, what seems to be, infinite amounts of data, surveys, censuses, patterns, and methods that are involved in the concept of transportation as an urban system. Ironically though, it seems to be the nature of the beast (the designer) that for every new piece of datum learned or recorded, 13 new ideas/concepts/lessons are immediately dreamt up. I now realize that is the easy part; the gathering in a room and discussing, sharing, and carrying out dialogue with fellow peers. The real elbow grease is applied during the in-depth researching; the skimming, scanning, and reading of what seems to be thousands of pages, and the discovery of new details, however minute or colossal.
All is a testament to the complexity that is urban design. We’ve all heard ‘ a whole is defined by the summation of its parts,’ and boy are there a lot of parts. Hell, even the parts have parts. But that is what drives my eagerness of wanting to better understand all the components that must function successfully and simultaneously in order to create a positive urban environment. Moving to this new city, I cannot help but to see all the potential swarming around me. Cleveland seems to be famed for each and every one of its blunders or failures. I do not understand why so many are content with simply cursing their own city and moving on with the rest of their day, not even batting an eye. I strongly believe that the most influential system of the city is its people; their attitudes, intentions, desires, needs, and their mindedness, however open or closed it might be.
That being said, after this week I now fully appreciate the impact that transportation has on a city. It can honestly make or break an entire region. There are layers upon layers of information that can be gathered, influenced, and presented in order to create any number of concepts/theories depending on that particular individuals take. Which is why from now until the end of time, mankind will constantly design and redesign cities (both in practice and in theory) in a search for the perfect ‘utopian’ metropolis.
