We’ve looked at what a proscriptive code is, and examples of proscriptive codes, but what’s the proscriptive code for creatives‘ ideal town?

You can check out New York City’s proscriptive code of sorts regarding transportation, World Class Streets, preceding a prescriptive code. You should also peruse a chart of what can be referred to as changing proscriptive codes over time here. As you can see, proscriptive codes can vary greatly over time as cultures and economies change. It can also vary

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In the previous entry, Cities today use ‘prescriptive’ codes, but what came before that?, we looked at proscriptive codes, the framework for rules, being the precursor to prescriptive codes, the rules themselves (e.g. street widths, building setbacks, amount of parking, etc.), and how cities today seem to have forgotten proscriptive codes altogether. Unfortunately, the records for historic cities were not preserved, but one can understand there’s indeed a greater inspired vision that

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All cities have planning codes which predetermine street widths, building heights and volumes, parking ratios, etc. These are known as prescriptive codes, of or relating to the enforcement of a rule. However, those are merely the means to the end, and historians have long been trying to decipher how the most elegant cities (in Greece, Tunisia, Spain…) came to be via such prescriptive codes. Well, the answer, as outlined in the article, Decoding paradise - the emergent form of Mediterranean

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One challenge with establishing a natural cultural district in the early stages, especially one that’s retail-oriented, is reaching a critical mass where it feels like a place. One solution is to build a microcosm of a such a flourishing retail center so people can experience the vibe of the larger district, and for that we have Hollywood’s Space 15 Twenty to thank as a model, to a certain degree.

Featured in the latest Springwise, the concept is brilliant - Space 15 Twenty is a collection of

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When it comes to understanding the fundamental economic difference the Internet provides over the non-digital age, it’s having access to the Long Tail, which is essentially anything and everything else that’s a ‘non-hit’ or ‘non-blockbuster’, but in sum is greater. You can learn more about the Long Tail in our previous four-part series.

Chris Anderson, author of The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More, sums up cities pretty nicely in terms of the Long Tail,

“Think

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You hear a lot of talk about city economic development agencies emphasizing the importance of the creative industry, quality of life and the downtowns/main streets, but seldom do you see a program that backs that up as succinctly as Lille, France’s Maisons de Mode (Houses of Fashion).

Essentially, the City of Lille, understanding the economic multiplier of supporting the creative industry and vibrant downtown quality of life, invests in store construction, low rents and free publicity to

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While Ikea is defining an entire generation of furniture buyers with their high style, low cost mass production, there’s still a niche for high style, low cost mass customization. Myfab is a huge step in that direction.

How does it work? Each week, Myfab customers vote on which furniture items they’d like manufactured - you can see the vote tallies in the image above. They then get to buy them direct at near-factory prices, up to 70% lower than retail), plus 10% off if you voted!

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No county outside of New York’s has more single-individual households, at 50.6%. Does that mean New Yorkers are the loneliest people in the country, who tend to be depressed or marriage-challenged? Hardly…

People in New York, and cities overall, tend to be pretty content.  The state of New York’s suicide rate is the third lowest in the country, suicide being recognized as the result of not being able to socially integrate. It’s also a fact that the less populous the county, the higher the

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The old ‘stick’ approach to making a difference in your neighborhood was to boycott a business that people felt didn’t deserve support. However, the organization Carrotmob has an alternatively fun and effective approach, using a ‘carrot’ and a mob to help businesses become what the both the neighborhood residents and business owners want them to be, such as becoming greener.

The idea is simple, Carrotmob lets any number of businesses in a defined area bid on what % of their sales for a

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That’s the headline for a recent USA Today article, as developers go smaller in response to emerging generations of buyers who have a fresher vision of the American Dream than previous ones. “The trend is here to stay”, says Michael Newman, president and CEO of Golub & Co., an international real estate development and investment firm. “In this economy, people still want to be in cool places, and they’ll trade down size for location.“

Ho do developers compensate for less living area? Open

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