Studies and Academic Urbanism

[KCasiglio]

I came across a recent study I really wanted to share here but couldn't find an appropriate thread. Rather than waiting until the topic came up I thought it might be useful to create a thread to share new (or otherwise useful) academic research into urbanist topics.

The one in particular that aroused this is a new paper looking at the impact of road diets (converting two travel lanes in each direction roads to one travel lane in each direction with a shared left turn lane in the center) on emergency response rates.

The full article is available for free here: Impact of 4-to-3 lane conversions on emergency response

Highlights:

• No difference in emergency response rates from before to after road diet implementation.

• Over half of EMS responders think that road diets don't affect emergency response times

• EMS responders feel that locals do not know how to properly yield to emergency vehicles on 3-lane roads.

• Provide communities with proper yielding strategies & evidence-based facts prior to implementation.

 

[Justbuildit]

Thanks for starting this thread. I have nothing to add to your question, but was looking for the right place to add a question of my own and this is as close to the right place as I could find.

Given the piecemeal slow changes of modern day development on one hand, and the failures of radical mid-century urban renewal on the other, I find myself wondering how (and why) "good" urbanism has worked out in the long run. I've read most about New York and Boston, but Paris has to be the winner here for the building of a modern city, and doing so by absolutely destroying an old, dense historic city.

There are tons of works on Haussmann and the modernization of Paris, but wondering if anyone has specific recommendations on books, articles, or other references that talk through the background and dynamics of Haussmann's work. Obviously being tasked with a job by an Emperor gets through a lot of the bureaucracy, but there's so much to the story I don't know yet and would love to read about. Thanks in advance!