Placemakers In Their Own Words: #1
This is John and Ash Marsh’s POWERFUL testimony of how Jesus personally healed them, set them on their Christian faith journey, and why and how placemaking is part of that journey. As we say at the Studio for Placemaking “we participate in, and are agents of, God’s shalom, particularly though placemaking. John and Ash’s story is one expression, writ large, of the “why” that motivates the Studio for Placemaking.
This is John and Ash Marsh’s POWERFUL testimony of how Jesus personally healed them, set them on their Christian faith journey, and why and how placemaking is part of that journey. As we say at the Studio for Placemaking “we participate in, and are agents of, God’s shalom, particularly though placemaking. John and Ash’s story is one expression, writ large, of the “why” that motivates the Studio for Placemaking.
Looking At A Big Picture
This TEDx talk by Andrew Himes provides a big picture perspective on the importance of placemaking, namely the world is in a phase of rapid mass urbanization where over the next 40 years we will need to build another 2 trillion square feet of building space to accommodate the billions more living in cities by 2060. This is equivalent to building a new New York City—all 5 boroughs of it, every 35 days for forty years! We are at a built environment and climate crisis crossroads that the church and Christians should be wrestling with. The Studio for Placemaking is working on this through a lens of Christian faith applied to urban design, planning, materials solutions, policy, finance/development, etc., all blended into building the cities we need and love for all.
This TEDx talk by Andrew Himes provides a big picture perspective on the importance of placemaking, namely the world is in a phase of rapid mass urbanization where over the next 40 years we will need to build another 2 trillion square feet of building space to accommodate the billions more living in cities by 2060. This is equivalent to building a new New York City—all 5 boroughs of it, every 35 days for forty years! We are at a built environment and climate crisis crossroads that the church and Christians should be wrestling with. The Studio for Placemaking is working on this through a lens of Christian faith applied to urban design, planning, materials solutions, policy, finance/development, etc., all blended into building the cities we need and love for all.
Good Placemaking Is Good Economics
Wes Craiglow, a city planner, shares his passion for creating communities for people by thinking like a farmer and considering urban "crop yield."
Craiglow’s talk explains why traditional urbanism—mixed used, walkable, and compact urban design is not only the best spacial design for people and the planet, but also the best economic design for our cities, towns, and neighborhoods.
Craiglow is currently the executive director, of the Urban Land Institute, Northwest Arkansas.
Wes Craiglow, a city planner, shares his passion for creating communities for people by thinking like a farmer and considering urban "crop yield."
Craiglow’s talk explains why traditional urbanism—mixed used, walkable, and compact urban design is not only the best spacial design for people and the planet, but also the best economic design for our cities, towns, and neighborhoods.
Craiglow is currently the executive director, of the Urban Land Institute, Northwest Arkansas.
Ormond Center Better Cities Film Festival
You can learn more here. The Ormond Center is teaming up with the Better Cities Film Festival because we both believe “a story can change a city,” or a town, a rural community, or a neighborhood.
The mission of the Ormond Center Better Cities Film Festival is to curate, present, and celebrate the very best films on the theme of making better cities, towns, rural communities, and neighborhoods. We are especially interested in telling stories that will inspire the Christian community and support the emerging field of Christian placemaking, which is the art of designing and making places that are commensurate with human thriving for all.
You can learn more here. The Ormond Center is teaming up with the Better Cities Film Festival because we both believe “a story can change a city,” or a town, a rural community, or a neighborhood.
Stories, scholars tell us, sink deep into our bones and picture for us what constitutes the good life. We then we lean into those stories as characters in the narrative we’ve absorbed. Where in today’s world are we getting the stories and narratives that inspire the cities, towns, and rural communities we’re imagining, designing, and building today? Are today’s city and community builders influenced by stories that inspire them to design and build places and communities in ways best fit for human thriving? We can do only what we dream. We can build only what we can imagine. So we better have good stories to kickstart and shape our imaginations.
The mission of the Ormond Center Better Cities Film Festival is to curate, present, and celebrate the very best films on the theme of making better cities, towns, rural communities, and neighborhoods. We are especially interested in telling stories that will inspire the Christian community and support the emerging field of Christian placemaking, which is the art of designing and making places that are commensurate with human thriving for all.