Submissions

Community focused. In this vision, Portland becomes tied together with neighborhood hubs. These centers would be connected by pedestrian focused roads. Between these spaces co-living would rise from the earth rooftop gardens would support our self-sustaining efforts. Waste would be collected in several bins. A clean trash facility would re-use this material.
The old port would remain dense and the focus would be on tourism. Peaks island would be re-developed to support the nearby islands. The maritime industry would thrive with a working dock systems as well as industry only areas.
In the old back bay would be the center for all of Portland. Community day, a monthly event, would b centralized here. This day would see all residents come together to work together.
Other innovations would include energy: Wave, Tidal, Solar, Wind, and Biomass would all be used to help supply our city.
In governance, local officials would discuss most actions with their communities.Polling and information sessions would occur as needed.
A tunnel would be used to break I-295 to allow Portland to flow. Another tunnel would be used to connect Peaks to the mainland, allowing better servicing to the island.
This new Portland would be inclusive, energized, and sustainable. But it would also better connect the community it serves.

Back Cove’s unique geography offers the opportunity for a monumental science and ecology museum that can highlight the ebbs and flows of tidal life. The new museum can also spark growth and expansion off the peninsula along side Forest Avenue.

TO BEGIN COMPLETING THE CITY, LETS RETURN THE KEY TO THE PEOPLE. THE ZONE INDICATED AS (A) IS AN OPEN PLANNING STRATEGY WHERE AN INFRASTRUCTURE IS PROVIDED FOR HOUSE BOATS, RV LIVING, AND 3D PRINTED HOMES ALLOWING CUSTOMIZATION FOR EACH LOT. THE RAIL IS LENGTHENED AS INDICATED AND A CONSTRUCTION TOWER MOVES ALONG THE PATH “PRINTING” CONCRETE STRUCTURES. THIS ALLOWS FOR MOBILITY DUE TO COASTAL SEA VARIATIONS AND IS A BETTER FIT FOR THE MOBILITY MOST AMERICANS NEED.

ZONE (B) IS A PROPOSED CIVIC PLAZA FEATURING A FORMAL GARDEN, PAVED PLAZA, RESTAURANTS, THEATER, MARKET, AND AQUAPONICS. THIS THEN BLENDS INTO THE NORTH WHERE A NEW AQUARIUM IS PROPOSED WHICH ALSO UTILIZES THE RAIL TRACKS AND THE PRINTING TECHNOLOGY.

ZONE (C) TO BEGIN THE CLEANUP OF THE SEWAGE PROBLEM AN ALGAL BIOFUEL PLANT IS PROPOSED USING TWO TECHNOLOGIES. PHOTO BIOREACTOR FOR THE SEWAGE DISCHARGE, AND ALGAL PONDS WITH SEA WATER TO FILTER THE BAY. THE TANKS ARE BLENDED INTO THE WALKING PATH AROUND THE BAY.

To imagine a complete city has often led to unattainable utopian models of an urban life by visionary architects. They’ve either been destined to stay mostly on paper or – if built- are under continuous scrutiny to be revived from their dictated rigid ideals of development.

To imagine a complete city then, has to be approached with the paradoxical mindset that a city will always be incomplete; it is never finished. This calls for a revision of our question for the future of Portland. What are the values most significant to the people of Portland that should be imbibed in city planning?

Instead of focusing of on the lack-of spaces, the emerging themes from within the city are those of its rich port culture, growing art and technology epicentre as well as trending food ecology. When city-making is project-driven, rather than place-driven, more stakeholders enjoy continuous access to future participation. Thus, by proposing innovation in architecture, I envision the crossover between drivers of growth for the city of Portland and beyond, as:
1. a knowledge-centric city,
2. a creative economy,
3. an ecologically safe infrastructure.

Introducing the strategy of transformation in various areas, the following building typologies – through a civic approach in its architecture – would anchor neighbourhoods in Portland as a true collage of collaborative working and living environment. This would generate a vibrant city with a unique sense of character and inspiring our future generations – all of which are measurements of success.

Portland is a growing city that has many potentials but this city is facing big challenges such as housing, revenues, and workers. In order to solve those urban problems, architect and urban designer have to not only think creatively but also create comprehensive plan which integrate social, economy, culture, and environment aspect. The concepts for urban area should work as platform which connect people, generate economy growth, and improves environment qualities. That idea is transformed become roof garden which shape new neighborhood and its activities. The garden is connected by sky corridor that encourage people to walk and enjoy the city. It will be new type of social interaction and lifestyle in Portland. Furthermore, this city has wide area facing the sea which means has good prospect to become a water-front city in the future. There are few strategies to integrate that area with surrounding districts such as creating new public realm and bike-walking path along the water. Also, city landmark is built as viewing tower which bring new experience for local people and tourist to see city from above. By proposing coastline as new tourist destination, Portland will get high value and attractiveness to increase domestic income massively. Interesting facilities like aqua park, water sports, and commuter boat are provided to support that plan.

A space becomes more social when our mental process understands through experience. As a designer we recreate those comprehensive imaginary into existences. Understanding from the maps, Portland Maine lacks human oriented parameters of city. Two factors were taken into consideration i.e. radial development and creating public realm. The city has inherited waterfronts and green spaces. These different nodes are connected creating landmarks. Hence we look for spaces to reflect and satisfies us & the existence of stories in a space leads to diverse lives. Each space has its own identity and provides opportunity to create meaning in them. The city needs right density neighborhood units, Equal developments along the waterfront and rethinking mobility. These three perspectives cannot exists without people existence. Moreover each interesting space in Portland doesn’t intersect with one another. Spontaneous events and informal activities creates potentiality of public space. The first presentation represents the nodes along the back cove waterfront and their connectivity with the surrounding site. Along the downtown, the waterfront lacks cityscape, public realm in eye level, walking routes along the waterfront. Events of art, waterfront and other districts needs to be merged. The second presentation creates scenario for affordable housing, waterfront development and pedestrian movement. The legacy of the place activates public realm. Hence the city needs right management on social, economic and environment factors for the city to perform. The sites for waterfront regeneration needs to start targeting people of the city and not just tourism and business.

Portland has planning and natural advantage – Back Cоve. My intension in this project is to create recreational core that will be connected with other parks and green public spaces by alleys or green squares. These green spaces form a system of parks and recreational zones incide the city.
Back Cоve has enoumous recreation potential. We can see on different maps, Portland residents enjoy spending there time here. They love running, cycling, walking, fishing, walking their dogs, admiring the sunsets here. I propose to develop this potential with minimal intervention in the environment.
The project offers the pathway system on the water connecting piers, parks on water with aquatic plants, a workout, a place for fishing, a place for bird watching, gkayaking piers and other interesting activity spots. Along the boardwalk there’s a space reserved for contemporary art exhibitions, various installations and sculptures. Training and workout zone also located above the water.
Running track is separated from walking path, which makes the track comfortable, convenient and safe. It’ll be enclosed around Back Cove and connected with other running routes.
Filling the space with variety of activities for different taget groups and ages allows the local residents and visitirs to spend more time outdoors, communicate and enjoy life.

What makes the streetscape of a city alive and desirable? What makes the citizens and visitors experience the city effectively?
After researching successful smart city models of Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Melbourne, Singapore and Tallinn, I’ve noticed one common element – it is not just about proximity to nature or culture but the presentation scheme of enticing city amenities real-time. Pedestrian perspectives bring more public life and branding opportunities for city attractions like plazas in European towns and extensive bike-pedestrian lanes in Copenhagen. This is also aligned with the current trend of TOD and LEED. Transit system will be color-coded with suitable pop-up stores in niche spaces that can function as interface zone and produce revenue. Vitality and spontaneity of occupying programmed urban outdoors with emphasis on local culture like art, food, music and dance, will not only bring the locals out, but also will attract tourists.

I propose a real time interaction system with solar ‘petal’ trees that collect air quality and transit information, provide city amenity information on its tablet, and produce energy for 1 single home electricity use for 1 day per tree similar to ones in Singapore. Each tree is linked to an app that anyone can access the information real-time and have a customized mind map of Portland. SmartCityApp not only services the locals travel, but also support activating, routing and utilizing city amenities efficiently which then really is the key to make people feel welcomed and secured to have a positive memory of the complete city.

There are two maps that inspire our submission: “Who Cares” and “Great Wall”. They both refer to the portion of Portland disconnected by Interstate 295 from the ‘peninsula’.

“Complete City” implies a city of connections; a city without boundaries and unused space. However, in Portland, Interstate 295 displaces, divides and disrupts urban fabric. It partitions the city and acts as a wall separating it into two parts, physically and psychologically. The partition is most obvious at interchanges, where dozens of acres lie fallow and empty. For Portland to become a complete city, division created by transportation infrastructure, whether vehicular or rail, must be mitigated.

We propose integrating the city into the transportation corridor. Like stones in a fast-flowing river, new buildings will slow traffic and offer eddies of space that pedestrians can use to move from one side of the highway to the other. Highway overpasses and access ramps will be incorporated into a mixed urban streetscape. The city will reassert its primacy over the highway.

The interchanges in Libbytown and Oakdale, for example, were once actively part of their neighborhoods. By developing these areas, the hostile passages under the highway become part of places where people work, live and play; it will once again be a journey through a neighborhood.

The Complete City is composed of neighborhoods threaded together by paths that encourage human interaction and engagement with one another and the city itself. 295 must become part of, not apart from, Portland.

Portland city has a wonderful proximity to water, namely Back Cove and the port shoreline. For this design, I chose to work with the Back Cove area which has the scope of developing as an iconic area.

One of the maps from community sketches (#792) included idea of a monumental bridge in place of the existing Tukey’s bridge. And many sketches emphasized the need of recreational public spaces. From these, I drew inspiration and focused on three core aspects – landmark, public activities and views.

The peripheral road along Back Cove shore provides an access to viewers to the waterfront. But once they reach, what are they there to see? A stunning bridge can be the object to engage the spectators. The arc shaped flowing structure resonates with the huge arc of water it encompasses. The bridge could be small but a spectacle to behold.

It would be a waste to not use the shores. Bicycle trails along road is the most common public demand. Wide walkway, seating, streetscaping and proper lighting would encourage pedestrian movement. The shores, although narrow but if developed, can be used for activities like – sun bathing, kite flying etc. Water sports might also be encouraged. These activities will bring life to the barren shores.

Lastly, an observation wheel (Ferris wheel) can provide the platform to boast its panoramic views of the entire cityscape and adjacent waterfront – an ideal identity of the complete Portland city.

Like many cities across the nation, Portland is changing so quickly that it runs the risk of losing its identity. As development increases, so does the need to preserve and honor elements of its past.

The Old Grand Trunk Railroad Piers, or Amethyst Lot, located in Portland’s Eastern Waterfront Zone, is a key location for bridging the gap between Portland’s past and future development. This site shows an interesting contrast created by the remnants of old piers existing in the Portland of today. The site is adjacent to the Ocean Gateway ferry terminal and has the potential to enhance the experience of visitors entering Portland by cruise ship.

My proposal is a public space that welcomes visitors while providing access to the water for all of Portland’s residents. The design includes green space along the water, an open-air pavilion, and fountain to encourage play.

Portland, the largest city in Maine, is comprised of 18 neighborhoods, each with its own unique sense of identity and attributes. However, as a city, we share many core values and beliefs, such as how to care for those unfortunately stricken by poverty and homelessness.

Our proposal strives to illustrate a prototype for neighborhood-scale shelters which can be integrated into the neighborhood context while providing valuable uses such as medical and commercial office, attainable housing, retail space, and maker studios together in a single urban block. The intention is that this model can be employed in any Portland neighborhood with careful, contextually-sensitive planning and design. Indeed, our proposal is a designed-solution to broad, chronic socio-economic dilemmas.

Our team chose a large, existing surface parking lot, approximately 2.5 Acres, in the heart of the West End owned and directly adjacent to Maine Medical Center as our site. We studied the proposed number of emergency beds (approx. 200) the city has recommended, divided by the number of neighborhoods in Portland (18) to arrive at a 12-bed facility, a size we believe most all neighborhoods would be amenable to supporting. We believe this site, in particular, with its proximity to a large, medical institution has the ability to set the precedent for a well-executed prototype.

Libbytown is a culturally diverse, eclectic neighborhood in Portland, lying at the city’s southern threshold. A gateway to the Portland peninsula and home to the Portland Transit Center, Libbytown abuts the Fore River to the south and is bounded loosely to the east by the western promenade and St. John Valley. The neighborhood, once a bustling commercial hub with a tight-knit community of long-time residents and businesses connected by walkable, tree-lined streets, and historic monuments, was bifurcated in the late 1960’s by a growing highway system. Today, residents and businesses are renewing interest and passion for reconnecting Libbytown and restoring it’s once vibrant charm and important role in addressing local and regional transportation, economic, and environmental demands while reconstituting its historic character as a traditional, walkable neighborhood center.

Obsolete highway-oriented infrastructure presents a challenging environment for pedestrians and cyclists in addition to being one of the highest vehicular crash rated intersections in Portland. Two-way traffic restoration and elimination of needless one-way streets opens up opportunity for reclaiming right-of-way for pedestrians and cyclists. Redundant ramps and associated infrastructure encompasses +/- 30 acres of land that would better serve the community as other uses—such as residential infill, mixed use development, memorable and comfortable placemaking—possibly employee housing for the adjacent Maine Medical Center. The result is a vibrant, economically productive streetscape spurring economic development and instilling a sense of neighborhood cohesion. This project is one of the first steps necessary to stitch the peninsula to the surrounding City fabric.

The Green Haus™️ City!

Turn Portland truly green. Bulldoze everything. (Heck, some of those drafty dumps are over 200 years old!)

Start from scratch!

House the entire population of Greater Portland in (back of envelope speaking) in just one high-density communal cube, measuring 1/4 mile long, 1/4 mile wide, 1/4 mile high. Call it the Green Haus™️ Cube. Put it on the Eastern Prom.

Here’s the math. The population of Greater Portland is roughly 500,000. Well, you could accommodate them all in just one Green Haus™️ Cube, giving each individual a living space of just under 10,000 cubic feet!

That’s a cosy loft space measuring 20’x20’x20! A palace to cool urbanites who live in closets today!

Now sit down for this one, guys. It’s mind blowing!

You know Rubik Cubes? Well, we could use algorithms and robo stuff, to rotate floors this way and that, so everybody gets their turn to have the ocean view! Equal access to the sun.

The Peoples Time Share. Perfect equality!

Or maybe people have Green-Citizenship Ratings (GCR), and can earn window time by generating electricity on stationary bicycles. Conceivably your GCR could replace money.

Imagine this: We will contain the environmental impact of half a million people in just one quarter-square mile footprint!!!!!

Ok. Fair question: What do we with, you know, the rest of Portland?

Easy!! Let Nature take it back. The maps kinda look like a wildcat’s mouth anyway, right?

Oasis Portland

A city of life and energy, organized around an oasis and mostly free of the vestiges of 20th century car-centric planning and infrastructure.

The Portland of the future is centered around the Back Cove, moving urban life and energy inland while retaining the tranquility afforded by a waterfront zone. A pedestrian walkway and park will encircle the Cove and the city will grow around it.

I-295 will be underground, with a linear park above.

Forest Avenue and Congress Street will be pedestrian walkways, edged by dense housing and commercial development. Frequent free shuttles will move people along these spines.

Historic Munjoy Hill and the West End will be preserved, along with the working waterfront and significant placemaking structures in all parts of the city.

Franklin Street will restored as a normal street, with commercial and residential development, knitting Munjoy Hill back into the Peninsula.

The Civic Center will be replaced with a dense neighborhood of housing, offices and retail.

To facilitate small boats the Back Cove will be dredged, reducing the area of tidal flats to the marshes at its edges, which will be preserved. A small island will sit atop a 5000-car underground parking garage accessible from I-295. Peninsula parking will be forever limited to 2020 levels or less.

Free shuttles will connect neighborhoods to the city center, to each other and to the airport. Large parking facilities at Turnpike intersections will be served by free shuttles to the city core.

PORTLANDING

Well I wouldn’t say it was the only area that matters, but it’s certainly close to the historic heart of the city. It’s where the white man first landed and built the first houses, streets and ships. It’s where the locomotives were built that brought the grain from Canada and loaded it onto ships to Europe; where you boarded a steamer to see the world; and where they made steam engines, tugboats, lighthouses, buoys, snowplows, elevators, building facades, and all manner of machinery for the fishing, lumber and paper industries.

To honor that history I’ve envisioned a museum to tell the story of the men and women who worked in Portland, dreamed the future, and built it. It would display local industrial artifacts, fabricate reproductions, and create a life size computer model of the area at the height of its grandeur. Put on the virtual reality glasses and walk out among giant grain elevators, train buildings and steamship wharves.

Or just take a walk on the boardwalk. It follows the water in front of the Amethyst lot. Yes, it’s still there. Drop off, pick up, or park as long as you want…just don’t leave your car. It’s covered now- a steel arbor superstructure planted with every kind of vine imaginable: wild grapes, wisteria, virginia creeper, honeysuckle, bittersweet… an urban greenspace in the air. And it’s a public exhibition and performance space for concerts, movies, or flea markets. Can’t see the boats because of that damn cruise ship walkway? Try the upper level boardwalk.

Portland can thrive as a “complete” city by embracing its unique position as a locus of connectivity, a central hub at the interface of land and water. The city is poised to actively engage with its surrounding natural spaces, which include parklands and barrier islands. In this imagining, connectivity exists at multiple scales and levels of engagement: an urban gondola takes people to unseen views of their city, a robust bike trail links disparate neighborhoods, an activated waterfront park invites people to the bay, and a new ferry system creates educational opportunities that tether children with local ecologies (maps 819, 664, 767, 658, respectively). Thus, the complete city is not about enclosing, but instead reaching out and establishing novel relationships within the city and its adjacencies.

Birdsong makes humans happy, so why not build our city so that both birds and humans are happy living here? Scientists at the University of Surrey have discovered that bird songs are the natural sounds most cited as helping people recover from stress. Other studies have shown that access to nature improves mental health and reduces chronic disease. If we’re happier and healthier being surrounded by the sights and sounds of nature, how do we redesign our city to make sure we have the habitats that make both humans and birds happy?

Our proposal takes a comprehensive approach to making Portland a city where every resident and visitor can enjoy the sights and sounds of nature on a daily basis. Our policies would reduce threats to birds, protect and build new habitat, and raise public awareness and enjoyment of birds. To create habitat, we propose converting one or more travel lanes to longitudinal parks with multi-use paths. Converting just one travel or parking lane on arterials throughout the city would result in an additional 57 acres of green space – larger than the size of Deering Oaks Park. In addition, more people would walk and bike along arterials in their neighborhoods, there would be less storm water runoff and paving costs.

Cedar Hill Design Study

A “Cedar Hill Target Area Committee” would be formed to focus on a fragmented remnant of a once vibrant larger downtown neighborhood, to facilitate a continuing dialogue between residents and agencies seeking ways of combining redevelopment and preservation in ways that inspire. The committee would commission a professional design study of this six-block area north of Portland High School, and bounded by Cedar, Lancaster, and Elm Streets, and Cumberland Avenue. As a neighborhood forum, the committee would facilitate open discussion, conflict resolution, commission design studies, and insure that programs are coordinated and mutually supportive.

Why Cedar Hill? Lining Cedar Street’s two blocks is the area’s sole surviving intact grouping of modest 19th century houses on narrow lots with their gables facing the street. Having narrowly escaped the Great Fire and decades of neglect, Cedar Street, I feel, merits facade grants and National Register listing, or else may fall to speculators. Oxford Street, where acres of parking remain a legacy of urban renewal clearance, presents an opportunity for higher density housing of frankly contemporary design incorporating neighborhood retail to restore Oxford Street to its historic role as neighborhood shopping street. With facade grants and technical assistance, Cedar Street’s human scale and authenticity would be a foil to needed context-sensitive, yet contemporary infill housing. Restoring the lost Greek revival porch of the 1846 Cummings house at Cedar Street and Cumberland Avenue would symbolize neighborhood pride and be an architectural civics lesson across from PHS.

Design for People with Nature

City and Town Planning Principles have been defined for greenbelt towns; livable, walkable communities; transit-oriented development centers; great American neighborhoods, and now smart growth. They must be applied to Portland’s regional planning and development.
1. Respect nature, its land, water and air characteristics.
2. Know people’s needs, the market; meet with the planning / design principles.
3. Neighborhoods and cities can be designed; they must be walkable; one-half mile diameter.
4. Land uses, housing, transportation, public services and facilities will vary by density; dwelling units per acre.
5. Land uses must determine transportation; not the other way around. Yield to pedestrians.
6. You, we can control growth and development, but you can’t develop it unless you own it.
7. Development occurs when there is a profit opportunity. No profit; real cash, no development. Public investment must generate a real cash on cash return just like a private investment, otherwise it is charity. We must do well before we can do good; but we can do both at the same time too.
8. Portland has neighborhoods, but they failed to meet neighborhood design principles. They were designed and approved by incremental subdivisions without an overall design concept or master plan. Decisions about land use and transportation were not made by the same decision-making authority. These decisions must be made by the same body; e.g., a regional planning and development authority.
9. We can and must do better; planning, decision-making, design, development, and management; comprehensive, coordinated and visionary.

My image is mainly inspired by the map #862 “less vehicles and more alternative transportation”. I found similar comments/concerns from other maps as well. Personally, I think the alternative transportation means healthier, cheaper and more eco-friendlier transportation in comparison to driving cars. In the long run, developing sustainable city mobility is the key for Portland ME, since it already has growing traffic and parking issues. Infrastructure, public transportation, public health and education on sustainability are all very important things to consider and act on.

No city is complete without a functional housing market. In 2018, less than 1% of homes sold in Portland were affordable to households earning Portland’s median annual income. In fact Portland’s median home sale was for $316,000, almost twice what its median household, earning $51,800/year could afford.******

But shelter is a need. 34% of Portland’s home-owners and 50% of Portland’s renters currently pay more in housing costs than they can afford*. In July of 2019, 1,445 households were waiting for placement in Portland Public Housing. 68.5% of those households are families and 17.3% include a disabled person.** Another 3,802 households had been approved for section-8 housing vouchers and were waiting, indefinitely, for placement in one of only 1,809 section-8-approved units spread throughout Portland and fourteen other cities in Southern Maine.**

For low, middle, and even upper-middle income earners, the root of all Portland’s housing problems can be summarized by the word “scarcity”.

Many otherwise prosperous American cities are experiencing housing shortages like Portland’s. One popular solution is termed an “Accessory Dwelling Unit” or ADU. This, in the broadest sense, refers to the development of one additional housing unit on a given parcel. Many cities have begun to encourage ADU development as a low-impact market-driven means of densification. Currently, as part of its ongoing ReCode initiative, Portland is also considering relaxed rules and a streamlined permitting process for ADUs.*****

* 5-year estimates of the 2013-2017 American Community Survey.
**Portland Housing Authority.
****http://www.portlandmaine.gov/DocumentCenter/View/15412/Portlands-Plan-Appendices-2-10-2017.
*****Public meeting of the ReCode committee, June 24th, 2019. ******http://www.mainehousing.org/docs/default-source/housing-facts/2017/cumberlandcounty2018.pdf?sfvrsn=dd0b615_3

After a survey of all original submissions, many were assembled into a ‘consensus collage’, which outlines three primary goals for the city: 1) Provide more off-street parking for those traveling downtown, 2) Facilitate access to Portland’s islands, and 3) Embrace outdoor activity and ‘forest city’ moniker.

To address these goals simultaneously, a series of connected two-level bridges are proposed. The bottom level acts as a long linear parking lot, with angled spaces throughout the Connector’s four sections, accommodating upwards of 4000 cars. Once parked, a traveller may utilize a moving sidewalk to reach an elevator – no more than ¼ mile – to take them to the upper level, and tramway that travels the entire length of the structures, from The Peninsula to Fort Williams.

The upper level is a landscaped promenade, with areas and paths well situated for leisure or activity. Intermittent sections below the arched stations provide a semi-enclosed space, with an LED-clad interior assisted by solar panels, for bayside screenings invisible to downtown. The bridges will abut or share footings with five historical forts, allowing access to these artifacts and their surrounds. Temporary events and local markets can be programmed, in an effort to prevent untethered development, and help maintain integrity of these sites.

The title is a play on the bridge at Firth of Forth, from a northern coastal town in Scotland where it has become synonymous. It also references the Connector’s siting between Danforth Cove and The Fore River, where it too may become an iconic fixture.

Literally Just One Big Giant Park. Map #958 spoke to me the most. The simple desire for a giant park free of roads, congestion and development replaced with space to play and fresh air. But we all know that transforming the whole of Portland into one giant park, or reversing it back into its once luscious forest is unrealistic. So how can we work towards this vision for green whilst maintaining the existing infrastructure, lifestyles, economic growth? We need to think of Portland as the Complete City. A city that caters to all and can be molded into what a resident and/or visitor wants it to be. It can play the role of a village, a city or a park, where in all three settings, people are able to enjoy everything the city has to offer. My image therefore depicts all three settings in one, with overlapping elements to indicate that the three function in harmony. The Eastern Pine Trees, Maine’s State tree, stand tall in the background representing the landscape that once was, but the trunks pierce through the city-scape and village-scape to indicate that the trees and the need for them are still strong. The village is embedded with detail as a contrast to Portland’s faded skyline in the background to represent the city’s wealth of communities and desire for a community feel. Lastly, the activities happening in the foreground represent an active community that can thrive within the village, within the city and within the giant park.

To grow a more holistic city, it’s necessary to balance on-going increases in urban development with the addition of more substantial green spaces. By “greening” the city, it’s possible to reduce carbon emissions and pollution, while also building an ecosystem that promotes healthier living and happier residents.

Mainers obviously cherish the outdoors and prioritize the protection of the state’s coasts, lakes, mountains and forests. It’s also clear from a significant number of the submitted maps that residents of Portland desire their city to more closely resemble the beautiful landscapes that are iconic to Maine.

Using different events and entertainment activities, we aim to consolidate a number of interventions in the city, improving infrastructure meanwhile inviting people to explore and appropriate these new places. To represent this we made two simulations with images from Google. The pedestrianization of the downtown streets (in beige) will connect the facilities and activities of the harbor with the Back Cove and its new swimming pools (or ice rinks during the winter), shown as a brown structure on the water. To eliminate any limits for people accessing the park from the new pedestrianized zones, the highway will be buried when passing in front of the Back Cove Park. Moreover, the empty parcels in this area will be used for affordable housing, indicated in the image with white volumes.
In order to get the citizens closer to the islands, each of them will have a Totem (or existing lighthouses) and Pavillion (represented in the image with red volumes) to mark the different places hosting the Biennale of Arts and Literature Festival, creating the Maine Open Museum (MOM) with a main pavilion at the Ferry Terminal, which will provide visitors of the event with the service of the Ferry Tale (its courses are shown in the image with dotted red lines). Besides, a pedestrian bridge will connect the pathways around the Back Cove with the Eastern Promenade.

A city of the 21st century has no choice but to anticipate, respond to and adapt to a changing climate.

A City for Leaping posits that the seriousness of the issue demands an imaginative response that transcends our understanding of the way things are. It challenges us to hop over the realities of the current system and find solutions that may not be plausible, practical or probable but are nonetheless possible. The frightening gravity of a suffering planet can be met with an equal force of playfulness, joy and exuberance.

City for Leaping imagines a world where we borrow from our nomadic hunter gatherer roots with portable, sustainable housing which allows us to pick up and move in response to changing conditions and seasonal fluctuations in weather. Permanent human habitation is realized as folly and possessions are no longer desirable status markers. Individual vehicles are minimized in favor of public transportation, walking and cycling. Public space is vast and accessible and is used for growing food, recreation and enjoyment of the natural world.
Joy abounds.

N.B. We make no claims to accuracy or fact in the attached documents. Users proceed at their own risk.

“I don’t want your hope. I don’t want you to be hopeful. I want you to panic.”
-Greta Thunberg

Our submission was inspired by the PSA “Mapping Portland” project and the specific maps that emphasized that strong neighborhoods are the nodes that create the interconnected fabric of a complete city. Our team members live and/or work in the Woodfords Corner neighborhood of Portland. As part of a community design engagement effort, we printed a room-sized map of our own neighborhood and provided dry erase markers as a fun, interactive way for our neighbors to draw, write and sketch ideas with each other. This neighborhood map is a visual magnet and provides the tools to inspire ongoing dialogue among neighbors and capture their lived experiences and creative ideas. So far, hundreds of neighbors have contributed to the map and subsequent placemaking charrettes.

From the ideas generated on our map, we realized that making Woodfords Corner a more vibrant node means creating safe, attractive, useful and interesting spaces for neighbors to interact. Individual ideas shared on the map provide opportunities for neighbors to engage with each other, with visitors, and with businesses in the area. These opportunities for connection promote social, mental and physical well-being on an individual, neighborhood and city scale. These hubs, such as Peaks Island, Woodfords Corner or Morrills Corner, further develop unique identities and become the neighborhood nodes that foster a rich and complete city.

We believe that this process of repeatedly engaging neighbors with the power of design should be replicated amongst the many wonderful neighborhoods of Portland to form an engaged and connected city.