Return to News Index

Bacon foundation chooses winner of urban planning competition

Plan Philly has an extensive report about the winners of the Ed Bacon Foundation's 3rd Annual Student Design Competition. This year, the foundation asked contestants to consider the Ludlow neighborhood for a new plan to guide its redevelopment.

Considering its proximity to Center City, it is somewhat surprising just how much of an afterthought this neighborhood is. Ludlow is located between 5th and 9th Streets, from Girard Avenue to Cecil B. Moore Avenue. Viewing it on the large map of the city, one is struck by how it occupies the space directly between the southeastern corner of Temple University and the northwestern corner of Northern Liberties. Seeking to capitalize on this proximity to two stronger areas, the winners of the competition, a group of students from the University of Pennsylvania, told Plan Philly that they sought to use green space to make Ludlow a bridge of sorts, thereby enhancing its own desirability:

PP: What element of your design are you proudest of and why?

AN: When we first sat down and started looking at a map of the area we were surprised by just how close Ludlow is to Temple and Northern Liberties. We really wanted to make a direct and clear connection between these two neighborhoods and decided to put in the large semi-programmed open space that bridges the divide between the surrounding neighborhoods.

Urban planning is an art form unto itself, requiring a great deal of imagination, creativity and technical skill while also requiring those who practice it to consider the real world implications and limitations of their plans. Their canvas, after all, is or will be the place where a lot of people live, work and play (if the planners get it right). Their decisions could determine how millions of public and private dollars are put to use OR, if they fail, how no dollars are put to use and a neighborhood continues to suffer.

The student winners of the contest reflect the creative, imaginative, idealistic side of urban planning that, as Robert Kennedy once paraphrased, dream of things that never were and ask, "why not?"

And darn it, I keep letting myself get caught up in those dreams.