#26: Dazed and Confused, Tile Whipping, and Cool Roofs

🥳 This week marks six months of Urbanism Now 🥳, 26 issues of sharing bold urban ideas 🔥, connecting with passionate changemakers ✨, and learning as a community 🤝. We’re deeply grateful for the journey so far and excited to see what the next half of the year brings.

To keep the momentum going we’d love if you let us know in the comments something positive you learned from our newsletter or how it’s helped you ✅ (And share with a friend too)

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Let's get started:

• Dutch cities are racing to rip out paving stones in the National Tile Whipping Contest, replacing concrete with gardens and trees. Since 2021, they've transformed 11 million tiles into green oases that cool streets and bring neighbors together.

• Tulsa’s Gathering Place, shaped by a complex history and bold philanthropy, shows how world-class design, welcoming events for all backgrounds, and weather-ready features can make public spaces vibrant, resilient, and open to everyone.

• Atlanta is mandating reflective ”cool roofs” on all new construction to fight urban heat, a simple and cost-effective measure expected to cool the city and save residents money on energy bills. The ordinance is one of the first in the U.S. to cover all roof types, not just commercial flat roofs.

• Santiago cyclists face daily battles with cars and taxis, but it's not just about traffic, age and gender determine who gets hit hardest by street conflicts. New research reveals the hidden dynamics shaping cycling safety in Latin America's cities.

• For something a little lighter, College Towns’ Ryan Allen wrote about how the cult classic film “Dazed and Confused” serves as an accidental urbanist text, illustrating how post-war suburban sprawl and a lack of third places created a pervasive car culture where driving became the primary form of freedom for American teens.

Videos, podcasts, books, and socials:

• Discover your urban planning persona: are you a visionary, a community advocate, or a data-driven planner? Take the BuzzFeed quiz to see how your mindset shapes the future of cities.

• Urban Political Podcast kicks off its Polycrisis Series with “Normative Insurgency.” Hear how innovators in Colombia, South Africa, and London are turning overlapping urban crises into opportunities for bold, grassroots change.

• Erick Guerra's new book, "Overbuilt," argues that the U.S. has so many high-capacity urban interstates that the costs of adding new roadway capacity outweigh the benefits. The book explores the history of overbuilding and how changes in finance and evaluation can help correct the trend. Seems on brand with the Strong Towns movement.

Jobs:

• The UN Environment Program seeks a knowledge and data management specialist for its Go Blue Project, focusing on creating dashboards and web maps to showcase data on Kenya's sustainable blue economy. July 16.

• Monash University is hiring a postdoc and up to four PhD researchers for an ARC Discovery Project on high-speed rail and sustainable city sizes. Apply by July 16 (postdoc) and by July 31 (PhD)

• The Open Society Foundations is offering a Leadership in Government Fellowship to support former senior U.S. government officials who advanced social change, allowing them to reflect and contribute expertise to public dialogue. $115k - $160k salary. Apply by July 24.

• The University of Vienna is hiring a postdoctoral researcher in economic geography for a six-year position focusing on green industrial transitions, climate change adaptation, and place-based innovation strategies. Apply by August 10.

• What Works Cities, a Results for America initiative, is hiring a communications associate to support communications and marketing for its work on data-driven local government. $72k - $84k salary.

• The California Housing Partnership is hiring an affordable housing policy advocacy professional to advance legislation and regulations for affordable housing. $115k - $220k salary.

• Roche is hiring a project and program manager for transportation to manage its transportation services and TDM programs in South San Francisco. $132k - $246k salary.

Events and deadlines:

• A Project for Public Spaces webinar will explore how placemaking can actively support civic life and civil liberties in the public realm. July 17.

• The Terner Center is hosting a webinar on decarbonizing affordable housing, exploring policy, practice, and financing pathways for subsidized housing properties. July 22.

• Urban planner Lior Steinberg is hosting a free webinar to explore the Woonerf concept, where streets are designed for people instead of cars. The session will cover principles of liveable street design and lessons from cities that have implemented them. July 30.

• The Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco and the Terner Center are hosting an online event about increasing housing supply by addressing financing and policy challenges. August 20.

• Tickets are available for the Placemaking Week Europe festival in Reggio Emilia, Italy, from Sept. 23-26.

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What did you love? What did we miss? Let us know in the comments below.

As always, please share with a friend!

A man standing near 156 tiles he removed. Source: NK Tegelwippen