Rotterdam-based urban planning firm Stipo B.V. has released The City at Eye Level: Lessons for Street Plinths — available as a free download or in hard copy. The book is a collaborative effort of five editors and 43 professional contributors from the Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, the USA, the UK and Germany — including Samar Héchaimé of Factors.
It delves deeply into the concepts, philosophy and strategies behind planning the ground floors — the "plinths" — of urban environments. Interviews, case studies and first-hand stories highlight best practices from cities in the Netherlands (in particular, Rotterdam) as well as Copenhagen, Antwerp, San Francisco and elsewhere.
Good plinths require a smart strategy supported by many players: the city, the owners, the renters and the users.
— The City at Eye Level, Stipo, 2013
A great city at eye level requires a strategy built across three domains: software (use, the experience, the functions), hardware (design of plinths, buildings, streetscapes, hybrid zones and principles of sustainability), and orgware (organisation of functions and portfolio maintenance). The 215-page book offers ideas, solutions and examples of the best ground floors and ground-level planning from cities across the world. The concluding chapter proposes 75 specific lessons for good plinths.
On 11 January 2013, Stipo launched the book in Rotterdam — the city where it all started. About 230 guests, including urban planners, entrepreneurs, housing associations, local civil servants and interested parties, came together to celebrate. The launch was open to the public and included a Plinth Safari — parallel visits examining the best plinth planning practices in Rotterdam — as well as a chance to meet several of the book's co-authors.
John Worthington, co-founder of DEGW and Director of the Academy of Urbanism in London, gave the keynote speech. He focused on how the book is relevant in an international context, and how the thinking it advances applies to cities far beyond the Netherlands.
The book is available through publishing house Eburon and as a free download at thecityateyelevel.com.