Carina Vera KinsmanCarina Vera Kinsman Verified • 1stUrban Design Ghostwriter | I help design firms create email courses & thought leadership to build visibility, attract key partnerships, and join conversations shaping tomorrow’s cities. Insights from Chile, France & USA.Urban Design Ghostwriter | I help design firms create email courses & thought leadership to build visibility, attract key partnerships, and join conversations shaping tomorrow’s cities. Insights from Chile, France & USA.
3 weeks ago • Edited • Visible to anyone on or off LinkedIn
3 weeks ago • Edited • Visible to anyone on or off LinkedIn
Most cities build to move people faster, but the best sometimes make you stop, which is why I love urban design. It’s always a political statement:
When you walk through a city, you’re reading its belief system in physical form.
Because design is never neutral.
3 projects, 3 cities, 3 countries that remind me of that truth:
1/ Santiago, Chile — Playful safety for children.
Most parks are surrounded by streets, which means:
• Noise
• Traffic
• Danger
But one project in Santiago flipped that problem into creativity.
It enclosed the park with colorful, child-height fences that invite play instead of restricting it.
The park doesn't just protect children.
It showcases creative problem-solving that makes safety playful, not defensive.
2/ New York City, USA — The sound of remembrance.
For the 9/11 Memorial, architects Michael Arad and Peter Walker created something unexpected:
Silence.
The trees, water, and stone create an acoustic mattress, drowning out the noise of the ‘city that never sleeps.’
This isn't just landscape architecture.
It's a public statement of remembrance.
Some spaces in our cities shouldn’t serve productivity. They should serve memory.
3/ Bordeaux, France — The beauty of slowing down.
Public policy shapes how people use space.
When I lived in Bordeaux in 2019, what I loved the most were Sundays.
The city closed nearly everything on that day:
• Shops
• Offices
• Big supermarkets
At first glance, it looks inconvenient.
But what it really does is give the city back to its people:
- Streets filled with people
- Cafés spill onto sidewalks
- Families spent time in parks
Of course, small businesses could stay open if they chose to.
But this policy encourages a beautiful choice:
Spend time outdoors and with your family.
This isn't about nostalgia.
It's about using policy to reclaim public life in an era that wants us isolated and scrolling.
Every plan, every park, every plaza says something.
It's a visible explanation of priorities: sociological, environmental, and political.
Every park border, memorial, and Sunday closure tells us what a city believes people deserve.
~
So, what design decision in your city reveals what it truly values?
I’d love to read your answers!
When you walk through a city, you’re reading its belief system in physical form.
Because design is never neutral.
3 projects, 3 cities, 3 countries that remind me of that truth:
1/ Santiago, Chile — Playful safety for children.
Most parks are surrounded by streets, which means:
• Noise
• Traffic
• Danger
But one project in Santiago flipped that problem into creativity.
It enclosed the park with colorful, child-height fences that invite play instead of restricting it.
The park doesn't just protect children.
It showcases creative problem-solving that makes safety playful, not defensive.
2/ New York City, USA — The sound of remembrance.
For the 9/11 Memorial, architects Michael Arad and Peter Walker created something unexpected:
Silence.
The trees, water, and stone create an acoustic mattress, drowning out the noise of the ‘city that never sleeps.’
This isn't just landscape architecture.
It's a public statement of remembrance.
Some spaces in our cities shouldn’t serve productivity. They should serve memory.
3/ Bordeaux, France — The beauty of slowing down.
Public policy shapes how people use space.
When I lived in Bordeaux in 2019, what I loved the most were Sundays.
The city closed nearly everything on that day:
• Shops
• Offices
• Big supermarkets
At first glance, it looks inconvenient.
But what it really does is give the city back to its people:
- Streets filled with people
- Cafés spill onto sidewalks
- Families spent time in parks
Of course, small businesses could stay open if they chose to.
But this policy encourages a beautiful choice:
Spend time outdoors and with your family.
This isn't about nostalgia.
It's about using policy to reclaim public life in an era that wants us isolated and scrolling.
Every plan, every park, every plaza says something.
It's a visible explanation of priorities: sociological, environmental, and political.
Every park border, memorial, and Sunday closure tells us what a city believes people deserve.
~
So, what design decision in your city reveals what it truly values?
I’d love to read your answers!
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