The Woodlands Reaches Critical Mass As New Urbanism Takes Root

摘要

Make no mistake: the developers of The Woodlands, one of the nation's most successful master-planned communi-ties, can see the forest for the trees. And through the forest they see professional commercial office buildings, urbane retail, residential lofts and brownstones, cultural and entertainment venues, a thriving convention center, parks and public green spaces making up a high-density mixed-use Town Center. The centerpiece linking all this together is The Woodlands Waterway~(~R), a $40 million, 1.25-mile transportation corridor and linear park. The Woodlands boasts one of the hottest commercial building markets in Houston and accounted for almost a third of all office construction in the city during the last office boom. Three of the world's top architecture, landscape and urban-design planners ? whose combined client list includes Sony Imageworks, the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Boston Seaport, Johns Hopkins University, Disney Studios, IBM Corporation, McDonald's and Henry Moore Gardens ― have been identified to work on the Town Center project. Sasaki Associates; Cooper, Robertson & Partners; and Street-Works are giving Town Center its new look and personality. Collectively, the three design powerhouses have created some of the most copied urban, pedestrian-scaled developments. Award-wining designs and legendary thinking have led the three firms to design public spaces where people want to be, integrating design elements, landscapes and well-thought-out urban planning that give a community an identifiable presence that is unique to each.