Gallery: Can Urban Planning Turn Brooklyn Into the Next Silicon Valley?
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Earlier this summer, the architects and urban planners at WXY Studio released a strategic plan for Tech Triangle--a hub of tech activity in the heart of Brooklyn. *Image: Brooklyn Tech Triangle / Ken Smith Landscape Architect*
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It outlines a number of measures big and small for accommodating the activity that's already happening in the area. *Image: Brooklyn Tech Triangle / Ken Smith Landscape Architect*
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There are already several hundred tech and innovation-related companies in the area. But features like green spaces and cafes would make them more livable. *Image: Brooklyn Tech Triangle / WXY Architecture + Urban Design*
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The main point is cultural: By encouraging people to linger in the area rather than simply working there, the hope is that a shared sense of community will emerge--and with it, innovation. *Image: Brooklyn Tech Triangle / WXY Architecture + Urban Design*
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Thus, something such as well-light public spaces at night might seem just like niceties, but the real point is to get people engaged with the area at all hours. *Image: Brooklyn Tech Triangle / WXY Architecture + Urban Design*
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Another issue is space: demand is expected to double by 2015, and the plan points out several buildings that could be ideal for the burgeoning scene, in addition to connecting the pockets of activity already established in Downtown Brooklyn, Dumbo, and the Brooklyn Navy Yard. *Image: Brooklyn Tech Triangle / WXY Architecture + Urban Design*
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The plan also calls for the area not just to be a place where innovative companies work, but where they test their products, too. Free and public Wi-Fi is just the start...*Image: Brooklyn Tech Triangle / WXY Architecture + Urban Design*
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The plan hints at how the Tech Triangle could become a test bed for new types of products and technologies--perhaps an experimental hub for new connected objects, smart infrastructure, and other budding manifestations of the internet of things. *Image: Brooklyn Tech Triangle / WXY Architecture + Urban Design*
