By Michael Heinrich, AO for Mann Report

California’s housing crisis has affected every city across the state. As municipalities explore new development strategies to grow housing stock, they often seek to leverage existing infrastructure to re-imagine 21st century communities. This raises several new challenges for architects and planners, who are tasked with designing more intense, instant urban villages that still deliver an authentic sense of place and vibrant community life. As buildings become larger and neighborhoods denser, the importance of the public realm — the space between buildings — cannot be overstated.