TED Editor's Pick — The Ecology of Place

Craige Hoover speaks to developers, planners, economic development organizations, and community leaders on how the places we build shape the lives we live. His talks draw on twenty-five years of placemaking, including Seaside, Southall, and Armistead, to make the case that growth, community character, and land conservation are not incompatible goals. The real obstacle is systemic: banks and investors who fund one kind of place, governments that regulate against any other, and citizens who've learned to see change as a threat. Once you see the system, you can start to change it.