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The Planetizen News Brief - 2/13/09

13 February 2009 - 5:00am
Smart City Radio

The Planetizen News Brief is a weekly rundown of some of the most interesting and important news and issues of the past week.

The Planetizen News Brief airs every week on the nationally-syndicated radio program "Smart City", which is broadcast in cities across the U.S. Learn more about Smart City and listen to archived shows.

Full Transcript

The shopping mall is dead. Well, at least one shopping mall is, anyway. The Columbus City Center in Columbus, Ohio has been slated for demolition, and while this is one isolated example, it’s representative of the state of traditional enclosed shopping malls all over the country. The Columbus Dispatch reports that the nearly abandoned mall will be torn down during the summer in order to make room for and urban park and mixed use project the city hopes will add a new spark of interest to the city’s struggling retail sector. Plans begin with the park, and officials are hoping to get some federal stimulus money to get the project started. But with a $165 million price tag, it may be 5 or ten years before this mall flowers into the urban shopping experience of the future.

And while the mall on that site is on its dying legs, Paris’s highly touted citywide bike sharing program is experiencing its own troubles. Theft and vandalism have plagued the system since its opening a year and a half ago. The BBC is reporting that more than half of the original 15,000 bikes have disappeared since the summer of 2007. Practically all of the original bikes have been replaced since then, and the costs are mounting up to what may soon become an unpayable price. JCDecaux, the outdoor advertising company that runs the bike system is reportedly seeking a revision to the contract it signed with the city, arguing that rising costs are making operation impossible under the current agreement. The system has remained popular amongst Parisians, but unless the business model is reworked, JCDecaux warns the days of bike sharing in Paris may be coming to an end.

And as bad times loom in Paris, an ambitious and hopeful mayor in the U.S. is hoping to score on a huge gamble to resurrect his city’s decaying downtown. Las Vegas Mayor Oscar B. Goodman is pushing a broad redevelopment plan that looks to revive the Sin City’s formerly bustling and now defunct downtown area. According to an article from the New York Times, Goodman wants to rebuild city hall, and also add new housing, retail and office space to the area. His plans also include bringing in a new casino resort, the first in the area in more than 30 years. The overall price tag for this facelift could reach more than $250 million, most of which could fall on tax payers. And though Goodman predicts the project could create more than 13,000 jobs, opponents argue that this type of mega project just won’t make any sense until the economy gets into better shape.

Stories discussed in this week's Planetizen News Brief

Columbus Kills its Mall

Paris Bike System Plagued By Theft and Vandalism

Las Vegas Mayor Gambles on Downtown Revival Plan

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Instead of demeaning so-called "third world cities", we would do well to observe, understand, and adapt such approach on a much more widescale basis.
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