Central and South America

Central and South America

Aerial view of the Sangay volcano in Ecuador at sunrise or sunset.

Amazonian Ruins Reveal Ancient ‘Garden Urbanism’

An archaeological site shows evidence of a unique layout of dense residential buildings interspersed with a network of roads and farmland.

January 16, 2024 - Scientific American

The public market at Warwick JUnction in Durban, South Africa is visible with the city ‘s high-rise buildings in the background.

6 International Models of Urban Revitalization

The New York Times recently published an article exploring six cities from around the world reinventing themselves for the 21st century: Paris, Sydney, Medellin, Lisbon, Singapore, and Durban.

April 3, 2023 - The New York Times

San Salvador, El Salvador - September 15th, 2021: Protesters walk in the streets of the city against the bitcoin policies of current president Nayib Bukele.

El Salvador President Envisions Retro-Futurist ‘Bitcoin City’

In the same week that the cryptocurrency’s value took a nosedive, the president of El Salvador unveiled a model for a volcano-powered ‘smart city.’

May 18, 2022 - Los Angeles Times

The courtyard of a vecindad in Mexico City's Centro Histórico

Vecindades: Mexico City's Answer to 'Missing Middle Housing'

An iconic multifamily housing form repurposes the former homes of Mexico's elite into communal housing for urban workers.

January 25, 2022 - Bloomberg CityLab

Medellin

Infrastructure Investment for Public Safety: Lessons from Medellín

A natural experiment in Medellín indicates that infrastructural investments can reduce crime and improve perceptions of public safety.

January 20, 2022 - Streetsblog Chicago

Coronavirus

Monitoring the Effects of the Pandemic on Metros and Cities

Eugénie Birch discusses cities' and metros' recoveries from the COVID-19 pandemic.

October 27, 2021 - Penn IUR Urban Link

Bus Rapid Transit

Jaime Lerner, One of the World's Most Influential Urbanists, Passes Away at the Age of 83

A sad day for the world of planning and urban design innovation, as Jaime Lerner, the Brazilian urbanist who created the concept of bus rapid transit as we know it today, passed away in Brazil.

May 28, 2021 - ArchDaily

Red transmilenio bus stopped at station in Bogota

Looking to the Future as TransMilenio Turns 20

The world's most famous, and influential, bus rapid transit system, which served 2.4 million riders a day in Bogotá in the days before the pandemic, offers lessons in transit planning and management as it enters its third decade.

May 25, 2021 - Reorientations

Bangkok, Thailand

The World's Highest Rates of Coronavirus Infections and Deaths

Brazil and the U.S. lead the world in daily COVID-19 cases and deaths. Western Europe is undergoing a third wave of infections, resulting in a new round of lockdowns, yet most of these nations are not among the 12 hotspots shown on a global tracker.

March 22, 2021 - Bloomberg News

Sao Paulo, Brazil, Marilia

The World's Worst COVID Outbreak

Brazil has surpassed the U.S. and led the world in the daily average of COVID-19 deaths and coronavirus infections during the last week. Experts point to a coronavirus variant and the lack of a federal strategy, leaving states without assistance.

March 16, 2021 - The Wall Street Journal

Pandemic Board Game

Are We 'Rounding the Corner' in the Pandemic?

All the coronavirus data is moving in the right direction in most of the U.S., yet 130,000 additional Americans are projected to die from COVID-19 by June according to one widely used model.

February 16, 2021 - CNN

Avenida Septima

Bogotá Uses 7,000 Public Design Proposals to Redesign its Main Artery

To reimagine the city's most important artery, Bogotá sought community input via an innovative online platform.

December 15, 2020 - The City Fix

Mexico City Metro

Mexico Amends Constitution to Declare Safe Mobility a Human Right

Mexico recently ratified an amendment to its constitution to make safe mobility a human right. The amendment comes in response to unsafe conditions on the country's streets, roads, and highways.

November 9, 2020 - TheCityFix

Bike Lanes

Bogotá Commits to the Bicycle

Colombia's capital city, the birthplace of the Ciclovía, is devoting public space to bikes during lockdown. To reduce traffic, the city plans to allocate even more public space to bike infrastructure and sustainable mobility moving forward.

August 13, 2020 - Bloomberg CityLab

Brazil Olympics

The Pandemic's New Epicenter

On May 22, the World Health Organization declared Latin America the new epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic. Brazil is second in the world in reported cases after the U.S., and Ecuador, Peru, Chile, and Mexico are also suffering disproportionately.

June 10, 2020 - The Washington Post

Oil Rigs

Just What the Planet Needs: More Oil Production

A surge of oil from four countries—Norway, Guyana, Canada and Brazil—will more than compensate for slowing growth of U.S. oil production. The new sources might cause oil prices to dip to $50 a barrel and slow the transition to electric vehicles.

November 6, 2019 - The New York Times

Chile Metro

How a Subway Fare Increase Kicked Off Chile's Largest Protest

For many residents, Santiago's subway system and its fare hikes became a nexus for anger over deeper inequities across Chilean society.

November 1, 2019 - CityLab

Biking

The Diversity of Biking in Art and Culture

Bikes are an important part of many people’s lives, and fostering a world where cycling has a place involves recognizing this diversity of experience.

September 19, 2019 - Streetsblog Chicago

Mine Processing Plant

Demand for Lithium Drops as Global Electric Vehicle Sales Slump

It was long thought that a finite supply of lithium, a key element needed for electric vehicle batteries, would constrain the production of zero-emission vehicles, but the opposite happened: a slow down in EV demand has caused lithium prices to drop.

September 7, 2019 - Oil Price

Famous Mexico City traffic

Report: Congestion Defeats the Economic Purpose of Cities

Rapid urbanization and over-reliance on the inefficiencies of automobiles has set back the economies of urbanizing locations in the Global South, according to a new report.

May 29, 2019 - Thomson Reuters Foundation

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Top Books

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Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.

Planning for Universal Design

Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.