Construction
Residential Construction Declines Sharply in New York City
2009 is expected to turn out as a bad year for residential constructoin in New York City. After five consecutive years with more than 30,000 units constructed, at total of 6,300 are expected this year.
The New York Times
Stimulus Projects Bring Delays to Nation's Roads
Thousands of stimulus-funded transportation projects are underway this summer, creating thousands of delays on the nation's roads.
The Christian Science Monitor
Illinois Approves $31 Billion Construction Plan
Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed into law a bill that will bring about $31 billion worth of road, transit and school construction projects.
Chicago Tribune
Officials Demand High-Rise Crane Come Down
City officials in Chicago are demanding the removal of a high-rise crane which stands at the half-built Waterview Tower, a monument to the economic downturn.
Chicago Sun Times
Regulating Stalled Construction Projects for Safety
New York City is considering new legislation that seeks to address problems brought by the national recession to stalled construction sites and New Yorkers endangered by them.
The Architect's Newspaper
Dubai's Migrant Construction Workers Bear Brunt of Downturn
The economic downturn is hurting Dubai, as glitzy skyscraper projects come to a halt. But the biggest pain is being felt among the hundreds of thousands of migrant construction workers who came to the city seeking their fortunes.
The Christian Science Monitor
Bend it Like Concrete
Advances in material development have brought to the market a new type of concrete that can bend under pressure and heal cracks with the addition of water.
National Geographic
Hot Trend in Architecture: The Appearance of Instability
Witold Rybczynski takes a look at the new tendency toward buildings that look collapsible, rather than the solid-looking buildings of the past. Is this trend a symptom of our shaky times?
Slate
The Best Laid Plans of New York City's Building Boom
This slideshow from New York looks at a handful of residential and office buildings in New York City that have either stalled or completely halted development.
New York
States Enjoying Lower Bids for Construction Projects
The recession is causing construction contractors to branch out -- from subdivisions to road projects. And the market is now flooded, giving state more and lower bids to choose from.
The Washington Post
Lightweight Blocks Cut Rail Costs and Timelines
Light rail developers in Utah are cutting costs and timelines with a new and unlikely track base: foam.
KSL
A Building Boom with a Human Cost
This piece from Next American City looks at the human toll major building projects are taking on construction workers in China, Dubai and other rapidly developing places.
Next American City
Emptiness in Beijing After Olympic Building Boom
The 2008 Summer Olympics brought a boom of construction to host city Beijing. But now, six months later, much of the office space built in the lead up to the games sits empty -- and likely will for years.
Los Angeles Times
Denver Pushes Projects to Fuel Economy
In an effort to revitalize the local economy, Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper has announced a plan to fast-track more than 200 construction projects in the city.
The Denver Post
Greening Cement
A growing number of local governments are turning to "green cement" resolutions to rectify North Texas' status as a shameless failure when it comes to complying with clean air standards.
The Dallas Observer
'Overbuilding Hangover' in Store for Atlanta
According to the Urban Land Institute, there is no need for Atlanta to continue building; currently, there is more than four times more construction going on than there is office spaced being used.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Can 'Green' Cement Eliminate C02?
Cement production is notorious for generating large amounts of C02. Now a Stanford professor claims to have developed a new process that will eliminate the problem.
The San Francisco Chronicle
British Columbia Considers Carbon-Neutral Construction By 2020
In British Columbia, a proposal to require all new buildings to be carbon-neutral is being considered. The rule would require that buildings have no carbon footprint by 2020.
The Globe and Mail
China Using 10 Times More Cement Than Anyone Else
The Oil Drum charts recent figures released by the U.S. Geological Survey, which show a stunning growth in cement use (and therefore, presumably, building activity) in China as compared to world usage.
The Oil Drum
Did Corrupt Building Practices Contribute to China's Earthquake Disaster?
As rescue work continues in the aftermath of the earthquake in China's Sichuan province, many -- including the state-run media -- are asking questions about why so many buildings collapsed, and blame corruption and shoddy construction methods.
The Globe & Mail




















