The Olympics can be awesome for cities. Or they can be devastating. Rarely they're both, and most often they are an economic drain caused by over-investment in facilities with limited long-term usability. So when London's plans for a 2012 Summer Olympics stadium that would reduce from 80,000 seats during the games to a more realistically usable 25,000 seats after, Olympics experts, city officials and taxpayers rejoiced. But recent news has turned that rejoice to disgust.
London
London Mayor Versus Aggressive Cyclists
London Mayor Boris Johnson, an avid cyclist himself, is calling on local law enforcement to crack down on the city's aggressive cyclists who he says are making it less safe to bike.
Bike Radar
What Today's Cities Will Look Like in the Future
Imagining cities of the future can bring about some pretty wild predictions. But when they're visions of existing cities, these futuristic predictions can be almost realistic.
io9
The Planetizen News Brief - 9/10/09
4:25 minutes (4.05 MB)
Turning off traffic lights in London, reducing VMT through density, and the rising demand for parks -- all on this week's Planetizen News Brief, airing weekly on the nationally-syndicated radio show "Smart City". Read, listen or download.
London's Naked Street Experiment
London is attempting to make streets safer for cyclists and motorists by turning off traffic lights in one part of the city for a short amount of time.
The New York Times
Brown Says Expensive Olympics Will Boost London
English Prime Minister Gordon Brown is confident that the 2012 Summer Olympics will bring a big economic benefit to London. But with costs rising beyond expectations, some are skeptical of the PM's prediction.
Reuters
Boston and London to Replicate Montreal's Bike Sharing System
The Bixi bicycle sharing system in Montreal will be replicated in Boston and London, according to Montreal Mayor Gerald Tremblay.
The New York Times
Urban Apiarism Made Easier
Raising bees, that is. In England, a British government conservation agency is encouraging city dwellers to keep bees on their roofs, and have introduced a new hive design to make the pursuit easier.
Inc Blog
London's Sexiest Olympics Architecture is for its Infrastructure
As it prepares to host the 2012 Summer Olympics, the City of London is getting closer to completion on some of its event-related infrastructure. So far, the best buildings are more nuts-and-bolts than flash, according to this piece.
Blueprint
Dealing With Vacant Mansions in London
In a posh borough of London, empty homes are causing problems for officials, who are tasked with finding the owners of these vacant or abandoned mansions.
The Wall Street Journal
London Transit Guru Moves to New York's MTA
An American-born transit planner who help usher in congestion pricing and smart transit card technology in London has been nominated to chair New York's transit system.
The New York Times
A Musical Experiment in Public Space
This piece looks at a public art project that placed 30 pianos in public places throughout London in an effort to encourage more public interaction.
The New York Times
The Planetizen News Brief - 7/2/09
4:20 minutes (3.98 MB)
Rural areas feel the pain of renewable energy, Colorado catches rain, and London turns its temporary Olympic stadium permanent -- all on this week's Planetizen News Brief, airing weekly on the nationally-syndicated radio show "Smart City". Read, listen or download.
London's Temporary Olympic Stadium Could Go Permanent
Officials in London are changing their minds about the main stadium being built for the 2012 Summer Olympics, which was intended to be a semi-temporary structure. Now they want it to be permanent.
The Architects' Journal
Will Developing Nations Drive/Follow in our Faulted Footsteps?
Tue, 06/09/2009 - 06:48
The growth in hybrid car sales is a welcome sign that a major change in the automobile industry is afoot. The shift to transport infrastructure that is not based on the archaic complexity of an internal combustion engine, with its hundreds of moving parts and compressed fuel explosions, has been long put off by an automobile industry, happy with status quo, partnered with oil cartels with the power to price their product as if it were in endless supply. But with smack-in-the-face-reality fuel prices last summer, the collapse of the so-called “Big Three” over the winter, and the simultaneous heralding assertion of alternative energy technologies (Daimler AG bought a 10% stake in Tesla Motors last month!), the fallout of western economic near-collapse has changed everything we’ve known to be sacrosanct; Leonard Lopate even waxed nostalgic about the “Death of the Car Song” yesterday on National Public Radio’s local station, WNYC.
The Planetizen News Brief - 5/7/09
4:30 minutes (4.18 MB)
Neighbors come together, cities sue the California High Speed Rail project, and London's got its eye on a "living bridge", all on this week's Planetizen News Brief, airing weekly on the nationally-syndicated radio show "Smart City". Read, listen or download.
London Mayor Calls for 'Living Bridge'
London Mayor Boris Johnson has revived old plans to build a new bridge across the Thames River, complete with habitable structures and shops.
Evening Standard
Will Removing Traffic Lights Help Congestion?
The Town Council of Ealing, U.K. is experimenting with covering up its traffic lights at certain intersections, which they believe will increase safety and awareness.
The Times of London
Who Really Needs A World Cup
Wed, 04/15/2009 - 23:38
Whether you've realized it yet or not, soccer is a big deal in this gloabalizing world. And every four years it's a huge deal for one country: the host of the FIFA World Cup. All eyes are on the host country for the 32-team tournament, which is the most-watched sporting event in the world. And though showtime is just one month long, the host spends years vying, preparing and investing for the tournament. It has major potential to spur broad countrywide improvements and economic development. So when the U.S. made news recently by offering forth 70 stadia as possible host sites for either the 2018 or 2022 World Cup (along with a reputation booster from President Barack Obama), I had to filter out my national pride. Sure, the U.S. would make a good and clearly able host for the event, but it seems that the potential of the World Cup could be better directed towards a country that really needs large-scale civic improvement and investment.
