BBC News

Benches that dump you for sitting too long, trash cans that spit your recyclables back out- will the Sentient City lack empathy?

Japan is running out of places to store the remains of its dead, so what better place than in the city, near transit stations in high-tech, high-rise facilities?

Lima's poorest residents are using nets to capture the moisture from the fog that shrouds the city. They don't have access to running water and often pay a high price to get it.

In order to cope with the Israeli blockade, millions of dollars have been invested in tunnels between Gaza and Egypt. Israel has bombed many of them. Now investors want their money back.

States across the US are stepping up their efforts to attract business from outside their borders. New Hampshire woos investors from its neighbors and the California-Nevada rivalry heats up.

Taxi and minibus drivers in Cape Town are concerned that a new Integrated Rapid Transport (IRT) system will put them out of work. The city cites lack of regulation, safety concerns, and standardized work hours as reasons the new system is necessary.

In an effort to replace slums with low-cost housing, Morocco is paying developers to create thousands of new apartments. Some slum residents see it as a boon, others say they couldn't afford the rent, even if it were subsidized.

The proposed £34bn ($55bn) line, slated for completion by 2030, would reduce travel time between London and Glasgow to two-and-a-quarter hours.

Columnist Stephen Cunningham of the BBC believes that technology like smart meters in homes will provide the necessary reduction in CO2 to reduce global warming.

This series from the BBC looks at how the UK's cities have changed over the last few decades, and what the lasting impact is of the billions spent for community redevelopment.

In Wales, the rail authority has recorded a major upswing in near misses at rail crossings. The article is accompanied by a video of dangerous near misses.

As long as temperatures, population, and industrialization continue rising, the earth's water supply is in big trouble, as mapped here by German researchers.

Following similar discoveries of fraud in the U.S., the Italian government has uncovered a scheme to increase local revenues by artificially shortening yellow lights.

Researchers in Scotland have concluded that areas without parks and green space have an increased risk of death and illness.

In Swansea, U.K., planners requested a translation via email of a road sign into Welsh. What they got back was not quite what they expected.

Using the term 'oil supply crunch' as opposed to 'peak oil', this British report indicates that the oil crisis will hit by 2013, with prices jumping to $200/barrel. It states that the problem is not insufficient oil but obstacles to its extraction.

Dermot Finch of the Centre for Cities, an independent research group, says that the U.S. could learn a lot from the U.K.'s urban renaissance.

It's ethics vs. economics in a debate over a proposed casino in Stranraer, Scotland.

A new design for a public bike rack could help prevent crime.

While cities are focused on promoting green 'buildings', planners and landscape architects need to advocate more green city planning.