The Independent

The ban on billboard advertising in Sao Paulo, Brazil, is showing pressure cracks, as continued opposition to the citywide policy has some lawmakers considering a repeal.

South Africa is gearing up to host the 2010 World Cup next June. As it prepares to be the tournament's first African host, the country faces a number of hurdles.

In terms of global urban livability, American cities are not so hot. The highest ranking city, Honolulu, comes in at 29 in the results of the Worldwide Quality of Living Survey.

As the World Water Forum convenes in Istanbul, two new reports warn that water shortages will elevate to a global crisis within the next two decades, creating a problem even bigger than the current economic crisis.

According to sources in Europe, the Obama Administration has sought advice from European Union officials about emulating the EU's infrastructure bank.

A developer in Holmdel, New Jersey sees promise in a building designed by Eero Saarinen to become a pedestrian-friendly town center. 'This place can be a great public realm."

A growing group of people in Britain have taken to breaking into abandoned buildings and facilities. But they're not breaking in to steal things, or to squat. They just want to check the places out, which they call "urban exploring".

Scientists along Russia's northern coast are reporting that methane, a greenhouse gas twenty times more potent than carbon dioxide, is being released into the atmosphere at an alarming new rate.

Osama bin Laden's brother has announced plans to build the world's longest suspension bridge, connecting Africa and Arabia, and building two state-of-the-art cities at each end -- a project that is expected to cost upwards of $200 billion.

A new documentary film looks at the achievements of Michael Reynolds, who for 20 years has been building eco-friendly, off-grid "earth ship" houses built out of natural materials and car tires.

The Dharavi neighborhood of Mumbai -- home to 600,000 residents -- is set to be razed and rebuilt under a massive redevelopment scheme.

Auto makers are set to launch new cars priced at $3000 in India. Andrew Buncombe reports on the massive social, economic, and environmental impact of the new affordable vehicles.

The first new bridge in Venice, Italy, in 70 years will first be constructed in a hangar before it is actually placed over the city's canal -- which many fear will cause the canal's banks to sink under the tremendous weight.

A peninsular area of land in Greenland has become an island off its coast due to rising sea levels, which scientists attribute to global warming.

A journalist says Burma's new secret capital city uses urban planning as insurance against regime change.

For decades corrupt and unscrupulous waste disposal practices have targeted African countries for toxic dumping. Now the enormous surge in the production of e-waste is magnifying this problem.

To reduce the amount of land lost near New Orleans and the mouth of the Mississippi River, scientists and public officials are considering a grand re-routing of the river in hopes of recreating a delta that is rapidly disappearing.

Is the Bush administration planning a dramatic reversal of its policy on global warming?

Small organic farms are scattered throughout Cuba that have been providing food for the country ever since the fall of the Soviet empire 20 years ago. The collaboration between the government and local farmers has benefited the whole country.

A North Carolina based weekly has published a helpful list of ways for residents to reduce their energy consumption.