The Guardian Unlimited

The university's plans, which are subject to approval next week, are strongly opposed by local residents, who city decades of poor relations with the elite institution.

Desperate for jobs and tax revenue, the City of Detroit has permitted its three original casino operators to build new larger complexes.

Could a 'green' makeover of one of China's most infamous public spaces help signal the country's shifting politics?

For those who can't get to the coast, tons of sand have been trucked into a park in Mexico City, where residents flock to spend a day at the "beach". But critics see the effort as a wasteful in a city where many residents still have no running water.

The Swedish furniture company is hoping to capitalize on its design sense and efficient manufacturing to expand the market for prefabricated housing.

100-year-old plots of organic farmland in east London are in line to be bulldozed to make room for development of facilities for the 2012 Olympics -- a four-week-long event.

The English village of Ashton Hayes is looking to become the country's first carbon-neutral community. Cooperation village-wide has enabled the installation of solar panels and used recycled building materials in new structures.

A license has been granted to the city of Manchester to host the United Kingdom's first "supercasino" -- a 5,00 square meter gambling and hotel complex similar to Las Vegas casinos. However, many in the UK are worried about resulting social problems.

Food shortages and economic decline have forced Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe to rescind his 2005 land reform decision to seize all farmland from white farmers. Land has already been returned to 19 white farmers, while more await lease approval.

The Swedish furniture retailer is expanding its market to include ready-made and modestly-sized homes. Already selling well in Scandinavia, the homes are part of a new plan to address Britain's affordable housing shortage.

Environmentalists and land use activists in the United Kingdom are calling on planners and policymakers to integrate standards that reduce carbon emissions within their official planning policies.

Global warming and rising sea levels are posing a threat to the livelihood of Southern Spain's bustling beach resorts. Some resort owners are already bringing in their own sand to counteract the receding beach space.

Government policies have led to over three quarters of new homes in Britain being built on recycled land.

With prices doubling in the past five years across Britian, a key sector of the workforce is frozen out of the housing market in two-thirds of cities and towns.

Multinational corporations eye India's large retail market as Indian superstores expand.

The scale of the global warming problem is unprecedented, according to a draft report by leading scientists. The report has been released early by US officials ostensibly to minimize the impact when the report is officially released next year.

There has been little to equal the speed and extent of the development of the Chinese city of Chongqing, which is growing so rapidly, a population equivalent to that of Luxembourg is added each year.

The palatial urban masterpiece is finally back, but its art collection has been called into question by international critics.

Former chiefs of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) -- five Republicans and one Democrat -- criticise the Bush administration's response to global warming.

Shortage of affordable housing causes problems recruiting new faculty at one of the world's top higher education institutions.