With Earth Engine, Google has compiled decades of images taken by Earth-observing satellites. The tool is meant for "scientists, independent researchers, and nations...to detect changes, map trends and quantify differences on the Earth's surface."
Jerry Adler examines the emerging field of “quantitative urbanism,” which aims to use mathematical formulas to unveil and explain the universal properties shared by cities.
How did childhood visions of future cities differ for kids growing up in the 1980s when compared to the 1960s or today? Matt Novak shares a short film from 1983 that captures the prescient urban visions of students.
Ever wonder what downtown Boston looked like on the eve of the Civil War? This photograph taken from a hot air balloon by James Wallace Black is thought to be the oldest aerial photo still in existence. Google Earth eat your heart out.
Claire Martin examines research conducted by engineering firm Arup and the Clinton Climate Initiative into the actions that cities are taking to reduce their emissions and identifies five cities, including one surprise, that are leading the charge.
Former <em>Times</em> architecture critic Nicolai Ouroussoff pens a profile of the Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, whose "most provocative—and in many ways least understood—contribution to the cultural landscape is as an urban thinker."
Back in 2001, Jim Starry proposed a radical rethink of airport design, with inclined runways and gates on top of terminals and parking lots. Lost in the 9/11 shuffle, Sarah Rich takes a second look at the idea.
With the help of a little GIS wizardry, Susan Spano and Aviva Shen map the 20 most cultured small towns in the U.S., from Gig Harbor, WA to Naples, FL and everywhere in between.
In the 1920s, when the concept of a big city like New York was still new to many Americans, one newspaper columnist brought the city to small town America.
