One of the most valuable graphics in the planner's toolbox is the scale comparison. However, producing such graphics can be a tedious process. A web-based tool utilizing Google Maps seeks to make cartographic “mixtures” much easier to produce.
May 10, 2013 The Atlantic Cities
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."
May 9, 2013 Smithsonian
A simple graphic posted to Reddit recently shows that more than half of the world's total population resides within a circle drawn over Asia. For Matthew Yglesias, it "underscores the fundamental truth of 21st-century economics."
May 8, 2013 Slate
A respite from the stresses of city life, 'lungs' that cleanse the air and cool surrounding streets, places for connecting with other citizens, or grounds for artistic expression and commemoration; the world's best parks accomplish all of the above.
May 8, 2013 Travel + Leisure
David Gensler, Co-CEO of the design mega-firm, describes the speculative work produced by Gensler's global offices for unearthing and re-imagining "unexpected open space" in "our increasingly built-up and built-out urban environments."
May 7, 2013 Fast Company Co.Exist
Indian journalist Swaminathan S. Anklesaria Aiyar examines the opportunities that informal settlements provide to the poor and unskilled for ascending economic and social ladders.
May 7, 2013 Next City
Thinking grass roots empowerment makes expertise unnecessary is not a return to traditional placemaking. It's just a new take on business as usual, argues Scott Doyon.
May 7, 2013 PlaceShakers
David Hochman profiles Ron Finley, an urban gardening activist from South Los Angeles whose breakout TED talk and volunteer work are attracting some high profile supporters.
May 6, 2013 The New York Times
In the pre-modern era, city-states were the engines of global trade and diplomacy. As rapid urbanization drives globalization outside the structures of international frameworks, cities are returning to the fore as transnational actors.
May 6, 2013 Quartz
Chuck Wolfe summarizes a major tenet of his new book and suggests we risk ignoring the back story of urban forms and functions by failing to truly understand the traditional relationships between people and place.
May 5, 2013 The Atlantic Cities
