Asia-Pacific
Shibuya Station is undergoing a major renewal in time for 2020 Olympics.
Nippon.com
Foreign tourists are taking to the streets of Japan dressed as Mario, Luigi, and more of their friends from the Nintendo universe.
The Wall Street Journal
Instead of a disused rail line, Seoul will repurpose one of its many old overpasses. The goal is to introduce green space and build up connective pedestrian infrastructure.
The Washington Post
Visitors to Japan’s theme-park-style disaster preparation centers can experience simulated quakes, typhoons, and fires. Perhaps a similar idea would be helpful in part of the United States?
The Seattle Times
Kiribati’s former president Anote Tong faces climate change’s implications head on and see hope, even as islands become an early warning system for the international community.
Cities of the Future
A New Zealand river revered by the Maori people is granted the status of a living being by the country's parliament.
BBC
An exploration of how adventure playgrounds enable freedom for children living in a world full of helicopter parents.
The New Yorker
An interview with a photographer about his unflattering pictures of train riders in Tokyo's crowded subway.
CNN
The country of French Polynesia is on the verge of permitting a floating city, funded by wealthy Silicon Valley interests and sustained by utopian dreams.
Business Insider
Japanese cities and citizens look to Portland for inspiration.
The Economist
The population of Nagoro, Japan has declined in recent years from 300 to just 30 people. Local artist Tsukimi Ayano has populated the village with scarecrows to replace some of the familiar community figures who are now gone.
NPR
Confronting a problem that affects roughly 75 percent of the world's population, a new system will give every place on Earth an address based on three words.
Quartz
Often overlooked, alleys can be transformed into valuable community spaces
CityLab
How cities around the world have approached thinking about how water management fits in to urban planning.
The Planning Report
As of Saturday, Hokkaido, Japan's northernmost island, was connected to Tokyo by the newest addition to Japan's iconic Shinkansen bullet trains. The 513-mile route includes 33.4 miles in "the world's deepest operational main-line rail tunnel."
The Telegraph
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission denied a contentious $7.5 billion Liquefied Natural Gas export facility, pipeline, and power plant in Coos Bay, Ore., which had received environmental clearance.
The Oregonian
The new record for skyscrapers built in a year brakes the record set by the previous year. The record is expected to be set again next year.
Dezeen
A plan in Singapore to transform the former Keretapi Tanah Melayu railway will create a linear park ten times longer than the High Line.
Quartz
The China Railway International Group, working with the Chinese Export-Import Bank, responded to the California High-Speed Rail Authority's "expressions of interest." They teamed up with China Development Bank to beat out the Japanese in Indonesia.
Reuters
With fewer human workers available to meet demand, Japanese construction company Komatsu is turning to automated equipment and drones.
The Verge
