Tim Halbur

Sri Lanka, an island nation of 20 million people, has just completed its first express highway, which, as Toll Roads News is quick to point out, is financed through a toll system.

Critic Blair Kamin speaks out against Mayor Emmanuel's decision to allow advertising on Chicago's iconic bridges to make up a budget shortfall. Kamin calls the move "the uglification of the City Beautiful."

The Catholic Church and other religious groups are facing hard times, with more churches to maintain than their dwindling numbers can support. But when they are clearly landmarks, should churches be allowed to sell off their building stock?

Officials in recession-battered Michigan increasingly see placemaking as an important economic recovery strategy. The Michigan Municipal League, a coalition of local governments, is leading efforts to make the state's cities talent magnets.

Parkour, a sort of sport that uses urban spaces as a series of obstacles to spring over and around, is a growing trend in South Florida. But local officials are concerned about the liability issues of careening "traceurs" in public parks and plazas.