Europe
A new report is warning that aging populations and declining birthrates will bring a demographic disaster to most of Europe within a generation.
The Globe and Mail
New research can serve to explain why it is more expensive to purchase a house in the summer--and why it might be worth it.
Slate
Stinky trains may become a thing of the past in Berlin, where officials are sniff-testing new fragrances to mask the odors of public transit.
Der Spiegel
Corrupt and inconsistent mob-controlled garbage collection in Naples, Italy, has left the city swimming in uncollected trash and with little hope of a resolution.
The Los Angeles Times
The U.K. is seeing a significant leap in students applying for architecture degrees, possibly due to the rise in interest in sustainability around the world. Some worry that growing programs could impact the quality of education.
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A new study ranks European cities on their brand, taking into a account sense of place, civic pride, and business climate. Paris ranks first (no surprise), but the research also reveals a handful of 'undervalued' cities.
Citymayors.com
In Prague, where graffiti is rampant, an art gallery has secured outdoor wallspace throughout the city and invited graffiti artists to use it as a canvas for 12 days.
Reuters
The first new bridge over Venice's Grand Canal in 70 years will open next month, but no no fanfare and without ceremony. Locals are calling off events to protest the bridge's many delays and cost overruns.
The Times
Technologie Alpine de Sécurité creates gas-powered avalanche control systems. The blog Pruned shows pictures of the system installed at Val Thorens, France.
Pruned
Faced with a significant decline in tourism, Rome's mayor dreams of building a theme park right next to the real thing depicting life in ancient Rome.
Telegraph U.K.
A new district rises on the decommissioned Ypenburg Nato airfield in the Netherlands. Master planners Rapp & Rapp worked with other architects and developers to create a cohesive whole with slight variations, a “conditioning of difference."
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The only modern building in Rome's historic center, a Richard Meier designed museum, is considered offensive enough that it may not last in its current form.
Reuters
The American trend of "fractional ownership", a real estate concept in which a number of investors own fractions of vacation homes, has moved to Europe.
International Herald Tribune
Originally a Stalinist program called 'Young Pioneers', the tradition of the Children's Railway is being revived in Budapest.
Wall St. Journal
In order to save an ancient kingdom that was flooded by a reservoir in the 1950s, officials in Bulgaria will build a €100 million wall around the submerged monument.
Turkish Weekly
A Vancouver company is importing Dutch city bicycles, and the relaxed commuting lifestyle that goes with them.
The Vancouver Sun
<p>A small town in Germany is demonstrating that a strategy of distributed, renewable and locally-controlled energy production can not only be Earth-friendly but profitable.</p>
Victoria Times-Colonist
<p>One of the world's largest urban renewal projects is about to break ground in the Kartal area of Istanbul, and every aspect of the new neighborhood is designed by a star architect. The Wall St. Journal reports on the new "city-building industry".</p>
Wall St. Journal
<p>The annual transformation of riverbanks to beaches has begun in Paris, where the River Seine becomes a widely visited outdoor public space known as Paris Plages.</p>
The Guardian
<p>Four years after it hosted the Summer Olympics, Athens is questioning whether the $15 billion investment in venues that now largely sit unused was really worth it.</p>
The Christian Science Monitor
