Economist Ed Glaeser explains what went wrong in Dubai World.
"But the long-distance Mumbai-Dubai commuters that I have met see Dubai as a place to do business and Mumbai as a place to enjoy life. Dubai's leader, Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, has long understood that in an age of mobile talent, Dubai must be an attractive place for consumption as well as production - a consumer city.
Dubai's long run of success depends on attracting skilled workers who will not stay in a city that offers only sun-baked purgatory. For a decade, the sheik has tried to promote a third type of growth for Dubai, by turning the city into a place of pleasure with soaring skyscrapers, vast malls and spectacular luxury hotels."
"Fifty-story buildings are an efficient way to deliver plenty of space, but extreme height is far more expensive and a bellwether of irrational exuberance."
Read the full story: The Ascent, and Fall, of Dubai
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After years of spectacular growth and even more spectacular architecture, the city state of Dubai is facing crushing debts and has requested a 6-month "standstill" on its repayments.
Dubai Launches Free Smart Umbrella Rental to Improve Walkability
By helping residents walk comfortably in the rain or blazing sun, Dubai hopes to advance its 2040 master plan goals of sustainability and becoming a “20-minute city.”
COP28: Beginning of the End for Fossil Fuels?
A deal came together “quickly and unexpectedly" on the final night of the nearly 2-week United Nations climate talks in Dubai, UAE, according to a series of articles by Washington Post climate reporters.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
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NYC DOT wants faster, more permanent street upgrades
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Trump to overrule local leaders, lease millions of acres of America’s Pacific Island territories’ seafloors to mining companies
International law says that the Indigenous people of America’s territories have a right to prior and informed consent regarding projects that impact their countries.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
KFH Group Inc.
Greater Baltimore Committee
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
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The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello