Tracking America's "Urban Reboot"

In the first of the series, Will Doig sets the agenda by considering not only the innovative ideas that distinguish contemporary from past urban renewal, but the need for these innovations to address the growing inequality in cities which has been a major theme of the #Occupy movement:

"America's urban reboot is in full swing. The awe-inspiring mega-projects - the High Lines and the Subways to the Sea - are being held up as a sign that cities are back. But look at the crowded roster of schemes being hatched below the radar, and it's easy to believe that the new era is just now getting started. New Orleans is plotting to tear down an elevated expressway and replace it with a tree-lined boulevard that would reunite two historic neighborhoods isolated for half a century. In Brooklyn, a brand-new 15,000-square-foot rooftop farm is expected to produce 100 tons of greens for the city every year. San Francisco is planting electronic sensors in parking spaces that could eventually guide drivers toward empty spots. Streetcars are being resurrected from Tucson to Washington. Bike-share systems are going viral."