Towers in the Park, 2012 Style

The principles of walkability, transit access, open space and variations in scale are key concepts to building a truly sustainable city, writes Julie V. Iovine of The Architect's Newspaper, particularly in the United States. But when American architects are contracted for work in China, Dubai and other far-flung climes, many of those ideals go out the window.

Iovine writes that the problem is especially present in the booming cities of Asia and the Middle East, where "60's-style towers-in-the-park...dressed up with some sustainable flourishes and surrounded by streaking roadways...barely addresses the street-level experience of people trying to get from."

Iovine calls on both architects and planners to work together, "as they are beginning to do so effectively here," to "espouse the same values of human scale and walkability when working abroad."