A London art exhibit lets visitors experience a simulation of the polluted air from five cities around the world.

Walk into the tent-like structure meant to simulate Beijing's air and your mouth fills with the taste of ash. "Built for Earth Day by artist Michael Pinsky and Danish air-filtering company Airlabs, the exhibit recreates the smell, heat, and haze of four notoriously polluted cities: London, New Delhi, Beijing, and Sao Paulo," Feargus O'Sullivan reports. The artists behind the little environments say they are safe to visit, because they merely simulate the air in these cities. The installation inhabits the courtyard in front of Somerset House in London.
"For a Londoner, at least, what you can’t see or feel in the domes is as disconcerting as what you can," O'Sullivan writes. The insidious nature of air pollution is that eventually you can't tell the air is bad anymore. "Fine particles may cause concern in London, but it’s perfectly possible to go about one’s business there without registering their presence, until asthma or bronchitis hit."
FULL STORY: London's Latest Exhibit: Horrendous Pollution

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly
Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

In Urban Planning, AI Prompting Could be the New Design Thinking
Creativity has long been key to great urban design. What if we see AI as our new creative partner?

Chicago’s Ghost Rails
Just beneath the surface of the modern city lie the remnants of its expansive early 20th-century streetcar system.

Baker Creek Pavilion: Blending Nature and Architecture in Knoxville
Knoxville’s urban wilderness planning initiative unveils the "Baker Creek Pavilion" to increase the city's access to green spaces.

Pedestrian Deaths Drop, Remain Twice as High as in 2009
Fatalities declined by 4 percent in 2024, but the U.S. is still nowhere close to ‘Vision Zero.’
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
planning NEXT
Appalachian Highlands Housing Partners
Mpact (founded as Rail~Volution)
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
City of Portland
City of Laramie