Social / Demographics

Technology must be harnessed in cities to allow citizens to "talk back" to cities and enable more user-driven change, according to this op-ed from economist Saskia Sassen.

June 30, 2011 - domus

The 2010 Census showed that the baby-boom generation led to the growth of older populations settling in suburbs, which is causing local governments to rethink whom their services should cater to.

June 30, 2011 - The Washington Post

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) claims that Obama's economic stimulus bill helped contain the number of homeless people in 2009 and 2010.

June 29, 2011 - CQ Roll Call

More than 40 ping pong tables will be placed in public spaces throughout the English city of Hull this summer. It's part of a nationwide effort to get more people to exercise.

June 28, 2011 - Yorkshire Post

Crowd-funded plans to build a statue of the movie character RoboCop are moving ahead in Detroit, and the project is redefining public participation in civic ventures.

June 28, 2011 - domus

A recent study by Queens College for the New York Times shows that more than 50% of African-Americans who left New York in 2009 moved to the South.

June 23, 2011 - The New York Times

Think your living arrangement is unique? You aren't alone. The New York Times parses the vicissitudes and permutations of the twenty-first century American households.

June 20, 2011 - The New York Times

Japan is typically associated with strong disaster preparedness plans, but the devastation following the March tsunami highlights some of the nation's shortcomings in adapting and reacting, according to this piece from Citiwire.

June 19, 2011 - Citiwire

A year after taking a look at the new but empty cities being created in China, Business Insider takes a trip back to see what's changed in those brand new and unoccupied cities.

June 19, 2011 - Business Insider

Evolutionary biologist David Sloan Wilson is trying to understand how natural selection works at various levels. His new lab: the city of Binghamton, New York.

June 17, 2011 - Nature

AP reports on the Anderson Forecast from UCLA that looks into CA's housing slump and shows two distinct markets, one on the rise and the other (single-family housing) falling.

June 16, 2011 - AP via Bloomberg Business Week

A grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has Louisville thinking differently. "...it's not just about smart growth, it’s not just about transportation, it's not just about parks or better nutrition, it’s about all of those things and more."

June 14, 2011 - The New York Times

Top-down and bottom-up planning are brushed aside in favor of the concept of a middle ground approach in the new book "Fast-Forward Urbanism: Rethinking Architecture's Engagement with the City". It could work, according to this review.

June 14, 2011 - The Architect's Newspaper

At a recent conference on world cities, attendees from all over the world shared the impression that their cities do not receive enough respect from their national governments.

June 14, 2011 - Grist

In this post on The Infrastructurist, Peter Kageyama looks at a recent listing of 10 "dying" cities, and how the metrics used to rate these places can be and have been misinterpreted.

June 14, 2011 - Infrastructurist

Real estate advisor Melina Duggal suggests that while studies show that today Millennials are seeking urban digs, that preference could change as they grow older and suburbs get more walkable.

June 13, 2011 - The New York Times

A small community in tsunami-ravaged Japan considers a plan to move the entire village farther above sea level.

June 11, 2011 - MSNBC

A new book by researcher Antoine Buéno looks at the cartoon and comic book characters the Smurfs as an example of a totalitarian regime with utopian goals.

June 10, 2011 - Der Spiegel

A new report focusing on design professionals and architects in New York finds that these industries are on a strong growth path and create a significant impact on the local economy.

June 10, 2011 - Urban Omnibus

Writing on the recent Congress for the New Urbanism annual meeting, Grist's Sarah Goodyear finds some new ideas in a field that's gradually integrated itself into the mainstream.

June 10, 2011 - Grist