Social / Demographics

With many scratching to make a living in a badly damaged economy, coworking is springing up to meet the needs of independent workers.

January 24, 2011 - New Urban Network

The city of Detroit is increasingly characterized through imagery of its abandoned and decaying buildings. This piece from The New Republic says it's time to stop.

January 24, 2011 - The New Republic

Rome has instituted a new tax on tourists aimed at building a fund to restore its crumbling infrastructure. But some worry it will drive tourists away.

January 18, 2011 - Der Spiegel

As the world's population urbanizes, rural areas are being abandoned. But they don't have to sit empty and unused, according to this piece from GOOD.

January 18, 2011 - Good

An art gallery in New York City currently has an installation called Park Here, which is an indoor parkspace made up of fake grass, trees and sunlight.

January 17, 2011 - The New York Times

January 17, 2011 - George Haugh

Sound recordist and architect Nick Sowers offers an audio experience of the annual festival Burning Man.

January 15, 2011 - Places

The Polis Blog presents a huge list of "urban favorites" -- songs, movies, initiatives and places that explain or highlight the best of the world's urban areas.

January 15, 2011 - The Polis Blog

Aleppo, one of the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world, is undergoing a conservation project that includes the restoration of hundreds of houses, a new park, and rebuilding city streets and services.

January 14, 2011 - The New York Times

For many immigrants in Los Angeles, bicycling is the only viable way to get around. A group of activists is trying to make that transportation reality safer and more reliable.

January 14, 2011 - Good

Surveys show that those born between 1980 and the early 2000s want to live in an urban setting -- and not in a humongous house.

January 14, 2011 - The Wall Street Journal

Prince Charles is planning to build a 15,000-person shanty town in India, modeled after Dharavi, the Mumbai settlement featured in the movie "Slumdog Millionaire".

January 14, 2011 - Daily Mail

January 13, 2011 - Tim Halbur

Cities across the developing world are dealing more with rising obesity rates as urbanization occurs, reports TheCityFix's Jonna McKone.

January 13, 2011 - TheCityFix

RThe impact of cities is spreading beyond local and even national borders, argues Robert Neuwirth in this piece from What Matters.

January 13, 2011 - What Matters

As part of its ongoing series on Canada's aging population, the Globe and Mail looks at what is being done to adapt cities for a large cohort of senior citizens.

January 12, 2011 - Globe and Mail

Parag Khanna suggests that cities are the building blocks of humanity, and will take increasing control over the future shape of the world in the coming decades.

January 11, 2011 - What Matters

NIMBYism is obstructing the urban planning process, according to architect and New Urbanist Andres Duany. He suggests changing the public participation process to unclog the system.

January 11, 2011 - Architect

In this piece, Stewart Brand argues that squatter cities will grow greatly over the next few decades, and the world will be better because of it.

January 11, 2011 - What Matters

A study of tree cover and pregnant women suggests that women living in areas with more trees are less likely to give birth to undersized babies.

January 11, 2011 - The Oregonian