South Africa
If vaccinations are key to ending the pandemic, Israel may get there first as it has the highest rate by far of any nation. Paradoxically, it also has the world's second-highest rate of daily new COVID-19 cases.
The New York Times
Coronavirus infection, hospitalizations and most recently, deaths, are declining, but public health experts warn that more transmissible variant strains of the coronavirus threaten to overwhelm hospitals in the next few months.
CIDRAP News
The placement of new bike lanes in the city of Johannesburg has become yet another symbol of inequality between rich-white and poor-black residents.
The Independent (UK)
In manicured neighborhoods for white residents and their "shriveled twins" for black residents, South Africa's nearly 50 years of Apartheid was imprinted on the nation's built landscape. To what extent was Nelson Mandela able to right these wrongs?
ArchDaily
Twenty years after the end of apartheid in South Africa, Cape Town is preparing to become World Design Capital. Zoe Dare Hall looks at the coastal city's burgeoning real estate market, which reflects two decades of integrative planning.
Financial Times
Bicyclists are hard to come by in South Africa. Two authors have gone in search of the reasons why a country with "so much poverty, often unwalkable commuter distances, and poor public transportation," lacks a larger bike culture.
Los Angeles Times
In the latest entry in a series on informal urban livelihoods, Sally Roever of WIEGO provides insight into how planners can better understand, acknowledge and manage street vending through the development of appropriate policies and best practices.
The Global Urbanist
In a project initiated by the Sustainability Institute, and backed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, development experts are taking innovative steps to address South Africa’s housing shortage.
The New York Times
Qatar Airlines is gearing up their jets to run on a fuel derived from natural gas - so don't expect to see fuel tanks holding liquefied gas. Similar to the "Messerschmitt Fuel" in World War II that was derived from coal, they are called synfuels.
The New York Times - Green Blog
Writing for <em>Yahoo! Travel</em>, Aefa Mulholland identifies five of the most dangerous roads in the world - from India's chaotic city streets to Bolivia's mountain hugging back roads.
Yahoo! Travel
Lisa Findley & Liz Ogbu explain how architecture and urban planning were critical to apartheid in South Africa and how Le Corbusier and Ebenezer Howard influenced the racial segregation practice.
Design Observer
New government efforts in South Africa are trying to improve mobility for those who rely on public transportation, walking and biking.
This Big City
One year after it hosted the World Cup, South Africa is looking at empty and expensive stadia and a persistent debt that's causing some to regret hosting the soccer tournament.
The New York Times Magazine
Minibus drivers in Johannesburg, South Africa, were not happy about plans to build a city-wide bus rapid transit system, worrying it would take their business away. After sometimes violent debates, the drivers have compromised with the city.
Citiscope
Gold mining was an integral part of what made the city of Johannesburg, South Africa one of the most economically important cities on the continent. But as mining winds down, some are trying to find new ways to use the landscape of mining operations.
Places
Garrett Bradford of TheCityFix reviews some of the most innovative and sustainable transit systems from around the globe that made their debut over the last twelve months.
TheCityFix
Just months after the completion of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, expensive stadia built for the event sit empty and unused.
Bleacher Report
Pedestrianism is on the rise in Cape Town, South Africa, where the recent World Cup has inspired more citizens to get out of their cars and put their feet on the street.
The Christian Science Monitor
Feature
The 2010 World Cup has ended in South Africa. What's left behind are a number of physical and cultural legacies that will be both landmark developments and potential economic hazards.
Officials in South Africa say the country's successful hosting of the 2010 World Cup positions it to be a viable host for the Olympics.
Guardian