Technology

Certain parts of the city generate "buzz" -- through events, parties, or other attractions. Just how much buzz they create is hard to nail down. But a new study focusing on L.A. and New York seeks to quantify the cool factor that makes places pop.

April 9, 2009 - The New York Times

Low fuel prices, high corn prices, and a new CA regulation that penalizes the energy intensity necessary to convert corn to fuel are hurting the industry.

April 9, 2009 - San Francisco Chronicle

A citywide documentation project is underway in Los Angeles, where planners and preservationists (and the public) are documenting the city's important historic and cultural sites.

April 9, 2009 - Los Angeles Times

A new LEED Platinum building in suburban Minneapolis may be the greenest single building in the state, but what about all those who must drive there? The City of Lakes blog looks at the fallacy of LEED rankings when location is not factored in.

April 7, 2009 - City of Lakes Urbanism

Online sources for house plans are cutting the architect out of the home building process. One site is now making available the plans of well-known architects like William Turnbull.

April 4, 2009 - Fast Company

According to this opinion piece, planners must ease up on "big bang" planning--an approach centered around sweeping changes with fixed ideas of what the outcome must look like.

April 3, 2009 - Archinect

Pittsburgh's strategy of slow, steady growth has made it the front runner for sustainable building. The city now boasts the most LEED-certified square footage in the country.

April 2, 2009 - The New York Times

Concrete in a Minneapolis bridge replacing that which collapsed in 2007 is made of a concoction that boasts less environmental impact and durability. And it's self-cleaning.

March 31, 2009 - The New York Times

The smart grid is not as hard to define as some have suggested. Jesse Berst, managing director of Global Smart Energy says making it work will be tough, but it's really just a matter of coordinating three crucial aspects, according to Worldchanging.

March 29, 2009 - WorldChanging

Possibly coming soon to freshwater-poor Dubai is a self-sustaining vertical farm that uses seawater for irrigation, cooling, and humidifying.

March 27, 2009 - Gizmag

According to Kazys Varnelis, architects should spend less time worrying about the little funding that the stimulus allots to highways and rail, and spending more time focusing on new technologies that supplement typical infrastructure.

March 25, 2009 - The Architect's Newspaper

High speed train technology is progressing at a rapid pace in Japan, where mag-lev bullet trains are planned to travel at speeds of more than 310 miles per hour by the year 2025.

March 25, 2009 - Los Angeles Times

The concept of 'emergence', in science refers to the way complex systems and patterns arise among groups without planned organization. Emergence is now being applied in interesting ways to study urban areas that evolved spontaneously.

March 24, 2009 - Emergent Urbanism

Light rail developers in Utah are cutting costs and timelines with a new and unlikely track base: foam.

March 21, 2009 - KSL

Duke Energy hopes to tap $3.4 billion of stimulus funds to build the nation's first clean coal plant, burning the coal in a gaseous form and storing the CO2 emissions. It already has received federal funds to build the $2.35 coal power plant in IN.

March 20, 2009 - The New York Times: Energy & Environment

In the next few months, the Dutch capital will make numerous changes to make its infrastructure greener. With the help of private companies like Cisco and IBM, Amsterdam is closer to becoming a "smart city" than any other in Europe.

March 19, 2009 - BusinessWeek

Have high-speed rail stimulus funds put us any closer to technology like mag-lev? A long record of underfunding makes many of such projects shovel-unready, but hopes are still high.

March 19, 2009 - Miller-McCune

Colorado law prohibits the collection of rainwater, but urban farmers, environmentally-conscious homeowners, and even developers are catching on to its benefits and building momentum for the legalization of rainwater harvesting.

March 19, 2009 - Los Angeles Times

March 19, 2009 - Judy Chang

Fifty years ago, Kenneth E. Norwood placed a time capsule and his predictions for Burbank, CA in a newly constructed bridge. According to the planner, monorails and "multi-unit garden apartments" were the waves of the future.

March 18, 2009 - Los Angeles Times Blog