Nate Berg

This piece from <em>Bloomberg</em> architecture critic James Russell calls for a unified approach to building the nation's transportation infrastructure.

<p> The military has recently opened <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/05/us/05army.html?_r=4" target="_blank" title="Urban Tool in Recruiting by the Army - An Arcade - NYTimes.com">a new type of recruitment office</a> known as <a href="http://www.thearmyexperience.com/" target="_blank" title="Army Experience Center Website">&quot;The Army Experience Center&quot;</a> in a Philadelphia shopping mall. It&#39;s like an arcade, where video games and other interactive technologies provide visitors a glimpse of what it might be like to be in the military. It&#39;s a new approach, one that capitalizes on the modern teenager&#39;s affection for video games to attract them to the military life. You could call it persuasive, cajoling, or even a thinly-veiled attempt to con kids with flashy games, but, as it provides exactly what its target audience wants, the bottom line is that it&#39;s very effective. Why couldn&#39;t a city do the same thing?

Architects form the University of British Columbia are calling on cities to "go wild" -- mainly by integrating ecological features into the cityscape to make it more self-contained. The result would be both sustainable and exciting, they say.

Street furniture is a critical part of the urban makeup in cities. New developments in the Middle East are beginning to recognize its importance.

A massive WWII-era airfield in Berlin has been closed down, but city officials are looking for ways to take advantage of the large space. New ideas abound -- from a proposal for a "red light" district to plans for an artificial mountain.