World
Global issues, U.N., etc.
7 Promising Visions of "The City 2.0"
A conference hosted by TED last week in New York continued the conversation the organization started last year with the awarding of its 2012 prize to The City 2.0. Alissa Walker looks at some of the most promising visions for the future of cities.
Get Your City Walking With DIY Wayfinding
The creator of a lauded guerrilla wayfinding project for Raleigh has launched a new website that allows users to duplicate his compelling signage for their communities.
Friday Funny: Extreme Building Edition
What do an upside-down White House, a toilet-shaped museum, and a planetarium shaped like Saturn and its rings have in common? All can be found in futurist website io9's collection of the world's most extreme buildings.
In Sobering Report, U.N. Climate Panel Establishes “Carbon Budget” for Humanity
The synopsis of the IPCC's fifth major climate assessment was released today in Stockholm. With near absolute certainty, the panel identified humans as the cause of the dangerously warming planet. Could the report propel languishing negotiations?
Synthetic Natural Gas will be China's (and the World's) Climate Nightmare
China's drive to reduce urban air pollution and increase energy security will unleash massive carbon and toxic emissions, almost tripling its current emissions over 40 years. The plan is to build 40 plants to convert coal to synthetic natural gas.
Can Bill Gates Provide America's Next 800 Years of Electricity?
He's transformed the personal computer, health outcomes in the developing world, and education opportunities in the U.S. For Bill Gates's next act, the Microsoft founder is trying to turn atomic trash into treasure.
Will Anyone Hire Santiago Calatrava After this Exposé?
While many of Santiago Calatrava's anatomically-inspired designs are lauded, in Valencia - the architect's birthplace and the city where he's built the most - Calatrava is reviled for cost overruns, exorbitant fees, and inexplicable design errors.
Cut Emissions to Save Lives, If Not the Planet
Even if our warming planet wasn't threatened with environmental catastrophe, the case for reducing fossil-fuel use is an easy one to make. A new study shows that reduced air pollution from cutting emissions would save millions of lives by 2100.
How Metadata is Changing Architectural History
Gabrielle Esperdy explores the development of an online encyclopedia of American architecture — and argues that metadata is a crucial tool for future historians.
How Nations Can Help Their Urban "Jewels" to Grow and Prosper
In this era of federal government disfunction, cities have been able to innovate, cooperate, and tackle our biggest challenges. It behooves nation-states to see investment in cities as nation-building, and adjust their policies accordingly.
Should We Pay People Not to Drive?
Build more lanes, improve operations, let cars do the driving: Are these the best ways to reduce traffic congestion? Richard Mudge thinks a more effective route may be to offer financial incentives to keep people off the roads.
What Causes Traffic?
You're probably thinking "Way too many cars on the road, duh!" But the real answer is a bit more complicated, and counterintuitive. Tom Vanderbilt explains in a 20-minute presentation.
Happy Park(ing) Day! Should This Be the Last One?
Though Park(ing) day organizers stopped tracking numbers last year, it's safe to say that dozens of cities will be turning their parking spaces into public spaces today. But for Alissa Walker, participants could better spend their time and energy.
Why Architects and Planners Need to Become Better Politicians
Well designed environments assist our economy, wellbeing and happiness, says Sarah Wigglesworth. Yet money equals power in controlling the shape of built environment. She asserts that designers must act as leaders rather than slaves to their clients.
The Ancient Cities Lost to Time and Tides
While the 2000-year-old quest to locate the submerged island of Atlantis continues to this day, plenty of cities have suffered the same fate. The futurist website io9 looks at several "once-majestic" cities now buried beneath the sea.
Mega-Projects Are Targets for Mega-Skepticism, But Are Concerns Warranted?
To substantiate their big budgets, big projects promise big results. But the inherent time, complexity, and deal-making required to complete such projects is fertile ground for incompetence and corruption; or isn't it? A new study investigates.
The Inverse Relationship Between Homeownership and Economic Development
In the United States, homeownership has long been touted as a sign of personal success and national prosperity. But a comparison of homeownership levels to economic health across 41 countries shows an inverse correlation.
BRT Delivers More Bang for Your Development Buck
A study due out this month from the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy captures for the first time the relative benefits of investment in bus rapid transit in spurring development. BRT outperforms both light rail and streetcars.
8 Ways to Sustainably Manage Stormwater
From permeable paving to green roofs, a number of cost-effective and sustainable strategies have emerged for managing water closer to where it falls, rather than directing it into pipes. SPUR explains 8 promising tools for managing stormwater.
Build A 3D City Model Within Minutes
ESRI's CityEngine software enables 3D modeling of urban environments. The forthcoming version of the software will enable developers to use the 3D city modeling technology in their own software.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority
