World
Global issues, U.N., etc.
Urban Revival Increases Need for Places for Mental Renewal
Kaid Benfield argues that amid our focus on placemaking, density, transit, and walkability we need to find room to talk about how to create sanctuaries, or peaceful places, 'where one can get away and be quiet and still'.
Measuring Walkability to Improve It
After leading annual conferences and championing the International Charter for Walking, the non-profit Walk21 is expanding its efforts to improve walkability and livability across the globe by benchmarking the pedestrian-friendliness of world cities.
Economists Agree: The Olympics are a Terrible Investment
As a group from Washington, D.C. announced plans to bid for the 2024 Olympics, economists released a report on the high costs of hosting the Games for cities, including expensive infrastructure and small economic benefits.
Conspicuous Consumption: The Importance of Bike Share Branding
Bike-share users in Montreal, New York, Minneapolis, and D.C. all have one thing in common, they're sitting atop the same Bixi bike designed by Michel Dallaire. How each city brands their bikes is a potent statement and key piece of their success.
Top Ten Epic Fails in Mass Transit
Photo essay reviews some of history's most notable failed mass transit projects.
Coastal Flooding Could Cost $1 Trillion Annually by 2050
By 2050, scientists believe that flooding could inflict $1 trillion in annual loses globally, up from $6 billion per year today. The United States and China are well represented in a list of the 20 cities facing the highest annual flood costs.
What's the Most Energy Efficient Way to Shop?
On his Per Square Mile blog, Tim de Chant has been kind enough to answer one of mankind's biggest existential questions: What’s more energy efficient, shopping online or in stores?
World's Oldest New World Globe Found on an Ostrich Egg
A collector has discovered the world's oldest globe to depict the New World, which may have originated from Leonardo da Vinci's shop in 1504.
New Tool for Measuring Neighborhood Walkability
Watch out Walk Score, you've got some competition. Mapping company Maponics is measuring pedestrian-friendliness with a new tool called 'Walkability'. They measure several factors Walk Score doesn't, including crime, street type, and speed limit.
Friday Funny: Disney Planning More Vehicle-Themed Movies
If you love the transportation-related puns you've been subjected to over repeated viewings of Cars, Cars 2, and, now, Planes with your children, you're going to be excited to hear about what Disney is working on now.
Choice Slights from Frank Lloyd Wright
In a 1957 book, author Selden Rodman collected conversations with 35 of America's preeminent artists and architects. The interviews with Frank Lloyd Wright are a font of choice quotes on topics from Le Corbusier to NYC's density.
Greenwashing May Actually Be Having An Impact
Critics have decried green labeling and certification programs as 'greenwashing' - offering the sheen of environmental responsibility without having a significant impact on sustainability. But Tensie Whelan argues such programs are having an impact.
Three Feet of Sea Level Rise Very Possible by Century's End
A preview of the next major United Nations climate change report is taking a stronger stance on the role of humans in causing global warming and predicting a possible sea level rise that would endanger cities such as London, New York, and Shanghai.
Fascinating Friday: 80 Maps That Explain Everything
The battle over who can present the most compelling infographical maps is apparently escalating. The good news, no matter the result, we all win. While these 80 maps may not explain everything, they sure do say a lot.
Want to Avoid Detroit's Fate? Diversify Your Economy
"Nearly all the rich world’s industrial cities fell on hard times between 1950 and 1980," says The Economist. Why did some recover while others failed? A new paper argues that skilled workers and a diverse economy are key to overcoming adversity.
A Film You Need to Watch About Distracted Driving
Forget all the statistics you've read about the rise in distracted driving, they'll never have the potency of this film by acclaimed director Werner Herzog on the impact of texting while driving on victims, their families, and the drivers themselves.
Festival Makes Crowdfunding a Community-Building Affair
An innovative event held recently in Jacksonville, Florida used a festival as a means to bring crowdfunding to the people; providing a platform for community building and branding in the process. Could this be the future of financing public projects?
Confessions of a Failed Energy Martyr
Somewhere along the ramifying pathways of the possible, Raymond Welch became an energy consultant. In this Terrain.org guest editorial, he rants on a troubling future that he helped create.
Base Your Transit Investment Arguments on Agglomeration
Forget reducing congestion and improving the environment; a new paper makes perhaps the strongest argument yet for investing in public transit based on its ability to agglomerate, or cluster people together, raising wages and productivity.
Building Resilience Through Reconnected Communities
What has the United States lost in its journey from a nation of communities to a nation of individuals? Resilience, for one, says Scott Doyon, who suggests how we can utilize community design and planning processes to regrow social ties.
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
