World

A look at the pedestrian scramble in the Shibuya District of Tokyo, Japan.

May 23, 2011 - Los Angeles Times

In this series from Glass House Conversations, journalist Greg Lindsay asks what the successful cities of the future will look like, and whether or not they should be built from scratch.

May 22, 2011 - Glass House Conversations

This interactive map from the BBC tracks growth and urbanization in global cities from 1955 up through 2015.

May 19, 2011 - BBC

With Bin Laden's Abbotabad hideaway still in the news, Rob Bear takes us on a tour of despot's palaces and hideaways.

May 17, 2011 - Curbed LA

Policy in Hong Kong dictates that development must concentrate on only 25% of the land area, with the remaining 75% preserved as open space. Julia Levitt examines the ingenious density that results.

May 17, 2011 - Metropolis Magazine

A growing number of nations are instituting design standards and architecture policies to help make good design a part of the national strategy.

May 16, 2011 - Architect

Koen Olthuis is an architect of floating structures, from floating condominiums in the Netherlands to a floating mosque in the United Arab Emirates. Inhabitat dates to ask, why? What is the relevance of aquatecture?

May 12, 2011 - Inhabitat

WebUrbanist covers a trend in urban habitats: urban house boats. In this piece they profile three particularly impressive works of architecture.

May 12, 2011 - Web Urbanist

A $550 million plan to retrofit the Empire State Building pays off by attracting a new high-profile tenant, the social networking giant LinkedIn.com.

May 12, 2011 - Sustainable Cities Collective

Edwin Heathcote of the Financial Times says that lists of the "Best Cities" often fail because they select cities that are the most "livable", ignoring what makes cities "lovable".

May 11, 2011 - Financial Times

Eager to see the national train system (the Deutsche Bahn) regain its prestige and reputation for efficiency, the state-owned rail operator has pledged to invest 6 billion euros to acquire 300 of the most advanced high-speed trains in the world.

May 11, 2011 - Sustainable Cities Collective

CNN does a roundup that includes obvious leaders like Amsterdam and some less predictable choices like Chicago and Bogota, Colombia.

May 10, 2011 - CNN

Natural and artificial light have a significant effect on the experience of hospital patients and can actually reduce stress and hospital time, says Rosalyn Cama, an interior designer and researcher specializes in health care design.

May 10, 2011 - Metropolis Magazine

Harvard professor Edward Glaeser's Triumph of the City presents cool-headed analysis that largely confirms the theories that Jane Jacobs first advanced 40 years ago, says Adam Christian.

May 10, 2011 - California Planning & Development Report

PricewaterhouseCoopers recently published the fourth edition of Cities of Opportunity. The report rates 26 cities in a range of categories (including transportation and infrastructure, for example) and then comes up with a master ranking.

May 10, 2011 - The Infrastructurist

The UK-based Centre for Cities published a short report about the several ways that universities can affect local economic performance.

May 9, 2011 - Center for Cities

Tom Wright, Executive Director of the Regional Plan Association, traces the history of the Mayors' Institute on City Design from its creation 25 years ago to last week's conference which was attended by some of the country's most important mayors.

May 9, 2011 - Citiwire

Joel Kotkin says that despite the fashion for density among urban planners, the future relies on "dispersion" and focusing on developing small and mid-range cities.

May 8, 2011 - New Geography

Cities are becoming smarter, as buildings and infrastructures become retrofitted with sensory technology. The question this raises is how this will change our perception of the public sphere, according to Martijn de Waal.

May 7, 2011 - The Mobile City

The U.N.'s population division has increased their world population projection, previously set to peak at mid-century at 9 billion. Now they say it will continue growing to reach 10.1 billion by 2100, with Africa tripling its numbers.

May 5, 2011 - The New York Times - World