World
Global issues, U.N., etc.
Ten Most Terrifying Airports in The World
The Web Urbanist counts down the ten most hair raising airports. "Flying may be one of the safest methods of travel but it doesn't always look that way."
Would You Pay To Sit On A Public Bench?
Designer Fabian Brunsing is responsible for "Pay & Sit: The Private Bench." Basically, it's a bench covered in metal spikes that retract when you feed it money.
Russia: Now With American-Style Suburbanism
With the Russian spies being sent home, Clifford J. Levy wondered if they'd miss the comforts of U.S.-style suburban living. What he found is that today's Russia has imitated the way of life, including gated communities with American names.
The Importance of Kiosks and Carts
This piece from Re:Place looks at the urban impact of kiosks and food carts.
Emissions-Eating Roads
A new report says that roads embedded with titanium dioxide can help purify the air by absorbing 25 to 45 percent of nitrogen oxides emitted by cars.
Take A Floating Hotel Across the Ocean
Designer Nick Talbot, who worked on Virgin Galactic projects, is proposing a floating hotel he's calling "Aircruise" which would take a leisurely 37 hour journey between London and New York.
Bamboo, the Miracle Homebuilding Material
Bamboo homes survive earthquakes and typhoons, it grows like a weed, and has twice the compression strength of concrete. Elisabeth Best reports on the wonder material and the image problem bamboo must overcome to be used more widely.
Tracking City Issues Through Read/Write Urbanism
Adam Greenfield looks at issue tracking systems for cities, and suggests that they can be taken a step farther by adding unique identifiers to urban infrastructure that automatically notifies city systems when problems arise.
An Eye on the Cities of the Future
Designing the city of the future has long been the playground of architects and planners. A New York non-profit design group led by architect Mitchell Joachim keeps that tradition alive.
Designing Cars for Future Megacities
With the global urban population on the rise and cities expected to become densely populated mega-cities, automakers are trying to design cars for future cities.
Activism and Architecture
Architects Anu Mathur and Dilip da Cunha say that activism drives their work: "Rather than waiting for a commissioned project, we ask the first question, frame the issue and propose possibilities," say the two in an interview with PLACES.
Can Color Make Bike Lanes Safer?
A Portland study shows that bicyclists feel 50% safer when biking in a solid blue bike lane rather than just the classic dotted line. Could color make that much of a difference?
Bike Highways, Boulevards, and Infrastructure
The idea of separated bicycle lanes is growing in popularity. Tom Vanderbilt at Slate looks at the increase in investment and attention to making room for bicycles and increasing safety so more people will ride.
The Flying Car is -- Finally -- Here
Decades of expectations appear to have been finally realized in the Terrafugia Transition, the world's first street-legal flying car.
Green Buildings Can Be Noisy
Post-occupancy studies lead by UC Berkeley Center for the Built Environment show that many green strategies result in less satisfactory acoustics.
Redesigning Cities for Better Mobility
A new project aimed at reducing car reliance in world cities has paired ten architects with ten cities to create a redesigned public space that encourages a mix of transit modes.
A Driveable Future
An auto company has a new design competition to imagine a future city that is car-friendly.
Are You a Narrative or Spatial Navigator?
Jarett Walker finds out how many people can recognize north in the subway. The survey is used to explain the distinction between narrative and spatial navigation, which appear to be the two predominant forms of human navigation.
City Data Visualization Tool Wins Journalism Prize
A visual city data mapping tool called CityTracking is one of the winners of this year's Knight News Challenge, a journalism competition that seeks out innovative communication ideas for the changing news media.
Buildings Alone Do Not Constitute Regeneration
The "Bilbao Effect" is the apotheosis of the notion that a struggling post industrial city can be regenerated through set-piece art and design. But Frank Gehry, the architect of the Guggenheim, suspects the gallery was only part of a larger gestalt.
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
