urban design
-
The end of Borders and the importance of 'third places' in the city
The liquidation of Borders bookstores in cities raises the question of how to preserve the social value of spaces that are now prime real estate.
-
Why do cities drive us crazy?
Studies have repeatedly shown that rates of mental illness are higher in cities. We still don't know exactly why, but neuroscience is on the job.
-
Great places: how livable streets make us happier humans
My dense, walkable, transit-rich neighborhood does a lot of great things for my carbon footprint. But what it does for my soul might, in the end, be more important.
-
Pop-up book brings kids' ideal green cities to life
Spanish design firm Play Studios asked kids to describe what they thought cities would look like in the future, then animated the kid-rendered cities in pop-up book form. There's plenty of fantasy here, but these budding urbanists also have an eye for connected, sustainable, eco-friendly living. Check out the monorails running between buildings in Boscopolis, or the cars in Bright City that run on fallen leaves.
-
Repairing our broken cities by transforming infrastructure
Can landscape architecture fix the blight created by outdated and destructive transportation infrastructure?
-
As suburban office parks lose steam, Apple unveils the ultimate example
Back to the future in the Apple spaceship.Screenshot: Apple via YouTube The old-school suburban office park seems to be having a midlife crisis. A special report in Crain’s about Chicago-area businesses such as Sears, AT&T, and Sara Lee looking to relocate from the suburbs to the urban core — along with the news that Swiss […]
-
An Indian boom city grows without planning, at its peril
In Gurgaon, gleaming residences, malls, and office buildings are like islands unto themselves.Photo: iamgurgaonYou hear a lot of people talking these days about small government. About letting the free market drive development. About how city planners are trying to do some kind of sinister social engineering. About how the feds and the states should just […]
-
No, green buildings will not harm your health
Tuesday, Julian Pecquet published a howler of a story on The Hill's energy and environment blog, E2 Wire. The headline says it all: Report: 'Green' buildings could harm your health The piece is based on a lengthy report from the National Academy of Sciences, so it must be accurate, right? Yeah, well, don't start ripping […]
-
Fat city: The way your neighborhood is built could be killing you
Road to ruin.Photo: Alfonso SurrocaCrappy urban development isn’t just ugly and noisy and dirty. It is turning out to be lethal. One Toronto study looked at how the quality of a community’s streets can affect people’s health, factoring into drastically reduced life expectancy. It’s the focus of an article in The Globe and Mail that […]