Water Use and Waste Prevention

I’m still thinking about my 4 Liters Challenge from a few weeks ago – it’s amazing how much we take a resource like water for granted! While a number of things I learned stand out, I constantly come back to turning on the water without even thinking about it – I had to catch myself a number of times.[read more]

Mellon Square

Recently restored to much ado through a six-year process, Mellon Square in Pittsburgh was the first Modernist space in the nation built over a subterranean parking garage. Considered a precursor to today’s green roof movement, Mellon Square is a showcase for urban revitalization through historic preservation.[read more]

Street in New Jersey after Hurricane Sandy

"We believe sustainability is fundamentally about risk management", says one insurance company. And it's not alone.[read more]

History and Living Spaces

 

It’s not the White City that would likely come to mind first, i.e., the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Rather, it’s a white canvas tent colony that appeared 20 years later and about 1,000 miles to the southwest, near the railroad depot (now a ghost town) of Ludlow, Colorado.[read more]

Winning Dallas Park

Klyde Warren Park in Dallas won the Urban Land Institute’s 2014 Open Space Award, which recognizes “public spaces that have socially and economically enriched and revitalized their communities.” Completed in 2012, the 5-acre park is a green roof, decking over the sunken Woodall Rogers Freeway.[read more]

Libraries and Public Placemaking

As libraries struggle to stay relevant against the instant allure of e-readers, Google, Netflix and online music streaming, Halifax is taking a big step in making them cool again. The city is currently transforming its Halifax Central Public Library into a community hub for the digital age.[read more]

Indoor Agriculture Innovation

Indoor farms are the new and innovative way to grow greens. Modern indoor farms are quite large and filled with state-of-the-art technologies – they aren’t the tiny greenhouses of yesteryear. We’ve rounded up five indoor farms to give you a taste of what the most innovative growing organizations are producing.[read more]

Taxis and Ride Sharing Side-by-Side

I recently woke up to a post from venture capitalist Fred Wilson talking about the cost of loyalty when it comes to local transportation markets. It was a cost comparison between regular city taxis and ride sharing services such as a UberX, Lyft, and Sidecar in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York.[read more]

Brazil and Traffic Safety

If you are afraid of being killed by a thug on the street, do not worry. Well, not quite. Data shows that you may be more likely to die in traffic accidents than by murder or cancer in Brazil. Traffic fatalities are an epidemic, claiming the lives of 1.24 million people per year.[read more]

Play is not only vital, but providing facilities encourages families to move to a city.

An appeal has been made for cities to make more space for children to play in order not just to counter the many health, learning and social problems that are due to today's kids playing less than people's generations, but to make cities themselves more attractive and safe places for young families to move to.[read more]

Urban Vision and Future Planning

Setting visions for cities can be challenging. The Welsh Government has risen to that challenge with its regeneration program. Here’s its vision statement: "Everybody in Wales should live in well-connected vibrant, viable and sustainable communities with a strong local economy and good quality of life."[read more]

Dying Cities

In general, a declining population translates into a dying place. For a place (city or nation-state), dying can also refer to the aging of the overall population. If everyone is too old to work, then who will pay for the health care? Save the wildcard of migration, more deaths than births is an existential threat.[read more]