About Social Media Today
June 19, 2013
Urbanism Speakeasy | Launch a Podcast to Spread Your Message
Urbanism Speakeasy is a podcast with a particular focus on human-scale design. We love streets and places designed for people, regardless of how they happen to travel. No advanced technical degrees or silver spoons required on this show. Our primary goal is to share technical information and trends...[read more]
June 19, 2013
Urban Farming: Oxnard's Cafe Nefola Leads in Green Lunch
Green Lunch!
Her name is Cynthia Neftin, and she is the owner of Oxnard, California-based Café Nefola, whose motto is “healthy, local, fresh and natural.” An additional tag line – “from fat to fit, this is it” – leaves no doubt as to the restaurant’s orientation.[read more]
June 19, 2013
East Bay Bicycle Coalition Makes Public Transit Accessible to All
Bike Accessibility
Promoting bicycle ridership has become a widespread mission across many regions, and in California’s East Bay, the East Bay Bicycle Coalition has grown to be the primary advocacy group to make bicycling more feasible and safer.[read more]
Power Matrix: Raising Awareness About New Energy Through Gaming
With the company's dedication to sustainable energy in mind, it comes as no surprise that Siemens is raising awareness and teaching people about new forms of energy through a new, fun game called Power Matrix. It's free, it's beautiful, and it requires a bit more brainpower than FarmVille. [read more]
Recent Infographics
The Impact of 3D Printing on City Sustainability
3D Printed City
Although 3D printing has been used for a few years, thoughts about its implications for economies and cities hadn’t crossed my mind until recently. This occurred when I was introduced to the concept of printing guns at home.[read more]
Green Building Efforts Should Focus on Regulation, Financing
In the United States, buildings account for 41 percent of primary energy consumption. Tackling rising energy consumption in U.S. buildings will require a more coordinated and coherent approach[read more]
Public Art on the Public Transit Systems of Lagos
Public Transit in Lagos
Bus Rapid Transit systems is a ‘transport system’ that is rapidly being adopted by many governments and cities around to world to solve commuting and human movement problems within their cities.[read more]
Urbanism and the Most Influential Architect You've Probably Never Heard Of
City Architecture and Humanity
A documentary has been making the rounds recently in urban circles featuring perhaps the most influential architect you’ve (probably) never heard of, Jan Gehl, aptly called The Human Scale.[read more]
Planning Smarter Cities: Developing District Energy
District energy systems/shutterstock
District energy planning embodies a paradigm shift in urban planning which includes utility services as a component of community development. As district energy is reimagined in the city planning process, new models of development, governance, and financing are being considered for these systems.[read more]
Urban Design, Intelligent Vehicles, and Automated Highways
Public Transit of the Future?
The promise of a fully automated highway network has captivated the imaginations of futurists and aspirational engineers for several generations. In these visions there is a wide range of so-called “intelligent vehicle systems."[read more]
The Importance of Park Land Preservation in Urban Sustainability
Urban Parks
The Trust for Public Land Park Score index ranked the “City of Lakes” Minneapolis, Minnesota as the #1 Park System in the nation, with New York, NY coming in second.[read more]
Public Transit: Can Britain Catch Up to Dutch Biking?
Dutch City Biking
On the 4th March 2013, Andrew Gilligan, the Mayor of London's Cycling Commissioner, stated that "it took 40 years to turn Amsterdam in to Amsterdam". But it will take even longer to turn London in to a cycling nirvana.[read more]
Urban Design and the Well-Edited Home
Home Design
Maybe painters see their living space as a canvas and actors picture it as a stage. The writer in me views home as a massive editing project.[read more]
How to Be Green With Solar Energy
Solar Home
A Reddit thread once asked what would humanity do if they had an unlimited source of renewable energy. With tongue only partly in cheek, I responded that such energy existed already.[read more]
Urban Wildlife: Partners or Nuisances?
Urban Wildlife
There are a lot of reasons that we should support urban biodiversity. On the utilitarian side, these organisms provide ecosystem services like photosynthesis, decomposition, control of pests, and the processing of air and water pollution.[read more]
The Urbanism of the Turkish Uprisings
Urbanism in Turkey
As events unfold in Istanbul and other Turkish cities, there is a tendency for the urban issues that sparked the uprising to fade into the background.[read more]
Germany's Demographic Bust
German Demographics
Germany is dying. Hey, don’t shoot the messenger. Concerning demographic decline, only Japan ranks worse. The population is shrinking. German companies need talent. Forty years of importing labor: the demographics have changed dramatically over that time span.[read more]
Sustainable Cities Collective
What's New on
“Spot on! I believe that incorporating concepts in anthropology (or biology, and so on) is absolutely necessary for our health in cities. It only makes sense that the environment we evolved in would impact our physiology today. How we can utilize this knowledge and research it further is crucial...”
“Great article, Kaid.Rethinking the future of what will hopefully be the inevitable demise of the suburban strip mall is an important exercise. Whether or not the next generation of strip mall tenants are big business or small scale artisans, does it really help to defuse the underlying flaws in the use patterns of the development type? The choice may change the feel of the suburbs, but isn't ...”