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mayors
The Year of the Mayor?
First the good news: Earlier this month, Mayor Iñaki Azkuna of Bilbao, Spain was awarded the prestigious World Mayor Prize for 2012. Mayor Azkuna was in good company. Other finalists included the mayors of: Perth, Australia; Surakarta, Indonesia; El Paso, USA; Changwon City, Korea; Auckland, NZ; Angeles City, Philippines; Zeralda,...[read more]
How big a job might elected mayors have?
In May, for the first time, 10 major English cities vote whether to have a directly elected mayor, and one major English city – Liverpool – actually elects one. How much power will these newly elected officials actually have?[read more]
US Mayors Push Obama For Conservation
Nearly 50 mayors across the country urged President Obama this week to support federal funding of urban parks and green space as a strategy for creating jobs and driving economic development. Mayors from Chicago, New York City, Los Angeles, Atlanta, and smaller cities like Bozeman, Montana, and Bridgeport, Connecticut, sent a...[read more]
It Takes a Village to Raise a Mayor
Smart mayors who get the value design and its ability to transform communities don’t just grow on trees. They are the product of lots of different advisors and their thinking is shaped by organizations like the Mayor’s Institute on City Design (MICD), an initiative founded in the mid-1980s by the American...[read more]
Bold Painting of Walls Brings New Life To City
Painting the walls isn't real change. This is an example of the criticism that Edi Rama, incumbent mayor of Tirana, Albania, faced in his bid for a third term this May. Real or not, the former artist and professor turned center-left politician has undoubtedly changed the city.Seven years ago, Rama signed Tirana's new master plan into...[read more]
Why Cities Might Just Save the World: An Interview with Siemens’ Pedro Miranda
Pedro Miranda, Head of Siemens One
This is a good time to get depressed about climate change. Although the recent climate talks in Cancun in the end exceeded the considerably diminished expectations that many had set, as Robert Stavins wrote on The Energy Collective in December, the outlook for comprehensive and meaningful international cooperation to reduce CO2...[read more]
Sustainable Cities Collective
What's New on
“Great article!I'd be interested to hear more about point 4. What kind of research are you looking for? I ask because I am doing my graduate research at this intersection. I'm looking at urban flood management in Chennai, India, a low elevation coastal zone. I'm interested in how the yearly floods affect people's lifes and how different actors work together to build resilience. ”
“Toronto has recently opened a new park near our waterfront called Underpass Park. It's located partially beneath a highway underpass, and it incorporates a skate park as well as other elements such as a playground for smaller children, and regular benches. It's an interesting mix, but the surrounding neighbourhood is still undergoing major transformation so it remains to be seen how ...”