Housing

energy-efficient appliances

There are a lot of different types of water heaters on the market, though, so how do you know which one will work most efficiently for your living environment?[read more]

going green outside the home

When people think about green buildings, what comes to mind is solar panels, geothermal energy, improved insulation, and so forth. Although we often forget it, being green also includes what lies beyond the walls![read more]

affordable housing

San Francisco voters passed Proposition C, establishing a city-wide affordable housing fund on the enormous margin of 31 percent. And it couldn’t have come at a better time.[read more]

after the tsunami

Indonesia is prone to natural disasters. But today the country is better prepared. Why? Because of the lessons it learned in responding to a series of disasters that pummeled it between 2004 and 2010.[read more]

Rockaway, Queens

Rockaway, Queens, a low-lying area in New York City, was hit hard by Hurricane Sandy, so a fascinating new design competition seeks to create a more resilient and sustainable form of development for this vulnerable area.[read more]

building your green home

 

If you’re thinking about building green, keep this infographic nearby, as it covers thirteen elements that you’ll want to consider in the design and construction of your home.[read more]

Shanghai market

In a city of over 20 million people, with about 3500 people living in each square kilometre, finding a space that provides an intimate sense of community may seem next to impossible.[read more]

new urbansim in Orlando

Surprisingly, Florida – a state known in urban planning textbooks as the epicenter for sprawl and the real estate crash – is home to the nation’s most important New Urbanist developments.[read more]

 

a new urban planning model?

 

We in the modern world need not be bound to the primitive tools of the early surveyor, the primitive signal timings of the 1920s traffic engineer, or the primitive construction techniques of early carpenters.[read more]

San Jose

The big question is whether or how the City of San Jose can once again become the center of life and commerce it once was, many decades ago, when Santa Clara County was rather sleepy and agricultural.[read more]

real estate/shutterstock

Over the last 20 years investment companies have come to dominate the real estate investment and development landscape. But this was not always the case. Prior to the mid-1980s, most funding for real estate came from local people.[read more]

commuting/shutterstock

If you live close to friends or family, chances are you see them more often than if you lived on the other side of town. Sounds great, right? But what if there are trade-offs, such as a longer commute to work?[read more]