An urban sustainability, green building, and alternative transportation community

Even in cold weather, Amsterdam has a successful biking culture, proving that climate does not always deter cyclists. Photo by Bauke Karel. Biking and walking infrastructure is often evaluated from the point of view of the planners. To get more... [read more]

February 21, 2012

Using Sustainable Systems Thinking in the Poorest City in America

by Sarah Jacobson
with 171 views

Last September, the New York Times ran a story highlighting my hometown. Reading, PA had officially “earned the unwelcome distinction of having the largest share of its residents living in poverty” among cities with populations greater than 65... [read more]

How Much Your Car Really Costs You and The Quality of Your Living

February 21, 2012 by Alex Banchero
with 184 views

There are neighborhoods and then there are great neighborhoods; neighborhoods are the cul-de-sac communities you find out in the suburbs, great neighborhoods are the moderately dense, diverse, unique parts of the city that are so entwined with the... [read more]

Writing About Cities: Courtroom Rules or Virtual Frontier?

February 19, 2012 by Chuck Wolfe
with 114 views

On any given day, a high percentage of the day's urbanist press is devoted to articles about places that the authors have never visited. Imagery comes from the public domain, from desktop travel by Google Earth and Google Street View. Arguably, this easy accessibility expands the reach of both reader and writer. [read more]

Real Urbanism Is Rare

February 18, 2012 by Chris Bradford
with 282 views

Back in 1998, Cedar Park adopted a comprehensive plan that set aside 42 acres of land along Highway 183 for a mixed-use, village-like town center. They imagined something like this: The plan called for the city hall to be built there to anchor... [read more]

Inclusive Planning: How Can Indian Cities Lead the Way?

February 17, 2012 by TheCityFix - produced by EMBARQ
with 94 views

Can India transform its planning practices to equally represent the voices of the most marginalized groups? Photo by ILRI. The urbanization boom in India is not taking place without heated discussions and an attempt at inclusive planning. If crafted... [read more]

Can US communities learn from this European suburban retrofit?

February 22, 2012 by Kaid Benfield
with 51 views

In 2008, the substantially updated town center of Plessis-Robinson, a suburb of Paris, was named “the best urban neighborhood built in the last 25 years” by the European Architecture Foundation. A composite of six connected districts ranging in size from 5.6 to 59 acres, the revitalization comprises public buildings, retail... [read more]

Do Spaces Have A Language?

February 22, 2012 by the polis blog
with 63 views

Coastline in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Source: Jeddah account on TwitterCities may be seen as systems that, at their best, foster symbiotic interactions and equitable transactions that efficiently distribute resources. To achieve this, planning spaces that enable encounters among individuals to take place is paramount. The discipline of... [read more]

Re-imagining our Consumer Culture

February 22, 2012 by Zachary Hirschfeld
with 169 views

Tackling our waste and consumption addictions through holistic system thinking [read more]

Can Cupcakes Inspire Collaborative Consumption in our Cities?

February 21, 2012 by This Big City
with 71 views

When Kirsty, my sister’s sister-in-law, arrived at Christmas with cupcakes in jam jars exquisitely wrapped we knew she had a product worth developing… and eating! Like many of us, Kirsty has a dream, to spend her working week doing what she is truly passionate about. Regrettably, mega corporations, the big banks and a global recession... [read more]

Transforming a derelict buildings into vertical gardens

February 21, 2012 by Kaid Benfield
with 424 views

Aspiring interior designer Lucie Sadakova has come up with a striking concept to bring more green space and nourishment into a scruffy part of London. And, despite being in a sense all about an outdoor activity, it is in fact an interior transformation, a proposed adaptive reuse of an old building way past its prime. One of... [read more]

Should Cities Embrace ‘Sandwich Board Urbanism’?

February 21, 2012 by Chuck Wolfe
with 183 views

Rethinking allowed uses in city rights-of-way can change the look and feel of streets in unexpected fashion—especially when the focus is on more than the ambiance of sidewalk cafes, benches or clocks. One example is the impact of sandwich board signs, something I first noticed last year when researching the key role of corners in... [read more]

Americans Recognize Need for Transportation Infrastructure Repair

February 21, 2012 by Glenn Meyers
with 28 views

The American Crisis in Transportation Coalition has pointed to a poll published in The Hill which showed that 53 percent of the respondents said it is “very important” to repair the nation’s roads, and 35 percent said it is “somewhat important.” [read more]

Building Homes for the Not-So-Nuclear Family

February 20, 2012 by Kat Friedrich
with 154 views

Building cookie-cutter houses for nuclear families has left us with houses that can’t adapt easily to hard economic times, changing lifestyles, and immigration. [read more]

Fearing Urbanization

February 17, 2012 by Jim Russell
with 97 views

We must save the Heartland. Our identity is at stake. That's a common rationale given for rural economic development. Perhaps in a future post, I will discuss the genealogy of this peculiar cultural geography. Today, I want to highlight how this perspective undermines urbanization and promotes sprawl:Over the next 20 years or... [read more]

Why London Should Embrace Cycling Infrastructure

February 17, 2012 by Mark K Ames
with 130 views

Next Wednesday many of you are joining us on the Mall at 6.15 for our ride around Parliament to make sure that cyclist's voices are heard - the next day MPs will be holding the biggest debate on cycle safety for 16 years - we want to make sure they get the message right. [read more]

Where Sustainability and Food Intersect

February 17, 2012 by Allison McKenzie
with 209 views

Those of you who know me personally as well as through this blog probably know that I have been on somewhat of a crusade over the past 14 months to improve my overall health. A big part of this involved losing a lot of weight, but the avenues I used to do this were also focused on improving my overall health: exercising more and really... [read more]

The Tangible Value of 'Green' Certification

February 16, 2012 by Ashley Halligan
with 168 views

Sustainability has become a global trend--residentially and commercially. Projects and remodels of any size and magnitude can have an emphasis on environmental sustainability. And with that comes certifications from federal agencies, nonprofit organizations and professional associations. It's still a new and growing field, so deciding what the most productive and effective strategy to obtaining these certifications (and if they're worth it all), may seem overwhelming. Through expert interviews, these are the most recommended certifications and accreditations that are tangibly beneficial to a building or facility. [read more]

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