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Leadership & Management

How Green are Africa’s cities?

February 1, 2012 by Rashiq Fataar
with 44 views
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INFOGRAPHIC: How Green are Africa’s cities? Cities from the south and the north of Africa deliver the best environmental performance of all major African cities. This is the conclusion of the African Green City Index, a unique study commissioned by Siemens and conducted by the independent research organization Economist Intelligence... [read more]

Chicago Applies NACTO Urban Bikeway Guidelines

January 30, 2012 by TheCityFix - produced by EMBARQ
with 68 views
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Last year, the National Association of City Transportation Officials released a technical guide on how to implement bike lanes in urban areas. We now see that Chicago is applying these guidelines to create safe biking paths across the city. We previously wrote about Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s commitment to providing safe and protected spaces... [read more]

Can Ontario deliver the continent's best land-use plan?

January 26, 2012 by Kaid Benfield
with 206 views
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  I’m fond of saying that the best-conceived plan for managing growth and development in North America is the Places to Grow framework adopted by the province of Ontario, Canada.  Constructed pursuant to enabling legislation adopted by the province in 2005, Places to Grow addresses the future of a New Hampshire-sized region... [read more]

Flipping the Smart Grid Switch in Vermont

January 24, 2012 by Adam Christensen
with 58 views
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To get an idea of the promise and possibility of the “smart grid,” look no further than what’s happening in the small New England state of Vermont. With multiple energy sources and a clear focus on the environment spanning many years, Vermont continues to lead the path for other states looking to become “smarter.” Since creating the... [read more]

Place And Economic Development

January 20, 2012 by Jim Russell
with 172 views
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Is "cool" an economic development strategy? A few of my blog posts are syndicated at Sustainable Cities Collective. (ed. note: here!) Sometimes the title gets tweaked in a way that highlights a controversy. Such is the value of a good editor. That was the case with my most recent work about Pittsburgh versus Portland. The larger issue of... [read more]

Exploring the New EPA Greenhouse Gas Emissions Database

January 19, 2012 by Planet Forward
with 99 views
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Yesterday I told you about an informative new U.S. EPA greenhouse gas emissions database detailing the nation’s larger sources of greenhouse gas emissions. In total, the database contains information on facilities that account for about 80 percent of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions. It excludes the agricultural sector and transportation. [read more]

Defying Criticism, U.K. Government Finalizes Plans for High-Speed Rail

January 18, 2012 by Next American City
with 47 views
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Whatever the recession’s effects on government budgets, infrastructure development in Europe continues to advance at a steady pace. The United Kingdom government affirmed last week that it would move forward with the construction of a £18.8 billion ($29 billion) high-speed link between London and Birmingham, due for opening in 2026. This in spite of draconian cuts across all sorts of public services, both in Britain and across the continent. [read more]

2012 Great Places Awards - Call for entries

January 17, 2012 by Scott J Morrison
with 112 views
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Golf courses serve multiple functions in our urban and suburban landscapes. Although they were originally designed primarily for recreation, our courses now play a role in urban storm-water management, habitat and corridor preservation, air quality improvement, and various other environmental functions. There is no doubt that... [read more]

Is 'cool' an economic development strategy?: Pittsburgh Versus Portland

January 17, 2012 by Jim Russell
with 294 views
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Move to Portland and be somewhere. Move to Indianapolis and do something. Portland is a wonderful example of great placemaking. Placemaking to what end? Portland is attractive. Portland is winning the war for talent. Portland is San Francisco without jobs. [read more]

Forum and Protest in Moscow

December 12, 2011 by the polis blog
with 74 views
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 Watershed events often coincide. Based on the tenor of the Moscow Urban Forum over the past three days, it seemed that "global city" ideology had found another haven of unconditional support. This was part of a wave of surface change associated with the initial hope inspired by outgoing president Dmitry Medvedev, based on... [read more]

Global Mayors Put UN’s Sustainable City Guidelines In Motion

December 7, 2011 by Warren Karlenzig
with 302 views
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After providing the curriculum for training urban leaders from 12 Southeast and Central Asian nations a few weeks ago, the United Nations is now globally launching the full content of the Shanghai Manual: A Guide for Sustainable Urban Development in the 21st Century. [read more]

How Majora Carter Changes the Image of Cities

December 6, 2011 by Kat Friedrich
with 146 views
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Urban visionary Majora Carter described her ability to reimagine cities and neighborhoods at the Boston Museum of Science on Nov. 2. She told the story of her work to “green the ghetto” by connecting young people with environmental jobs, her efforts to transform an abandoned dump and a jail into community-friendly spaces, and her plans... [read more]