Many U.S. cities are seeing an increase in bicycle commuters, according to a U.S. Census Bureau report released today. Nationwide, the number of people who traveled to work by bike increased roughly 60 percent over the last decade, from about 488,000 in 2000 to about 786,000 during the 2008-2012 period. This is the largest percentage increase of all commuting modes tracked by the 2000 Census and the 2008-2012 American Community Survey. — census.gov
If you're feeling wonky, you can read the full U.S. Census Bureau report here. It's the Census Bureau's first report to focus entirely on biking and walking to work, with statistics since 1990.You can also explore commuting statistics for every U.S. neighborhood in the Bureau's Census Explorer, an... View full entry
It is envisioned as one of the grandest parties in the Western Hemisphere—the 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil. Rio de Janeiro will be the first South American city to host the quadrennial showpiece, and the events in “Cidade Maravilhosa” (Marvelous City) are expected to constitute one of the most expansive Games ever. [...]
However, concern that Rio might not be ready in time for the Games is growing louder.
— urbanland.uli.org
One problem with our obsession with gentrification as the end-all of urban equity issues is that it discourages us from talking about other important things happening in our cities. In some instances, gentrification has become such a dominating narrative that it has completely erased broader trends that we really ought to be concerned about.
Case in point: Brooklyn is getting poorer.
— danielkayhertz.com
As a profit making company, albeit with a sense of stewardship, our research
on resilience is commercially motivated. Our approach helps us to create
portfolios of real estate assets which are resilient and operate in emerging
markets fully cognisant of the risks.
— Grosvenor
To quote Bruce Sterling "*British real estate firm tries to figure out where the investors’ money will be safe. Results are not encouraging". View full entry
A special construction material keeps concrete whiter than white. — CNN
The first application was on Richard Meier's Jubilee Church in Rome. View full entry
Most discourse on “smart” and “sentient” cities, if it addresses people at all, focuses on them as sources of data feeding the algorithms. Rarely do we consider the point of engagement — how people interface with, and experience, the city’s operating system. — Places Journal
As we enter the era of so-called “smart” cities, Shannon Mattern argues on Places, we need to consider how citizens interface with the city’s operating system. What does a “right to the city” mean for our future cities? “Can we envision interfaces that honor the multidimensionality and... View full entry
We were participating in a little experiment trying to answer the question, “How does the brain respond to the city?” The headsets were recording second-by-second readings of our brain waves via Bluetooth to an app on the iPod. The resulting gigabyte of data, gathered from about 50 participants, will be aggregated into a visualization to be presented May 13 at Issue Project Room in Brooklyn. It’s part of the Van Alen Institute’s multiyear “Elsewhere: Escape and the Urban Landscape” project. — theatlanticcities.com
Archinect is delighted to present 5468796 Architecture's travelogue for their award-winning research project, Table for Twelve. The Winnipeg-based firm received the 2013 Professional Prix de Rome in Architecture from the Canada Council for the Arts, awarded to emerging Canadian architects with... View full entry
Architect Richard Meier's new residential building will feature his signature jutting planes and surfaces carved from white steel and glass. The 37 apartments, starting at about $2 million, are 73% sold even though ground won't be broken until June. The project, named Vitrvm, and the buzz surrounding it, is what you might expect from the designer of L.A.'s Getty Center except for one thing: It is in Bogotá, Colombia. — The Wall Street Journal
Affordable housing is on New York City’s mind. A critical mass of civic organizations, academic institutions, city agencies, advocacy groups, and others are pondering the essential and perennial issue of how to ensure that the city becomes affordable for the extraordinarily diverse population that makes it work. [...]
At the same time, a decades-old strategy to maintain housing affordability is finding a groundswell of support from an increasingly diverse group of stakeholders.
— urbanomnibus.net
A community land trust (CLT) is an alternative model that separates the ownership of property from the ownership of the land on which that property is built. In effect, organized citizens remove land from the private, speculative market where its value is difficult to control. View full entry
Election day means Gujarat is closed for business—except in Gift City.
Officially known as Gujarat Information Finance Tech City (hence, Gift), construction equipment is everywhere and dust is in the air. [...]
This is the type of development that Narendra Modi supporters hope will be a microcosm for the rest of India should he become prime minister. [...] Here’s a (very stylized) artist rendition of what the area will look look, according to the government brochure.
— qz.com
How many Battery Parks, CCTVs and Sliced Porosity Blocks can you spot? View full entry
[Santa Monica will] be able to offer its residents real net neutrality, which the [FCC] is working on rolling back for just about everyone else in the US. [...]
Santa Monica has cleverly and quietly been installing its own network of city-owned fiber-optic cables for years, and they intend to keep the net neutral. [...]
Santa Monica has also made about $5 million providing internet service and leasing out the cables to other providers, and their competition has driven down rates.
— la.curbed.com
The Federal Communications Commission recently proposed that internet service providers (like Verizon, AT&T, and Time Warner Cable) should be able to charge companies extra for faster service -- so for example, Netflix could pay AT&T more to ensure faster download speeds for its viewers... View full entry
Preserving the rich history of an iconic site while modernizing any aspect of its design is always a tricky feat. For MVRDV, one of their latest competition wins is redeveloping the urban plan of the historic Serp & Molot (Hammer & Sickle) Factory...In the two-stage competition, the winning team was chosen out of a shortlist with LDA Design (UK), Ateliers lion Associés (France), Mega Project (Russia), and De Architecten Cie. (Netherlands). — bustler.net
Here's a glimpse of the winning proposal:The project, which has a total investment estimated at 180 billion Rouble, is expected to be complete in 2021.Find out more on Bustler. View full entry
The South African city is World Design Capital 2014, yet residents of Khayelitsha township live in cramped, unhygienic conditions. The need for long-promised urban reform is urgent. [...]
“Cape Town is a paradise for the minority, but I could hope for a city where everyone has access to the same opportunities that I have,” says Wolff. “Mandela may have postponed revolution – but for how much longer is the question.”
— theguardian.com
Landscape architects — and anyone else who works directly with vegetation — need to acknowledge that a wide variety of so-called novel or emergent ecosystems are developing before our eyes. — Places Journal
Places is featuring two chapters from the new book Projective Ecologies, edited by Chris Reed and Nina-Marie Lister and co-published by Actar and the Harvard Graduate School of Design.In "The Flora of the Future," botanist Peter Del Tredici argues that the native plants movement has got it all... View full entry
