Mimi Zeiger of loud paper has an inspirational piece over at Design Observer. Entitled The Interventionist's Toolkit in it she identifies an operational mode for citizen/designers during this continuing recession and announces a new reoccurring feature on Places. Mimi Zeiger of loud paper has an... View full entry
Andres Duany's fear of obsolescence has been outed in the Boston Globe who reports on the intellectual skirmishes for the future of the American city. Or is this just a battle between planners and landscape architects over turf? Andres Duany's fear of obsolescence has been outed in the Boston... View full entry
City, space, discontent: Map of Cairo | uprising interactive map, Nicknames: The City of a Thousand Minarets and Capital of the Arab World + Our family man Hosni and Archinect discussion Watch the uprising unfolding here City, space, discontent: Map of Cairo | uprising interactive map, Nicknames... View full entry
A city the size of Switzerland? If China gets its way, yes.A city the size of Switzerland? If China gets its way, yes. Some ambitious apparatchiks in southern China want to combine 9 cities to create an urban area the size of New Jersey and Vermont combined. The plan, announced in state media... View full entry
[Urban] strategies that deal with vacant spaces by generating new paths to employment aim to do more than fixing broken windows ever could. They seek to change the dynamics of the local economy by creating better communities, not just prettier ones, where abandoned properties are viewed as job... View full entry
In the Summer of 2009 Andrew Tenbrink and Quilian Riano traveled to Spain to document two (self-identified) eco-cities for publication in the TransUrban book series published by GSD. They studied the policies and politics that brought these developments into being as well as the urban, landscape... View full entry
Passenger travel in the industrialized world has been stagnant for nearly a decade, researchers say. Passenger travel in the industrialized world has been stagnant for nearly a decade, researchers say. “With talk of ‘peak oil,’ why not the possibility of ‘peak travel&rsquo... View full entry
With interaction design normally focused on products and services, what happens if it were applied to cities instead? Longtime Archinect BFF Adam Greenfield's new venture aims to explore the opportunities of the Urbanscale. With interaction design normally focused on products and services, what... View full entry
Nicolai Ouroussoff explores the many construction projects, underway or planned, in the very center of Mecca, from train lines to numerous luxury high-rises and hotels and a huge expansion of the Grand Mosque. The historic core of Mecca is being reshaped in ways that many here find appalling... View full entry
Nicolai Ouroussoff profiles some innovative restoration projects in the ancient city of Aleppo, Syria. He suggests that they could serve as a blueprint for preservationists in the Middle East. Nicolai Ouroussoff profiles some innovative restoration projects in the ancient city of Aleppo, Syria. He... View full entry
Rowan Moore talks to Norman Foster about Masdar City and how his plans for Abu Dhabi aim to marry modern innovations and centuries-old Islamic building practices. Rowan Moore talks to Norman Foster about Masdar City and how his plans for Abu Dhabi aim to marry modern innovations and centuries-old... View full entry
What makes a city grow and thrive? What causes it to stagnate and fall? Geoffrey West thinks the tools of physics provide answers. NYT | What makes a city grow and thrive? What causes it to stagnate and fall? Geoffrey West thinks the tools of physics provide answers. NYT View full entry
Istanbul #1, Shenzhen #2, Lima #3... Reversal of fortunes?Istanbul #1, Shenzhen #2, Lima #3... Reversal of fortunes? Atlantic View full entry
India’s countryside is emptying out, as millions leave their stagnant villages and flock to the cities. But India’s urban infrastructure has not kept pace, and that failing now threatens to undermine the nation’s ability to vault its multitudes out of poverty and share the fruits... View full entry
Tomorrow night, L.A. Times architecture critic Chistopher Hawthorne will sit down and ask questions to city's new planning director Michael LoGrande about what does he have in store for L.A.? He asks you to send him questions to be asked along his own. Tomorrow night, L.A. Times architecture... View full entry