In Los Angeles alone, billions of public and private dollars have been lavished on transit-oriented projects such as Hollywood & Vine, with more than 20,000 residential units approved within a quarter mile of transit stations between 2001 and 2005. New research shows people prefer cars... View full entry
The porcupine skylines of the world’s great commercial hubs are in constant flux. Attenuated offices pierce the smog, while street grids are bounded ever more tightly by great planes of glass, steel and marble, the material language of the corporation. Yet despite this international boom... View full entry
The ideal city has been the impossible dream for as long as there has been civilisation – a word that itself derives from civitas, the city. From Plato to Thomas More, Leonardo da Vinci to Le Corbusier, every genius has imagined the ideal city but none has got anywhere close to achieving... View full entry
In Richard Florida's "creative city" theory, the creative class dissolves the classical division between the productive bourgeoisie and the bohemian thereby giving rise to a new creative subject. Jamie Peck discusses the implementation of these ideas in contemporary cities and shows how... View full entry
Los Angeles County transit leaders on Thursday agreed to develop plans for toll roads within the next three years. The idea is called "congestion pricing," in which motorists pay to use less crowded lanes. Critics call it creation of "Lexus Lanes" for the rich. LaTimes View full entry
Harper's this month has a very illuminating article worth checking out titled, Detroit arcadia: Exploring the post-American landscape by Rebecca Solnit. Detroit, once the US's model industrial city, does it now hold an alternative future for another type of urbanism? View full entry
It's a delicate task, cleaning up a river. At this huge project in western Montana, backhoes and dump trucks have begun the massive task of cleaning tons of mining pollution out of the Clark Fork River. EPA project manager Russ Forba makes the cleanup sound as if it's plastic surgery. NPR View full entry
Today the Chinese government inaugurates the longest trans-oceanic sea bridge in the world - The Hangzhou Bay Bridge. At 22 miles and close to $1.5b, it links Shanghai with the city of Ningbo, and will be open to traffic in August 2008. WashPost [more, plus some BBC: Pics.] View full entry
In an unusually candid effort at self-examination for a habitually insular agency, New York City Transit yesterday presented what could be called an index of straphanger frustration. It made an analysis of each subway line that shows at a glance how often trains run late, how crowded they are and... View full entry
Monday marks the 25th anniversary of the release of the movie Blade Runner. The film's neo-noir production is cited as having influenced building design. Some argue that its dystopic setting of Los Angeles in 2019 is not far removed from life on the streets of downtown Los Angeles today. Day to... View full entry
Shopping malls simulate the buzz of city centres and create an atmosphere appropriate for consuming. Everything is planned in advanced and controlled; appropriation or adaptation of the space by passers-by is both impossible and forbidden. This rebounds on city centres: prettified, scrubbed, and... View full entry
An architect criticizes the Gloucester Docks regeneration in a BBC1 documentary. BBC (video) View full entry
Right across the planet, good fresh water supplies are under pressure. In America's West and Southwest, the combination of drought and booming population growth have made that pressure intense. The trend lines show real trouble for desert cities. Global warming doesn't help. And the West may be a... View full entry
New renderings in the ongoing zoning battle at Coney Island. + Mermaid Parade this weekend!nyt l nypost l gowanuslounge l coneyislandusa l previous View full entry
High density "compact cities" are the favoured model for sustainable living in the 21st Century. But there are drawbacks. bbc View full entry