500 cams, "ring of steel" for NYC: Hundreds of additional cameras could follow if the city receives $81.5 million in federal grants it has requested to safeguard Lower Manhattan and parts of midtown with a surveillance "ring of steel" modeled after security measures in London's financial... View full entry

Westerners who travel to the Middle East often pass through Dubai and sigh deeply. "If only the rest of the Muslim Middle East were as free as Dubai," they say before flying back to Amsterdam, London, New York or wherever they call home. Dubai, The Model? View full entry

From the Great Pyramid of Giza to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, nearly everyone knows about the seven wonders of the ancient world. These spectacular monuments were first celebrated by Greek historian Herodotus during the 5th century BC. As impressive as his list may be, it's by no means... View full entry

One must remember that Chinese buildings have a shorter life cycle; a building that might be put through a renovation in the West when it ages is often torn down in China. But perhaps deeper than this is a sense that China has experienced such turmoil in its past that nothing is permanent, even... View full entry

"The not-so-mighty Los Angeles River meanders 51 miles through the middle of the L.A. basin. It has been largely ignored since the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers channeled it in the 1930s, but is finally being recognized as an important natural and economic resource." ArchRecord. Earlier. View full entry

Barcelona is a city that knows how to make a freeway sexy -- and it's not just dreaming. It builds seemingly before lunch every day what New York City can't seem to accomplish in a generation. This [exhibition] is not simply a collection of luscious designs by big names. Prepared by Barcelona... View full entry

Federal officials issued unexpectedly lenient guidelines today for rebuilding the flood-damaged homes of New Orleans, potentially allowing tens of thousands of homeowners to return to their neighborhoods at costs far less than they had feared. NYT View full entry

Especially little old ladies from Pasadena - or in this case, Sunland, when they walk too slow. Officer cites 82-year old woman for being too slow to cross the street View full entry

What would London look like if it flooded? "Scientists have been investigating the effects of a 7m-high wave travelling up the Thames, using computer simulations. The "virtual storm" is part of a £6.5m project at the UK Met Office, and is seen as crucial to forecasting the ways... View full entry

"The leader of Milton Keynes Council has pledged to fight government plans to break up the grid road system, which has become synonymous with the city, to make way for a sustainable new housing development." Well, it is Milton Keynes... BD. Somewhat related. View full entry

San Francisco on Wednesday chose the high-tech team of Google and EarthLink to bring free, wireless Internet access to virtually everyone in the city, possibly by the end of the year. Read View full entry

Residents of gentrified downtown lofts don't want to live next to the LAPD's new home, but a park as they expected. LATimes View full entry

Controversy erupts over a plan to let corporate donors display their names and logos at attractions like Yosemite. - CSMonitor. View full entry

Planetizen 's three part series on Parking:Parking Management: Innovative Solutions To Vehicle Parking Problems by Todd Litman, The Price Of Parking On Great Streets by Donald C. Shoup, FAICP, and Onsite Parking: The Scourge of America's Commercial Districts by Mott Smith. View full entry

By almost any measure, the rebuilding effort here stands in disarray. With a new hurricane season set to begin in June, the levees ringing the city have barely been restored to half their shaky pre-Katrina strength. The neighborhood planning sessions that were supposed to start Feb. 20 have been... View full entry