The freeway system, which Southern Californians once saw as a ticket to freedom, an emblem of L.A.'s love of individuality and movement, increasingly serves as a landscape of hard luck and a desperate sort of community — a place to hunker down. [...]

As the homeless population grows in a city whose public realm is the haggard product of several decades of neglect, the freeway has taken on a crucial, if often dispiriting, neighborhood role despite itself. — latimes.com

NBBJ calls the concept No-Shadow Tower, though it would be more accurate to call it the Smaller-Shadow-From-One-of-Two-Towers, since it depends on a pair of buildings separated by an open space. For that reason, the technique is an awkward fit for New York — NY Magazine

House and Senate negotiators on Tuesday announced a bipartisan agreement on a five-year reauthorization of federal transportation programs—the longest such measure that Congress has advanced since 2005. Both chambers are expected to pass the deal in the next two weeks before leaving for the year.

At a cost of $305 billion, the final compromise is a bit smaller than a $340 billion bill passed by the House last month. — The Atlantic

You wait years for a new bridge across the Thames then three come along at once. Joining the controversial garden bridge and a plan for a crossing between Nine Elms and Pimlico, both of which have fierce opponents, comes a proposal unveiled today for a new pedestrian and cycle bridge between Rotherhithe and the Isle of Dogs in east London that hasn’t aroused a single objection – yet.

There’s a good reason why: of the three plans, it makes by far the most sense. — Oliver Wainwright

"Do you believe in infrastructure?” asks Norman Foster, with challenge in his voice. He does. Infrastructure, he says, is about “investing not to solve the problems of today but to anticipate the issues of future generations”. [...]

“I have no power as an architect, none whatsoever. I can’t even go on to a building site and tell people what to do.” Advocacy, he says, is the only power an architect ever has. — theguardian.com

Pedestrian crossings made up of fragments of famous works of avant-garde art have appeared in a residential area in the Russian city of Khimki, located just northwest of Moscow.

Fragments of the work of Piet Mondrian, Kazimir Malevich and Vasily Kandinsky feature on five pedestrian crossings in the “Gorod Naberezhniy” complex, chosen for their frequent use. Together with the zebra stripes, there are signs which provide information about the artwork and artist. — calvertjournal.com

Basically, instead of allowing this anarchic development to continue growing over the bed of the lake – which is very expensive, because the quality of the soil is very bad – we wanted to conduct the growth of the city around the lake area, and to recover a huge natural feature that belongs to everyone, which will change the climate of the city. — Guardian

Smithsonian photographer Carolyn Russo first found herself drawn to air traffic control towers in 2006 on a flight into LaGuardia when she first studied the architectural details and circular windows of that now inactive structure [...]

I viewed each tower as both an essential aviation artifact and a vessel with a powerful presence—watching over the vastness of the airport and sky; a non-judgmental cultural greeter [...] In the presence of the tower, I sensed the complex orchestration of humans — smithsonianmag.com

This is important for Africa, where despite high urbanisation rates the development focus has been primarily rural. Consider Ghana. The country’s urban population has grown from four million in 1984 to more than 14 million today. Fifty one percent of Ghanaians now live in cities. While urbanisation rates vary across Africa, Ghana reflects an overall global trend towards a predominantly urban future.

Ghana demonstrates how cities can be highly productive in Africa. — qz.com

For those who assume Los Angeles has the worst traffic in the United States: Not so fast.

Drivers in Southern California spent a whopping 80 hours sitting in traffic in 2014, according to a new report by the Texas A&M Transportation Institute and the traffic data company Inrix.

But the city with the dubious distinction of most time lost behind the wheel is Washington, D.C., researchers say, where commuters clocked 82 hours of delays in a single year.  — latimes.com

In any event, it's as you were for the "haves" at the top of list, with Melbourne taking the top spot for a fifth year running, with Vienna, Vancouver, Toronto and Adelaide/Calgary (tied at 5) completing the top five most livable cities in 2015.

[...] these cities have "relatively few challenges to living standards," and enjoy a good infrastructure, healthcare system and a low murder rate.

Unsurprisingly, Damascus remains the least livable city, with Syria embroiled in a bloody civil war. — cnn.com

So beginning today and running throughout the August recess, we're turning our Instagram account over to you.  Just snap a photo – please do it safely! – of the worn-out infrastructure in your neck of the woods and share it with @USDOT using #ShowUsYourInfraWear. — transportation.gov

North Korea has installed cycle lanes on major thoroughfares in Pyongyang in an apparent bid to cut down on pedestrian accidents, as more residents are able to afford to buy bicycles.

Bicycles are an expensive but increasingly popular mode of transport for many in the country where private car ownership, although on the rise, is still rare. [...]

As recently as 2014, cycling was still illegal for women, though the ban was much flouted. — theguardian.com