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The U.S. Census Bureau has changed its definition of an urban area, which will cause hundreds of existing urban areas to be reclassified as rural. The change is centered on a new methodology for how urban areas are calculated, with the number of housing units being used as the key metric, rather... View full entry
With temperatures in Dubai regularly surpassing 115 degrees Fahrenheit, the government has decided to take control of the scorching weather. Scientists in the United Arab Emirates are making it rain — artificially — using electrical charges from drones to manipulate the weather and force rainfall across the desert nation. Meteorological officials released video footage this week showing a downpour over Ras al Khaimah, as well as several other regions. — CBS News
View this post on Instagram A post shared by المركز الوطني للأرصاد (@officialuaeweather) Called cloud seeding, this is a weather-modification technique that aims to change the amount or type of precipitation that falls from clouds by artificially adding substances, called... View full entry
We must continue to prepare for acute shocks—
events that could threaten our City’s ability to function, such as
natural disasters. We must also address chronic stresses—challenges that weaken our natural, built, or human resources, such
as income inequality and chronic homelessness. Stresses often
exacerbate the effects of shocks when they occur, particularly for
vulnerable populations.
— City of Seattle
The plan comes as Seattle, the fastest-growing city in the country, and the larger Puget Sound metropolitan region around it, prepare to nearly double in population by 2050. View full entry
Mayor Byron Brown said there will be a significant change documented in the 2020 Census for Buffalo. "We believe that in the 2020 census will allow Buffalo to show its first population growth since the 1950 census,” he said. — Spectrum News
After nearly 70 years of population declines, The City of Good Neighbors is growing once again. According to Buffalo mayor Byron W. Brown, the city could register significant population growth after the 2020 Census, a product, in part, of the city's growing refugee and immigrant communities... View full entry
London needs to provide space for 46,000 new jobs and build 50,000 new homes a year just to keep up with demand, as well as build the social infrastructure to support both. Good Growth will enable this, leaving a legacy of world-class buildings, outstanding public realm and large-scale regeneration for Londoners of the future. — London Loves Business
Exhibiting both farsightedness and excellent aesthetic taste, London Mayor Sadiq Khan has created a program specifically meant to help anticipate and solve London's growth (experts estimate the city will soon have a population of 10 million). The "Good Growth by Design" program will have an... View full entry
Although Cleveland often serves more as a punchline than a solution (the Cuyahoga River caught fire in 1969 due to pollution), a climate change conference convened by the United Nations and currently being held in Quito, Ecuador sees new potential in the city. As StreetsBlog reports, if Cleveland... View full entry
Today the U.S. Census Bureau released its 2015 population estimates for counties and metropolitan areas. After volatile swings in growth patterns during last decade’s housing bubble and bust, long-term trends are reasserting themselves. Population is growing faster in the South and West than in the Northeast and Midwest, and faster in suburban areas than in urban counties; both of these trends accelerated in 2015. — citylab.com
Related stories in the Archinect news:See 2,000 Years of Urban Growth Around the World With This Interactive MapThe World’s Population Can Fit Inside New York CityCensus: LA is the nation's densest urban area, while New York ranks 5th View full entry
Could roof-straddling “sky walks” soon be coming to Stockholm? A new plan proposed for the Swedish capital would see a large slice of its city center built over with densely packed towers, joined at their peaks by a dramatic zigzag of tree-lined, open air gangways...
Sweden’s capital is one of the fastest growing cities in Europe... If it isn’t going to sprawl unmanageably or become overcrowded, it’s going to have to find somewhere to put everyone...
— City Lab
Proposed by Anders Berensson Architects, the "Klarastaden," or "clear city" plan, was commissioned by the Swedish Center Party, a center-right party with an environmental focus and neoliberal bent. The Swedish capital is poised to grow 17 percent in the next nine years, putting pressure on its... View full entry
Cities around the world have only one generation to meet the twin challenges of climate change and a rapidly growing urban population, the head of a global engineering firm has warned.
Gregory Hodkinson, chairman of the Arup group, said that with more than half the world’s population already living in cities, and the proportion set to rise to 70% by 2050, city leaders need to take urgent action.
— The Guardian
Gregory Hodkinsin, the chairman of the engineering giant Arup Group, has warned that cities must adapt to climate change and booming population growth within the timespan of a single generation. “If we don’t, in my view, we’re screwed: my children and my grandchildren and everybody else’s... View full entry
Back in 1 A.D., ancient civilizations like the Mayans experienced “urban booms” of their own. This mind-boggling interactive map made by Esri puts thousands of years of global population growth into perspective, ultimately showing us that NYC is kind of just a blip on the radar—or in this case, the 2,000-year timeline of life. — 6sqft
MoMA began its "Uneven Growth: Tactical Urbanisms for Expanding Megacities" initiative last year aiming to advance international discussion on disproportionate urban development and its potential consequences. To address this issue, six interdisciplinary teams spent 14 months in workshops designing proposals that investigate new architectural possibilities for six metropolises. Each case study will be exhibited to the public at MoMA starting on November 22. — bustler.net
But the discussion doesn't end there. MoMA also created a user-generated Tumblr that collects examples of emerging modes of tactical urbanism taking place in the six cities.Here's a glimpse:LAGOSBy NLÉ (Lagos, Nigeria and Amsterdam, Netherlands)Zoohaus/Inteligencias Colectivas (Madrid, Spain)HONG... View full entry
Bloomberg published their predictions for the top forty most densely populated cities by 2025, with current #1 Hong Kong keeping the top spot, at nearly twice the projected density of #2, Salvador, Brazil. Hong Kong's population growth is predicted to grow by 32.8%, while Salvador's is nearly... View full entry
