Asia-Pacific
China, Japan, other South East Asian countries, Australia, New Zealand, and Pacific Islands countries.
Will Your Bank Card and Bus Pass Become One?
MarketWatch reports on the rise of contactless smart cards in public transit and banking, and speculates that the time is ripe to put the two uses on the same card.
Living in a Zero-Waste City
In Kamikatsu, Japan, waste is not a problem -- mainly because new policies practically forbid it. But citizens have adapted to their new zero-waste lifestyle.
A Train That Never Stops
A Taiwanese inventor is proposing a rail system that never stops for passengers, virtually eliminating delays. Follow the full story link to see the video.
A Laser Light Show in the Crosswalk
Will laser-projected pedestrians make crossing the street safer in South Korea?
Capitalism Sprawls Into Russia's Frozen Expanse
American-style malls are cropping up in Siberia, and gobbling up land, to enable once-isolated Russians to consume in ways that might have been unimaginable a generation ago.
New Zealand to Re-Nationalize Rail and Ferry Services
In the mid-1980s New Zealand sold its national rail assets to private industry in hopes of developing a profitable, efficient rail network. With deteriorating infrastructure and a desire for greener transit, the government has decided to buy it back.
A Cup of Coffee and A Calico, Please
"Cat cafes" are popping up all over Tokyo, giving patrons the company of a cat -- without the burden of actually owning one. There are at least seven cat cafes in Tokyo.
The Island of Garbage
This 12-part video series from Vice gives a gritty look at the Texas-sized patch of plastic flotsam that has formed in the Pacific Ocean -- and the global environmental and health hazards it presents.
Friday Funny: A Tight Fit
These two videos show the downside of high public transit ridership.
Grand Canal Proposed in South Korea
South Korea's new president has proposed the engineering and construction of a huge cross-country canal -- a plan he hopes will revive much of the country's depressed villages and offer an attractive venue for tourists and shipping companies.
Auckland Investing $1.2 Billion To Fix Rail Woes
As commuters face delays and frustrations with aging infrastructure, the government in Auckland, New Zealand has announced plans to invest more than $1 billion in its regional rail system.
New Zealand's Planner Shortage
Young people in New Zealand aren't taking up careers in planning, which is causing problems for many cities, and has developers upset about slow processing times.
Friday Funny: The Amazing Disappearing House
A woman in Russia returned home form vacation recently to an empty plot of land. Her home was mistakenly demolished as developers readied a site for new construction.
Pentagon Looks Toward Space For Solar Power On Earth
The Pentagon and an international consortium are investigating the feasibility of 'beaming back' solar energy from a network of space-based satellites and Pacific island-based antennae that could begin operating as early as 2012.
Land of the Living, Dead
Vice Magazine presents this photo essay on a cemetery in Manila that is heavily populated with both the living and the dead. More than 10,000 families make this graveyard their home.
Japanese Urban Centers Fading In Rural Prefectures
Smaller cities in rural areas of Japan are being gutted out, as big box centers continue to sprout up outside cities.
Turning Around Japan's Declining Towns
Many Japanese cities are in decline, and people there are counting on the new prime minister to put a stop to it.
The Continent of Garbage
A vortex of winds has concentrated garbage and plastic flotsam into a huge island of garbage in the middle of the Pacific Ocean -- an unintentionally man-made mass that is growing at a rapid pace.
The Singing Streets Of Japan
Road designers in Japan have created a system of specialized grooves on highway pavement that produce melodies when cars drive over them at certain speeds.
Intimately-Integrated Transit
This post from Salon shows a video of a train that travels right through a market in Bangkok.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
EMC Planning Group, Inc.
Planetizen
Planetizen
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
