Social / Demographics

The Vauban District in southern Germany is a small community built around a green transportation scheme, but it has become much more: a model of cooperative decision-making, sustainability and eco-planning.

February 5, 2011 - The Cereplast Blog

Over the past ten years, the city of New Orleans has lost nearly a third of its population, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

February 4, 2011 - USA Today

Beneath Paris is an underground network of tunnels and quarries, long closed to the public. National Geographic takes a tour of this forbidden part of the city, where urban explorers keep tradition alive.

February 3, 2011 - National Geographic

While some cities have focused planning efforts on making their public spaces more accessible for the elderly, some argue that the age group they should be focusing on is kids.

February 2, 2011 - Good

Los Angeles Times architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne begins a year-long series reading and reviewing 25 books all about L.A.

February 2, 2011 - Los Angeles Times

Struggling Rust Belt cities could be the smart move for retirees, according to this article.

February 2, 2011 - Reuters

With recent uprisings in Cairo and Tunis, we are reminded that the city has been the center of revolutionary action for hundreds of years, according to this piece from Edward L. Glaeser.

February 2, 2011 - The New York Times

The amount of people commuting in car pools has nearly halved since 1980.

January 31, 2011 - The New York Times

The mayor of the small town of Lancaster, California, has proposed broadcasting recordings of bird noises along one of the city's main streets to "make people happier".

January 31, 2011 - CBS

The term "smart growth" may be approaching the end of its shelf life, according to some. Its replacement: "intelligent cities".

January 30, 2011 - USA Today

New Urbanist Stefanos Polyzoides is profiled by the Los Angeles Times, which mentions a few projects the architect and planners is working on in East L.A. and Fresno.

January 27, 2011 - Los Angeles Times

Hundreds of townships in Indiana serve fewer than 1,000 people each, prompting some government officials to call for consolidation to reduce wasted resources.

January 26, 2011 - The Indianapolis Star

The rural Midwest produces much of our nation's food supply, and yet small towns in the heartland and around America are increasingly and ironically becoming food deserts - places where citizens have little access to fresh, healthy foods.

January 25, 2011 - Grist

With many scratching to make a living in a badly damaged economy, coworking is springing up to meet the needs of independent workers.

January 24, 2011 - New Urban Network

The city of Detroit is increasingly characterized through imagery of its abandoned and decaying buildings. This piece from The New Republic says it's time to stop.

January 24, 2011 - The New Republic

Rome has instituted a new tax on tourists aimed at building a fund to restore its crumbling infrastructure. But some worry it will drive tourists away.

January 18, 2011 - Der Spiegel

As the world's population urbanizes, rural areas are being abandoned. But they don't have to sit empty and unused, according to this piece from GOOD.

January 18, 2011 - Good

An art gallery in New York City currently has an installation called Park Here, which is an indoor parkspace made up of fake grass, trees and sunlight.

January 17, 2011 - The New York Times

January 17, 2011 - George Haugh

Sound recordist and architect Nick Sowers offers an audio experience of the annual festival Burning Man.

January 15, 2011 - Places