World

Ever since David Owen's book Green Metropolis pushed forward the idea that cities are better for the planet, people have been debating if it's really so. New evidence says yes.

February 7, 2011 - Grist

The Global Village Construction Set is a group of farmers and engineers who are developing an set of open-source designs for the forty tools one would need to create a self-sufficient life living off of the land.

February 7, 2011 - Fast Company

A new poll of real estate experts reveals that businesses seeking office space are increasingly seeking buildings built with sustainability in mind.

February 7, 2011 - The Guardian U.K.

Speaking at the New Partners for Smart Growth Conference last week, Duany said that he fears developers will give up on building sustainably because of overly onerous infrastructure costs required by LEED and other systems.

February 7, 2011 - Partnership for Sustainable Communities

What do you think of when you think of the word "route" in relation to transit? What about the word "line"? Jarrett Walker argues that the language used to describe transit can influence how people think about it.

February 7, 2011 - Human Transit

Neither technology nor infrastructure shows any limit for how big or how fast cities can grow and more megacities are on the horizon, according to this piece from Richard Dobbs and Jaana Remes.

February 6, 2011 - What Matters

With GPS technology ubiquitous, the lighthouse perched high on a cliff may soon become a relic.

February 5, 2011 - CNN

New Songdo City in South Korea is the model for new cities, according to Greg Lindsay and John D. Kasarda, who argue that its airport is its most important element.

February 5, 2011 - What Matters

Apparently in the horror first-person shooter videogame F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin for XBox, you can win a special "City Planner" achievement by -- blowing stuff up.

February 4, 2011 - YouTube

Bus rapid transit is growing in popularity throughout the world, though implementation is lacking in the U.S.

February 4, 2011 - THE DIRT

Building megacities needs to be a multidisciplinary effort, according to architect and designer Sean C. S. Chiao.

February 3, 2011 - What Matters

The demand for air travel may seem to be on the decline, but it's actually rising -- and playing a major role in determining which places are more economically successful.

February 3, 2011 - The New York Times

The cities of the future should be "smart" -- equipped with data-collection tools and technologies to improve city functionality -- but being smart also means being a good listener, writes Saskia Sassen.

February 3, 2011 - What Matters

A recent international design competition sought innovative and attractive solutions for allowing wildlife to cross busy highways. The winning designs take various strategies to go over or under the traffic.

February 2, 2011 - The Globe and Mail

In Barcelona, Mario Ballesteros says that now is the time to change the perception of historic preservation from a staid, conservative activity to an active, contemporary approach.

February 2, 2011 - domus

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

Barun Roy says that some of the most adventurous, bizarre and impractical architecture is being built in Asia.

January 28, 2011 - Business Standard

Karl Chu sees a future of architecture that combines artificial intelligence and biological processes resulting in fantastical organic buildings.

January 27, 2011 - IEET blog

Peace and Security professor Michael Klare warns that we are entering a period of global resource scarcity and unrest.

January 24, 2011 - AlterNet

This TIME video is titled, "What Makes Cities Smart?" But the mayors interviewed - Villariagosa, Daley, Nutter - are mostly obsessed with building public transit and high-speed rail.

January 24, 2011 - Time