World
Global issues, U.N., etc.
Friday Funny: Magic Device Cuts Gas Consumption By 30%
The Magic Power System plugs into your car's 12v port, and purportedly improves your gas mileage by 30%, increases torque, reduces emissions, improves car audio quality, and cleans the entire car 'electrically'.
To Re-Imagine Cities, Re-Imagine Urban Design
Oil is running out and the climate is changing. How this impacts cities will largely be determined by how the urban design field reacts.
Estates for All
Wendell Cox looks at how single-family detached housing came to be, and why it's likely to remain a popular option for the middle class.
Architectural Mashups
Belgian photographer Filip Dujardin combines photos of wildly different buildings into new constructions of impossible architecture.
Mini-Reactors Reinvent Nuclear Energy
A newly-designed nuclear "battery" utilizing 50-year old technology promises to revolutionize nuclear power with sealed, shed-sized reactors suitable for powering thousands of households.
Oil Shortage & Climate Crisis On Horizon
Despite the reduction in oil consumption caused by the global recession, the world faces a duel energy-environmental crisis of an oil shortage and climate crisis, according to the World Energy Outlook written by the International Energy Agency.
Is 'Clean Coal' Really Clean?
The politicians name-checked 'clean coal' throughout the campaign. Has coal really cleaned up its act?
Skyscraper Lights Don't Have to be Dangerous or Wasteful
One architecture critic addresses two skyscraper-related conundrums: Decorative lighting that tops the buildings are energy inefficient, and they are dangerous to migrating birds.
James Bond, Architecture Critic?
The James Bond films have featured some of the most memorable built environments in all of cinema. Too bad Bond invariably blows them up.
Could Montreal Be Barcelona?
French starchitect Paul Andreu is creating a new iconic building for Montreal, but writer Joseph Baker posits that one splashy building does not a beautiful city make. Baker calls for a grand vision of city form on the scale of Barecelona's plan.
Spooky Friday: Top 10 Scary Places
The Bermuda Triangle tops this list of spooky places, but the compendium also includes the Pirate House of Savannah and Colorado's Stanley Hotel, the inspiration for The Shining.
Building the 'Electranet'
Al Gore did in fact invent the 'electranet', or at least he coined the term to explain the necessity of a new smart grid to transmit electricity from new, green sources like wind and solar. GOOD Magazine reports on the state of the electranet.
Cities With a Global Outlook: The Top 12
A team of management consulting and foreign policy professionals has released a report analyzing which cities of the world are most global in reach, looking at business activity, human capital, and information exchange. New York comes out on top.
Kazakhstan: The New Dubai?
Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, is reinventing itself as an increasingly wealthy and fast developing country through its architecture.
300% More Oxygen: The Guardian Examines Greenwashing
In a new weekly column, Fred Pearce of The Guardian examines corporate and municipal claims to sustainability.
'The Earth in Your Pocket'
That's how developers at Google describe the release of Google Earth for the iPhone. Boing Boing's Joel Johnson wonders why it wasn't released for Android first.
Income Gap in American Cities As Bad As African Cities
Income inequality in U.S. cities rivals that of many African cities, which struggle with deep divides between the haves and the have-nots, according to a recent report from the United Nations.
World's Underground Waters Mapped
UNESCO has released a detailed map of the world's aquifers, a move the organization hopes will enable more intelligent use of natural resources.
Three Oil Producing Nations Impacted By Oil Price Plunge
Plunging oil prices are hitting three oil-producing countries the hardest: Venezuela, Iran, and Russia. This article looks at each of them and evaluates how they will fare if oil prices do not rise, including their relationships to the U.S.
Social Inequity a 'Time Bomb' for U.S. Cities
The annual UN State of the World's Cities report contains a dire warning for American cities: racial divisions and social inequities are at alarming levels.
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
