Tag: cities

Can Engineers Build Inclusive Smart Cities?

“In urban planning, there is a well-established notion of “wicked problems” — they aren’t unsolvable because of technical limits or a lack of data. They aren’t solvable because they are so big, and complex, and wracked with political conflicts that stakeholders can’t even agree what success looks like or how to measure it.” – Can Engineers Build… Continue reading Can Engineers Build Inclusive Smart Cities?

Soviet squares: how public space is disappearing in post-communist cities

“Oleksandr Burlaka claims that the most valuable feature of communist urban spaces lies in their “spatial freedom”, which is “sometimes naive, but a clear urban logic without over-regulation”. As an example, he singles out the Rusanivka district in Kiev, where standard prefab towers of the 1970s are integrated with canals and embankments. Although the built-in… Continue reading Soviet squares: how public space is disappearing in post-communist cities

Right to the city: can this growing social movement win over city officials?

“Puvendra Akkiah, a planner for the city of Durban. “There are no viable public spaces without communities, and no viable communities without public space: public space is a generator of democratic cities.”” – Right to the city: can this growing social movement win over city officials?

Five Cities That Are Leading the Way in Urban Innovation

“The idea of pink zones has been rumbling around planning circles for a few years. In the U.K., where it is called pink planning, it mainly aims to remove obstacles to new residential developments. It is part of a larger effort called “lean urbanism” that aims to reduce the regulatory tangle that can hinder new… Continue reading Five Cities That Are Leading the Way in Urban Innovation

Cities are the New Nations

“give the example of Kansas and Missouri fighting for state taxes when instead they should become a joint agro-business powerhouse. I talk about Kentucky and Tennessee fighting about low-wage automobile plants when they should become an advanced manufacturing powerhouse. Only by aggregating on a functional scale are we going to get these regions of America… Continue reading Cities are the New Nations

Transport maps in big cities baffle human brain, says study

“Mason Porter, professor of nonlinear and complex systems at the University of Oxford, said: “We know that there is empirical evidence for some cognitive limit – how many digits people can memorise from phone numbers, or how many moving objects.” Now, he added: “Cities and their transportation networks have grown to the point where they… Continue reading Transport maps in big cities baffle human brain, says study

How to build a fairer city

“The global obsession of our age is competing everywhere with everyone for everything. In the mainstream imaginary, every city has to chase competitive success in a league table where it secures prosperity by getting ahead of others. Our premise is that competition is the wrong kind of imaginary; that we are trapped by an idea… Continue reading How to build a fairer city