What’s your city’s personality? No two cities are exactly the same, but some enjoy distinct looks that makes them unmistakable. Think of Parisian balconies with cast-iron banisters, chimneyed townhouses lining the streets of London, or the water towers and fire escapes of New York. Small quirks like these can add up to make a city instantly familiar to anyone in the world. With this in mind, researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have created a software program to determine exactly which features give certain cities their unique architectural character. Using everyone’s favorite vicarious vacation dream machine, Google Street View, the researchers developed an algorithm that detects elements, such as a window, column or balcony, that are both distinct and occur with regularity inside a city. As explained in an accompanying video, this disqualifies singular landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower, whose iron angles are distinct but don’t occur anywhere else in Paris.
Postcards from the Future - An FP Slide Show. Welcome to the era of the megacity. More than half the global population now lives in urban areas, and there's no going back to the farm. With China leading the way, today's global cities are surging ahead in population and economic heft, powering the world economy -- and posing some very difficult problems for governments. But it's not all about the Beijings, the New Yorks, and Tokyos. Drawn from the McKinsey Global Institute 's index of the world's 75 Most Dynamic Cities , some of these up-and-coming commercial hubs -- including Belo Horizonte, Fuzhou, and even Philadelphia -- may surprise you. 1. Since being pried open by the British during the First Opium War, Shanghai has served as China's window to the world. Above, a view from the waterfront Bund provides a general view of the Huangpu River and the Lujiazui financial district in Pudong New Area on Dec. 22, 2010, in Shanghai, China.
China Photos/Getty Images. Want To Make A Creative City? Build Out, Not Up. Copyright © 2012 NPR. For personal, noncommercial use only. See Terms of Use. For other uses, prior permission required. Urban density spurs innovation. But it turns out that some kinds of density are better than others. RICHARD FLORIDA: It's great to be with you, Neal. CONAN: And let's go on a little bit more about that New York-Shanghai comparison. FLORIDA: Well, I think I wanted to write the piece because there's so much of a rush to density. So the point was to try to - the piece was to try to point out that density, of course, matters. CONAN: And a lot of people might ask, how are you measuring innovation and creativity? FLORIDA: Well, most people measure innovation typically by looking at rates of patenting.
CONAN: Is there a difference in expense as well? FLORIDA: Well, I don't get into this in the piece, but I do know enough people who know more than I do about real estate, and they tell you that new construction is typically more expensive. CONAN: And how do you plan for that? Green plants reduce city street pollution up to eight times more than previously believed. Trees, bushes and other greenery growing in the concrete-and-glass canyons of cities can reduce levels of two of the most worrisome air pollutants by eight times more than previously believed, a new study has found. A report on the research appears in the ACS journal Environmental Science & Technology. Thomas Pugh and colleagues explain that concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and microscopic particulate matter (PM) -- both of which can be harmful to human health -- exceed safe levels on the streets of many cities. Past research suggested that trees and other green plants can improve urban air quality by removing those pollutants from the air.
However, the improvement seemed to be small, a reduction of less than 5 percent. The new study sought a better understanding of the effects of green plants in the sometimes stagnant air of city streets, which the authors term "urban street canyons. " Christine Rosen: The Machine And The Ghost. Moralizing Technology: Understanding and Designing the Morality of Things By Peter-Paul Verbeek (University of Chicago Press, 183 pp., $25) JUST WEST OF SEOUL, on a man-made island in the Yellow Sea, a city is rising.
Slated for completion by 2015, Songdo has been meticulously planned by engineers and architects and lavishly financed by money from the American real estate company Gale International and the investment bank Morgan Stanley. According to the head of Cisco Systems, which has partnered with Gale International to supply the telecommunications infrastructure, Songdo will “run on information.” It will be the world’s first “smart city.” The city of Songdo claims intelligence not from its inhabitants, but from the millions of wireless sensors and microcomputers embedded in surfaces and objects throughout the metropolis. The unstated but evident goal of these new urban planners is to run the complicated infrastructure of a city with as little human intervention as possible.
"Dramatic" New Maya Temple Found, Covered With Giant Faces. Some 1,600 years ago, the Temple of the Night Sun was a blood-red beacon visible for miles and adorned with giant masks of the Maya sun god as a shark, blood drinker, and jaguar. Long since lost to the Guatemalan jungle, the temple is finally showing its faces to archaeologists, and revealing new clues about the rivalrous kingdoms of the Maya. Unlike the relatively centralized Aztec and Inca empires, the Maya civilization—which spanned much of what are now Guatemala, Belize, and Mexico's Yucatán region (Maya map)—was a loose aggregation of city-states. (Read about the rise and fall of the Maya in National Geographic magazine.)
"This has been a growing awareness to us since the 1990s, when it became clear that a few kingdoms were more important than others," said Brown University archaeologist Stephen Houston, who announced the discovery of the new temple Thursday. El Zotz, in what's now Guatemala, was one of the smaller kingdoms, but one apparently bent on making a big impression. PHOTOS: Plant Tomatoes. Harvest Lower Crime Rates. I suppose the easy thing to do would be to rail against food deserts, the dearth of fresh produce and other healthy foods for those living in impoverished neighborhoods. Or to enter the debate over whether there are, in fact, food deserts. (A couple of recent studies have suggested that proximity to decent grocery stores isn't the key problem of inner-city nutrition.)
But considering Emily Schiffer's photos, I was reminded of Mother Teresa's visit to a housing project on Chicago's West Side in the mid-1980s. What rattled her was not the poverty of the pocketbook. Looking at Schiffer's photos and talking with people involved in urban farming, I've come to realize that their efforts have less to do with providing healthy food than they do with a reclamation of sorts, taking ownership of their community and their daily lives. On Chicago's South Side, corner stores are filled with processed food, and vacant lots are filled with weeds. In Rooftop Farming, New York City Emerges as a Leader. Today, she could have had both. New York City (the stores!) Is suddenly a farming kind of town (the chores!). Almost a decade after the last family farm within the city’s boundaries closed, basil and bok choy are growing in Brooklyn, and tomatoes, leeks and cucumbers in Queens.
Commercial agriculture is bound for the South Bronx, where the city recently solicited proposals for what would be the largest rooftop farm in the United States, and possibly the world. Fed by the interest in locally grown produce, the new farm operations in New York are selling greens and other vegetables by the boxful to organically inclined residents, and by the bushel to supermarket chains like Whole Foods. The main difference between this century and previous ones is location: whether soil-based or hydroponic, in which vegetables are grown in water rather than soil, the new farms are spreading on rooftops, perhaps the last slice of untapped real estate in the city.
Mr. “But in New York City,” Mr. Amanda M. Onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/acrp/acrp_syn_025.pdf. Secondary Airports, Losing Traffic, Have Space to Rent. McAllen Walmart Turned Into Public Library. Will Wal-Mart eat L.A.? - Consumerism. How many Wal-Marts could fit in Los Angeles County? The Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy (LAANE) thinks the answer is hundreds.
Alarmed by the retail giant’s plan to build a store in L.A.’s historic Chinatown and another in Panorama City, the advocacy group created a stunning (and wildly exaggerated) graphic, depicting “the Walmartization of Los Angeles.” It envisions the city overrun by 210 Wal-Mart stores, with a yellow sad-face icon representing each would-be location. That figure, representing 21 percent of the L.A. grocery store market, was derived from a 2011 report stating that Wal-Mart owns 21 percent of the grocery stores in rural and suburban America. “The fact that any national market share we currently enjoy took five decades to achieve is somehow lost on them,” Wal-Mart’s senior director of community affairs Steven V. How the Growth Machine Ate Florida. John DeGrove was the father of land use planning in Florida and the principal architect of the state land use agency, the Florida Department of Community Affairs.
The agency was established in 1985 to oversee compliance with the Growth Management Act. Most Floridians are unlikely to know either what the Department of Community Affairs did or what its disappearance means. Fewer still understand the challenges to design and implement a regulatory framework for rationale growth and development in one of the nation’s fastest growing states, or, how DCA and DeGrove’s mission was a target of anti-government, pro-property rights zealots from the first.
Why this matters is simple. Presupposing the failure of government regulatory authority virtually guarantees it will happen. The notion that government cannot do anything that private industry can do better, cheaper, and faster including protecting public safety, health and welfare has spread its toxic roots far and wide.
The St. Ayutthaya 3.0: Bold take on flood-defense would restore "Venice of the East" to former glory. Shma's bold "water city" concept is a reimagining of the medieval Thai city of Ayutthaya, that rethinks flood defenses for the 21st century by drawing inspiration from the past. It's a concept, yes, but one worthy of a second look, given that this is a uniquely Thai response to the catastrophic flooding that hit the country last year. Gizmag takes a moment to set Shma's scheme in its proper context: that of the very recent past, as well as that of Ayutthaya's heyday as one of Asia's, if not the world's, foremost cities.
View all The flood The 2011 monsoon season hit Thailand with catastrophic flooding that cost 815 lives and affected millions of others. A US Navy Sea Hawk helicopter assesses the damage outside Bangkok during the 2011 floods Responses to flooding tend to fit one of two philosophies. Reisdents of Ayutthaya put inner tubes to good use during the 2011 flooding (Photo: Daniel Julie) Longer-term measures announced have proved more controversial.
A call to arms Ayutthayas past. 10 Most Fascinating Tunnels. This unusual tunnel can be seen in California's Sequoia National Park. The drive is cut through the tree trunk of a Sequoia which fell in 1937. Instead of removing it from the road, the park administration decided to cut a tunnel in it. It's 5.18 m. (17 ft.) wide and 2.44 m. (8 ft.) high. Prairie Lights is Texas's premier holiday drive-through park, featuring more than 4 million lights along the shores of beautiful Lynn Creek Park on Joe Pool Lake in Grand Prairie. Visitors are amazed by the world's longest light tunnel and the Holiday Village out-of-car experiences. This beautiful train tree tunnel is located in Kleven, Ukraine. It's called the Tunnel of Love. Photo by Oleg Gordienko, original caption by the photographer is Green Mile.
Road Through Rock Formation, Red Rock Canyon, Utah, USA. This has to be one of the most surreal, psychedelic and fun forms of public transport. Imagine having this cool public market pop up in your town? Unusual tunnel for runoff or rock slides. Stop thinking big - Dream City. Last week, a press release from Chicago’s Office of the Mayor proclaimed something that would have sounded like a Yes Men prank just a few years ago: Rahm Emanuel, it said, has a plan to get rid of the city’s “excess asphalt.”
It wasn’t a proposal for a big new park or recreational facility, but a plan to take little bits of public space here and there — streets, parking spots, alleyways — and turn them into places for people. It was the latest example of a municipal government taking an active role in tactical urbanism, that low-cost, low-commitment, incremental approach to city building — the “let’s not build a stadium” strategy. For a long time, tactical urbanism was associated with guerrilla gardeners and fly-by-night pop-up parks, whereas large-scale “city planning” was seen as the job of bureaucrats with blueprints.
In a way, thinking small is the next logical step in America’s urban renaissance. Its easy to see why penny-pinching local governments would want to get in on this. The Center for Land Use Interpretation. The Center’s exhibit space and offices in Los Angeles offers exhibits, lectures, and other resources for the public. A small bookstore stocks CLUI publications, and titles of special interest from other publishers. Currently on view: SOLAR BOOM: SUN-POWERED ELECTRICAL PLANTS IN THE USAWhile visiting the CLUI in Los Angeles, check out: POINTS OF INTEREST IN CULVER CITY Open 12 to 5 PM Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, and by appointment.Closed Christmas Day, and New Years Day.
A City Confronts Its Image - Slide Show. LA’s original subway | Gelatobaby. Update 3/15: According to Metro 417 the tunnels are now condemned and no longer available for touring of any kind—please do not contact them. By now almost everyone knows (I hope!) That LA has a subway system. But did you know that this is not the first subway that LA has ever had? Behold the Subway Terminal Building, hidden in plain sight in the middle of downtown LA, where at one point during the 1940′s over 65,000 riders were shuffling down into the depths of Los Angeles to board a train which traveled beneath the busy streets.
And, fittingly, it’s just a block from where you might board the Red Line subway today. The Subway Terminal Building was built in 1925 by Leonard Schultze and S. Fullerton Weaver, the same architects who designed the Biltmore Hotel a block away, the Jonathan Club on 5th and Figueroa, and the Waldorf Astoria in New York City. Look familiar? Even up here, you could see little hints of the subway station below. And with that, we headed downstairs. And more signage. America's great divergence - American History. Dallas Urban Lab. WALKABLE Dallas-Fort Worth. Urban entertainment districts: Blocks where no one has fun. What Remains of Treece - Slide Show. Forgotten in the Past: Nikulino Mine.
The Ghost Station Volokolamskaya. Ghost Town Of The Moscow Region. Rust Belt chic: Declining Midwest cities make a comeback - Dream City. Detroitism. Locations of Bike-Share Stations Unveiled by City. Science fiction no more: The perfect city is under construction - Dream City. Will that Starbucks last? - Dream City. Explore the Walkability of 2,500 Cities in the United States on Walk Score. Why Don't Conservative Cities Walk? Star Garden. Rapid Construction Techniques Transform Infrastructure Repair. IKEA breaks ground on its Utopian village within London. The U.S. Government’s Top-Secret Town. Welcome to Ikea-land: Furniture giant begins urban planning project. Bold Solutions Make Real Cities More Efficient [Interactive]
Life In an Abandoned Packard Plant - Arts & Lifestyle. A Single Day On the Moscow Subway, in 2 Minutes - Arts & Lifestyle. Subway Platforms From Around the World - Design. Wild Design of the Day: A Skyscraper Prison to Rehabilitate Jersey City's Convicts - Design. The impending urban water crisis - Dream City. Hollywood’s Small-Town Charm Meets Mini-City Planning - Slide Show.
Renovated Tour Bois-le-Prêtre Brightens Paris Skyline. When a Parking Lot Is So Much More. At Prospect Park, Change Is Behind Schedule. Visiting the High Line: An Amazing New Park Opens in Manhattan. Watch Sprawl From Las Vegas Consume The Desert. Secret City: The Illegal Architecture of Tawian. Urban Ghosts Media | Urban Exploration & Abandoned Places, Urban Art & Urban Legend.
18.6 Million Empty Houses in America. On the edge of reality. Arcosanti : Home. Walmart threatens the town R.E.M. made famous - Dream City. Student scheme to protect Future-Manhattan from rising sea levels. Urban Planning for the Future circa. 1925. Dead weight losses: Why not build? The World's Biggest Buildings. BNKR Arquitectura.