Jan 5, 09
From The Book
Cities: Introduction
We live on an urban planet. For the first time in history, a majority of us live in cities. How we grow those cities, how we build neighborhoods, how we provide housing, how we choose to get around, how well we incorporate nature into the places we live - these are the challenges that will largely determine our future.
And with millions and millions of people moving every year from the countryside to the city, all of these difficulties seem even more insurmountable. Appearances, however, can be deceiving. For, along with the boom in urbanization, we're seeing a boom in urban innovation. Simply put, we're getting better at building better cities.
image from ed burtynsky
Mapping: Infrastructure and Flow
I love airline route maps. I’ve fallen asleep staring at the tangle of possible journeys so often that I sometimes confuse the capillaries I see with my eyes closed with the red paths of Northwest flights hubbed out of Detroit...
The Street as Platform
I realize now that I've been delinquent in recommending Dan Hill's truly excellent speculative essay The Street as Platform, which explores a cross-section of all the ways that urban environments have become suffused with data. It's one of maybe 25...
What if Climate Change is Not an Energy Problem?
Here's a thought I've been kicking around, and I'd like your ideas. What if, contrary to conventional wisdom, climate change is not actually primarily an energy problem, and by thinking of it as an energy problem, we risk making...
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At the close of a year that's been a tough one, I've been inspired by people around me to remember that it's often times like these – when things are at their worst – that potential for real and...
Decolonizing Architecture - Scenarios for the Transformation of Israeli Settlements
While in Brussels a few days ago, I made a beeline for the Bozar to see an exhibition with a very promising title: Decolonizing Architecture. The show was way better and more subtle than I could have imagined from a...
Need a More Efficient Flight from Dubai to San Francisco? Good News...
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We recently learned about a great solution for cyclists in Tokyo: Underground bike parking garages. This innovation answers a significant public need. According to the Earth Policy Institute, about 90 percent of people in Tokyo commute by rail, and...
A Mesmerizing Look at Global Air Travel
Via Wired, the best YouTube video since Chocolate Rain: an animated look at 24 hours of global air travel, compressed into 72 seconds. Behold: That's a heck of a lot of flying, no? More on air travel from the Worldchanging...
Could Cell Phones Enable Bike-Sharing in the Developed World?
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Is the End of Auto-cracy in Sight?
Our car-dominated transportation system may soon make more room for biking, walking, transit and trains. by Jay Walljasper One of the biggest factors undermining a commons-based society during the 20th Century was the automobile. Untold billions of dollars of public...
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