Posts tagged with 'Friday Fun'
Do you ever wish bus routes better fit where you actually want to go? New startups are changing the way routes are designed, and they could be launching a revolution in ‘smart’ bus transport. Photo by Ken Power/Flickr.
Friday Fun: The bus that goes where you go
Startups like Uber are revolutionizing personal transport in cities worldwide, providing on-demand services at a relatively low price. Can the same thing be done for bus transport? Imagine requesting a bus from your phone, and having it drop you off ...
Urban gardens, like the one pictured above in Kibera, Nairobi, allow residents to come together for healthier, happier communities. Photo by Colin Crowley/Flickr.
Friday Fun: Urban gardening builds strong, cohesive communities
CNN recently described Cape Town, South Africa as being in the midst of a “vegoultion,” with hundreds of new community gardens and urban farms popping up throughout the city in recent years. The city’s “Green Clusters” are helping to improve ...
This zebra directing traffic is not a joke. It is one of hundreds of city employees saving lives while making streets in La Paz, Bolivia friendlier for pedestrians. Photo via oneillinstituteblog.org.
Friday Fun: Dancing zebras for safer streets
The streets of La Paz, Bolivia present severe risks for pedestrians. The country’s capital faces rising demand for cars, and has inadequate traffic signs and universally accessible pedestrian infrastructure. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the traffic fatality rate ...
Public art can help shape vibrant, cohesive communities. What role does art play in your city? Photo by João Perdigão/Flickr.
Friday Fun: Public art for brighter cities
Cities in the United States can now participate in the Public Art Challenge, a new program to support innovative temporary public art projects by Bloomberg Philanthropies. The program invites U.S. cities with 30,000 or more residents to submit proposals for ...
Would you be more likely to bike if the hills in your city had bike escalators? Photo by Miljøpakken/Flickr.
Friday Fun: Uphill cycling a breeze thanks to this city's bike escalator
Do steep hills prevent you from biking? They don’t have to. The city of Trondheim, Norway, has demonstrated an original way to promote cycling: make uphill biking easy. Called the “Trampe CycloCable,” this 130-meter bike lift pushes cyclists using a ...
Would you be happier commuting on a bike path floating on London’s Thames River? Photo by Chris R/Flickr.
Friday Fun: Is the future for London’s cyclists on the river, the street, or both?
TheCityFix recently examined some of the most innovative bicycling infrastructure projects in cities worldwide, but a recent proposal for an eight-mile floating bike path on London’s River Thames might top these in originality. The “Thames Deckway” would cut through the heart of the ...
Hagia Sofia, Istanbul, Turkey. Photo by Tim Griffin/Flickr.
Friday Fun: Engaging Istanbul’s youth for a more sustainable city
A focus on sustainable development can help Istanbul preserve its rich cultural history. For example, Istanbul’s Historical Peninsula – a UNESCO World Heritage site – contains 295 pedestrianized streets that have helped to increase the vibrancy, safety, and accessibility of ...
Do you think gaming is a waste of time? You may be surprised to learn that some games can teach us about urban design and help solve real world problems. Photo by Wolfgang Staudt/Flickr.
Friday Fun: Gaming for more sustainable cities
Three billion hours per week are spent playing online games worldwide. Though the prevalence of online games has drawbacks, what if some of this time spent gaming could improve the way our cities are designed? The prevalence of games in ...
A new way to encourage pedestrians not to cross in the face of oncoming traffic: entertain them. Photo via smart/Youtube.
Friday Fun: A dancing traffic signal creates pedestrian-friendly streets in Lisbon
If your ‘Don’t Walk’ traffic signal was replaced with a dancing stick figure, would you be less likely to impatiently cross the street on a red light? At a busy intersection in Lisbon, smart switched the traditional crosswalk symbol with ...
Incredibly efficient city designs inspired by arcology could scale up mixed-use development and sustainable mobility while minimizing environmental impacts. Norman Foster rendering via Forgemind ArchiMedia/Flickr.
Friday Fun: The futuristic, sustainable cities inspired by arcology
By 2050, the world’s population is estimated to grow to 9.6 billion, with 66% living in cities. How can we accommodate urbanization while avoiding costly urban sprawl that can lead to unequal access to transport and increased greenhouse gas emissions? ...
Rapid urbanization has led to sprawl in cities worldwide, reshaping urban geographies and challenging city governments to plan for growing populations. Photo by Omar Bárcena/Flickr.
Friday Fun: Watch urban growth unfold in these amazing visualizations from cities worldwide
The NYU Stern Urbanization Project has created a number of fascinating time-lapse videos showing urban land use in different cities from the 1800s through to 2000. These videos strikingly depict the well-evidenced trend of urban growth, both in population and ...
Do you want a say in infrastructure projects in your city? Crowdfunding can allow citizens to turn creative, sustainable projects into reality. Photo by David Berkowitz/Flickr.
Friday Fun: You, too, can build a sustainable city through crowdfunding
Here at TheCityFix, we love exploring the latest, most breathtaking innovations in sustainable urban development. And for good reason! Measures like São Paulo’s citizen hackathons, Medellín’s aerial cable cars, glow-in-the-dark road markings, and Hamburg and Helsinki’s plans for car-free mobility ...
Do you enjoy your commute? Innovative bike infrastructure can make cycling a fast, fun transport option. Photo by Justin Swan/Flickr.
Friday Fun: Cycling innovations make bikeable cities worldwide
Instead of sitting in gridlock on a busy road at 8:30 am, imagine cycling safely in dedicated lanes for a quick, pleasant commute. Many cities around the world are making investments that will give residents a faster, safer cycling experience ...
Personal rapid transit could help cities reduce car use and support sustainable transport. Photo via Treehugger.com.
Friday Fun: Can personal rapid transit replace 90% of cars on the road?
Sustainable urban mobility can come from multiple sources. Personal rapid transit (PRT) combines public transport with personalized routing. Though their designs vary, PRT systems generally consist of four- to six-passenger pods that are autonomously controlled while traveling along guide-ways. Instead ...
Raahgiri is promoting sustainable, active transport in the capital of India. Photo by Raahgiri Day, New Delhi/Facebook.
Friday Fun: Delhi announces Raahgiri at the center of week-long Independence Day celebrations
Delhi’s government just announced a week of Independence Day celebrations culminating in a Raahgiri event at Chandni Chowk. Raahgiri Day first came to Delhi in July as a weekly event that closes city streets to cars to celebrate walking, biking, ...
Right Menu Icon