Posts tagged with 'public space'
History shows that when disasters and crises strike, cities often bounce back stronger and more resilient than before. The great Chicago fire famously gave rise to skyscrapers. Infectious disease outbreaks led to public health policies and modern sanitation. The devastation of World War II catalyzed unprecedented ...
I recently had the pleasure of re-visiting Curitiba, Brazil, thanks to an invitation from the Smart Cities Expo. I made my first pilgrimage in 2000, when Bogotá was implementing its bus rapid transit system, Transmilenio, and returned twice after that. ...
China is experiencing the largest city-ward movement of people in human history. 700 million people have moved to the nation’s cities since the beginning of economic reforms in 1978. In that same time, the urbanization rate rose from less than a fifth to close ...
Jaime Lerner passed away on May 27, 2021. A world-renowned Brazilian urbanist, he was three times mayor of Curitiba and two times governor of the southern state of Paraná. Besides his great ideas, he was a very kind person and ...
During Caroline Owala’s childhood, flooding during rainstorms was a normal occurrence. “When it rained, it would be very difficult for us to even sleep because the flooding would get into the houses,” she told WRI. Caroline grew up in Kibera, ...
As the COVID-19 pandemic has altered urban landscapes and pushed many people toward active mobility, there’s increased urgency to make roads safer for walking and cycling. Many cities are now tasked with protecting more vulnerable users in addition to creating ...
Monterrey, like other major Mexican cities, rapidly expanded outward during the end of the 20th century. New policies favored investment in new suburban neighborhoods, attracting residents and businesses to the periphery, and provoking several decades of insecurity and population decline. ...
In 2020 and into 2021, transportation agencies, companies and advocacy groups acted swiftly in the face of the unique public health crisis and disruption caused by COVID-19. They provided solutions that kept frontline workers, groceries, health services and other critical ...
In response to the massive challenges confronting cities around the world, more city planners have begun to experiment with quick, high-impact urban design solutions. From pop-up bike lanes and parklets, to sidewalk extensions, to tactical urbanism safety interventions, many cities ...
Plummeting bus and train ridership, lost jobs, overflowing warehouses, more inequality: 2020’s disruptions to the transport sector were widespread and deep. Speaking at Transforming Transportation 2021, co-hosted by WRI and the World Bank, sustainable mobility leaders from around the world ...
EDITOR’S NOTE: Sustainable Food Production for a Resilient Rosario won the 2020-2021 Prize for Cities on June 29, 2021. Learn more here. (June 29, 2021) City life can be deeply unfair. This was true before the COVID-19 pandemic exposed just how ...
Just before she took office in January 2020, Mayor Claudia López committed to redesigning a major artery of Bogotá into a “green corridor” for sustainable, active mobility. She also committed to a comprehensive participatory planning process – a potentially daunting ...
COVID-19 has brought many lessons for urban planners, illuminating existing inequalities and flaws as well as introducing new challenges. One such lesson, as people seek open space and tranquility in tumultuous times, is that parks and natural areas are crucial ...
Children are often under-prioritized or even disregarded in urban planning and design. It’s estimated that up to 500 children die daily in road crashes around the world; thousands more incur injuries and psychological trauma from collisions with vehicles that can ...
When was the last time you walked through the market without being conscious about other people walking close to you or the last time you took a stroll to a neighborhood park without thinking about the hygiene around? The COVID-19 ...
