Friday Fun: Urban development in Iceland? Check with the elves first
The people of Iceland balance their respect for historical heritage and folklore with their need to grow, developing projects that preserve important cultural places. Photo by Jani Murtosuo/Flickr.
Many planning regulations and multilateral funding bodies demand that developers include a Heritage Impact Assessment as part of their Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) before approving infrastructure projects. Good developers go beyond simply completing the impact assessment and think like anthropologists, ...
Public transport and the informal sector: Competing visions of Bogotá’s future
The people in Bogota's informal sector and the city government have clashing visions of how informal commerce should play out on public transport and in public spaces. Photo by Nathan Gibbs/Flickr.
There is an entire ecosystem of informal commerce along Bogotá, Colombia’s streets. Some vendors sit at traffic signals or bus stops, waiting for a bus that’s not too full and not too empty. When they spot a good candidate, they ...
People-oriented Cities: Designing walkable, bikeable neighborhoods
Mexico City has created urban streetscapes around its Metrobús bus rapid transit (BRT) system that support safe bicycling and walking, connecting urban residents to mass transport. Photo by Alejandro Luna/Flickr.
The “People-oriented Cities” series – exclusive to TheCityFix and Insights – is an exploration of how cities can grow to become more sustainable and livable through transit-oriented development (TOD). The nine-part series will address different urban design techniques and trends ...
In photos: Take a virtual tour of Brazil’s painted streets
Painting the streets in honor of the World Cup is community tradition in cities across Brazil, and one for all ages. Photo by Dylan Passmore/Flickr.
Not in Brazil for the World Cup? No problem! Sure, you can catch the games at your favorite local sports bar, but did you know that you can experience the atmosphere of the city streets, as well? Google Street View ...
Three key themes from the Bonn climate talks
Mumbai, India and Smart Cities
Editor’s note: Two weeks ago, TheCityFix wrote about the need to include urban mobility as a core tenet of the Bonn climate talks. Cities are the arena in which the regulations formulated at Bonn, and passed at COP 21 in ...
Friday Fun: Transport yourself through the world of literature
literature, just like sustainable mobility, allows people to be transported to distant cities, or different realms. Photo by Erin Nekervis/Flickr.
Whether going to Brazil, the beach, or just the backyard this summer, National Public Radio (NPR) Books has your reading needs covered with its Book Your Trip series. This special series features book lists organized by mode of transport, because ...
The end of rush hour: Technology gives way to new commuting and mobility patterns
Work schedules outside of the traditional 9 am to 5 pm allow greater flexibility in personal mobility, and in turn decreases congestion in developing cities. Photo by Roger Schultz/Flickr.
For decades, ‘work’ meant spending an eight-hour chunk of your day in an office, industrial facility, or at school. Workers needed to physically occupy a given location in order to do their jobs. Because of this, the trips to and ...
Urbanism Hall of Fame: Jan Gehl integrates humanity into urban design
Copenhagen, Denmark, is welcoming for both pedestrians and bikers because of the people-centered urban design principles that Jan Gehl spearheaded. Photo by Justin Swan/Flickr.
This is the fourth entry in the Urbanism Hall of Fame series, exclusive to TheCityFix. This series is intended to inform people about the leading paradigms surrounding sustainable transport and urban planning and the thinkers behind them. By presenting their many ...
Mobility and mood: Does your commute make you happy?
In a new study on the connection between mood and transport, bicyclists were found to be the happiest, giving one more reason to choose sustainable mobility. Photo by Onny Carr/Flickr.
There is a complex connection between the environments we inhabit and the way we feel. For instance, urban physicists have studied how rain and wind influence walking patterns, environmental psychologists have researched how the presence of nature influences well-being, and ...
Peninsulas and public spaces: The pedestrianization of Istanbul
The pedestrianization project in the Historic Peninsula of Istanbul, Turkey, has created vibrant thoroughfares that has allowed the city to compromise between preserving culture and meeting the mobility needs of its growing populace. Photo by Gulsen Oczan/Flickr.
Istanbul, Turkey, has stood at the center of the Eastern Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire and the Ottoman Empire. It has acted as a central hub of political history and artistic creation for some 20 centuries, with remnants of the ...