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On International Day of Forests, a Look at How Trees Help Make Cities Healthier
On International Day of Forests, a Look at How Trees Help Make Cities Healthier
While the words “forests” and “cities” don’t traditionally go hand in hand, urban forestry has started to bridge that gap. While some cities have minimal tree cover due to inadequate soil or a lack of space, others are nearly half ...
Friday Fun: Crowdsourcing Apps Help Planners “Tame” Chaotic Bus Systems
Friday Fun: Crowdsourcing Apps Help Planners “Tame” Chaotic Bus Systems
Cities across the world are harnessing the power of technology to connect directly with citizens about pressing issues, from infrastructure planning to questions about how to spend their budgets. Now, transportation planners are getting in on the game in order ...
DC’s Metro Closure Shows Why Creating Trust in Public Transit Matters
DC’s Metro Closure Shows Why Creating Trust in Public Transit Matters
Washington, D.C., one of the most powerful cities on Earth, has been thrown off-stride by a transit crisis. Starting March 16, the U.S. capital’s Metro system, which serves more than 710,000 passengers daily, closed down for 29 hours for emergency power ...
Three Stories of How the Internet of Everything Is Changing Transport
Three Stories of How the Internet of Everything Is Changing Transport
With the arrival of new and powerful technologies, and the declining costs of these technologies, some new possibilities are emerging for cities and their transport systems. For example, the Internet of Everything (IoE) can benefit cities by connecting people, processes, ...
Improving Street Lighting Can Be an Easy Win for Cities. Here’s Why National Governments Are Critical
Improving Street Lighting Can Be an Easy Win for Cities. Here’s Why National Governments Are Critical
Lighting represents about 15 percent of global power consumption and 5 percent of worldwide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Street lighting alone represents about 3 percent of world electricity consumption. Extensive programs that replace obsolete street lighting systems—incandescent, mercury vapor, and ...
Friday Fun: Three Museums That Engage Visitors to Think about the Future of Cities
Friday Fun: Three Museums That Engage Visitors to Think about the Future of Cities
It’s not often that you encounter museums dedicated to urban planning and development. But they do exist, and they are presenting panoramas of urban areas, both historically and spatially. While many museums have traditionally focused on presenting valuable objects and ...
Public Space in Cities – What’s the Measuring Stick?
Public Space in Cities – What’s the Measuring Stick?
The famed American landscape architect and Central Park designer Fredrick Law Olmsted said that parks are the “lungs of the city.” However, many cities around the world—from growing Addis Ababa to sprawling Mumbai and dense Sao Paulo—currently lack adequate public ...
4 Priorities for a Conversation around Habitat III
4 Priorities for a Conversation around Habitat III
Habitat III in Quito Ecuador this October will be an opportunity to galvanize local leaders to forge strategies for sustainable, equitable and resilient urban growth. But the stakes are high, and the conversation among policymakers and local leaders is still ...
How Can Africa Deliver on Its Ambitious Vision for Habitat III?
How Can Africa Deliver on Its Ambitious Vision for Habitat III?
From February 24 – 26, 2016 African ministers and stakeholder representatives from numerous civil society organizations gathered in Abuja, Nigeria to discuss African priorities for Habitat III, the U. N.’s 20-year urbanization conference that takes place in October. At the end ...
Friday Fun: New Bike Infrastructure Projects from Hong Kong, Germany and Kuala Lumpur
Friday Fun: New Bike Infrastructure Projects from Hong Kong, Germany and Kuala Lumpur
The benefits of cycling—both for cities and people—are well known. For individuals, cycling can be an efficient, safe and cheap form of mobility as well as a good source of physical activity, helping to reduce obesity and other health risks. ...
In China and Beyond, Action Plans Provide a Path for Improving Building Efficiency
In China and Beyond, Action Plans Provide a Path for Improving Building Efficiency
On February 23 the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) launched the Energy Efficiency in Buildings laboratory (EEB Lab) in Shanghai. In a city where 18.4 percent of emissions come from buildings, the EEB Lab is engaging local stakeholders ...
TransMilenio BRT in Bogotá, Colombia. Photo by Mariana Gil/EMBARQ Brazil.
New Research Shows How BRT Ridership Is Making Bogota a Healthier City
Physical inactivity is one of the ten leading risk factors for death worldwide. Approximately 5.3 million people die prematurely every year due to cardiovascular diseases, breast and colon cancer and diabetes and other illnesses associated with sedentary lifestyles. According to The ...
New Data Shows São Paulo's Carfree Movement Reduces Air and Noise Pollution
New Data Shows São Paulo's Carfree Movement Reduces Air and Noise Pollution
Major changes in thinking never happen easily. Projects that change established structures and routines typically encounter significant resistance along the way. Changing entrenched thinking, therefore, often requires finding ways to demonstrate the positive impacts of change. Paulista Aberta is one ...
Targeting Customers’ Needs to Improve Building Efficiency in Milwaukee
Targeting Customers’ Needs to Improve Building Efficiency in Milwaukee
For some building owners, renovations—including retrofitting heating, cooling, and lighting systems—can be a way to attract tenants. For homeowners, improving insulation can make for more comfortable as well as energy efficient homes. For industry, more efficient equipment means expanding production ...
4 Keys to Unlock Innovative Urban Services for All
4 Keys to Unlock Innovative Urban Services for All
With rising air pollution to costly traffic congestion and increasingly burdened public finances, cities need to transition onto a sustainable path towards healthy, productive and equitable urban communities. To thrive in the coming urban century, cities will need to innovate ...
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