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Design Readings

Watch Jeff Speck’s “The walkable city” talk at TED

How do we solve the problem of the suburbs? Urbanist Jeff Speck shows how we can free ourselves from dependence on the car by making our cities more walkable and more pleasant for more people […]

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Information Technology Trend Watching

Information Technology in Brazil: app to reports urban problems is voted best in the world

Colab, a Brazilian application that helps report urban problems, was elected on world’s best by the New Cities Foundation at an event in Sao Paulo. Other finalists included traffic BuzzJourney (Israel) and PublicStuff (United States). These apps participated prize App My City, urban award for best application in the world (those of us trying to unlock the big cities). Colab received $ 5000 in cash […]

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Information Technology Trend Watching

Information Technology in Brazil: public management collaboration app nominated for international award

A Brazillian startup took to the social networking approach to collect testimonies from residents about the precariousness of public facilities such as sidewalks and streets, in order to connect people to public management. The buzz generated around the site (which has already caught the attention of the city of Recife, hometown of the creators) led Colab to the final of the second edition of My City App, app award for best city in the world (those of us trying to unlock big cities) […]

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China Economics Trend Watching

Architecture & Urban Planning in China: dominating skyscraper construction in 2012

Nine of the 20 tallest buildings under construction in the world are located in China, according to the latest research by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat […]

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China Information Technology Trend Watching

Information Technology in China: Smart City plans for Shanghai

Can you imagine such a “smart city” life? It can become a possibility in Shanghai as early as 2015. Presently, the system to build a smart city is having a trial operation in suburban Minhang District and gradually it will cover the whole city, Shanghai city officials revealed recently […]

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Design Economics Innovation Trend Watching

Watch Eduardo Paes’ “The 4 commandments of cities” talk at TED

Eduardo Paes is the mayor of Rio de Janeiro, a sprawling, complicated, beautiful city of 6.5 million. He shares four big ideas about leading Rio — and all cities — into the future, including bold (and do-able) infrastructure upgrades and how to make a city “smarter.” […]

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China Economics Trend Watching

Architecture & Urban Planning in China: Building Desert Ghost City as Critics Warn of Bubble

Bloomberg’s Adam Johnson reports on the construction boom in Kangbashi, a city in China’s Inner Mongolia originally designed to accommodate around 1 million people that currently has about 30,000 residents […]

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Consumer Behavior Economics Trend Watching

Watch Carolyn Steel’s “How food shapes our cities” talk at TED

Every day, in a city the size of London, 30 million meals are served. But where does all the food come from? Architect Carolyn Steel discusses the daily miracle of feeding a city, and shows how ancient food routes shaped the modern world […]

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Design Economics Trend Watching

Watch James Howard Kunstler dissects suburbia at TED

In James Howard Kunstler’s view, public spaces should be inspired centers of civic life and the physical manifestation of the common good. Instead, he argues, what we have in America is a nation of places not worth caring about […]

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China Economics Trend Watching

Architecture & Urban Planning in China: BBC highlights the rise of the Asian megacities

Three decades of sustained economic growth, concentrated along the booming coast, has lured millions from the impoverished Chinese countryside. This great migration – unprecedented in human history – has put 46 Chinese cities over the one million mark since 1992, out of a national total of 102 […]