June 11 2013
June 11th, 2013Posted by Aascot Holt
Dan Solomon, Mithun | Solomon Dan Solomon, CNU co-founder, author, and Principal at Mithun | Solomon, opened the session by saying that in the context of new urbanism concepts being introduced to developing countries, “We can’t exactly declare victory, but we’ve made our presence strong.” Overall, he explained the urban planning struggles in China. He [...]
June 05 2013
June 5th, 2013Posted by Sophie Plottel
Shanghai’s economy is rapidly growing, but the city itself may be sinking. Reports of cracks in the sidewalks and streets in recent years have left residents and city officials worried about the future of such a dense city. Shanghai has apparently sunk more than 2 metres in the last 15 years and continues to sink [...]
June 01 2013
June 1st, 2013Posted by Aascot Holt
The Charter Awards are annual awards given to projects submitted by students and professionals by the Congress for the New Urbanism at the annual Congress. A group of carefully chosen individuals sit on a jury and decide which projects to honor. This year’s jury chair was Doug Farr, CNU-A, President and Founding Principal at Farr [...]
June 01 2013
June 1st, 2013Posted by Aascot Holt
Jon Dauphine, Senior Vice President of Education and Outreach for AARP, said that in 2007, there were 37 million people in the U.S. over the age of 65. In 2030, that number is expected to boom to 72 million. That’s more than 1.5 million per year. In a recent survey, Dauphine explained, 68% of seniors [...]
June 01 2013
June 1st, 2013Posted by Aascot Holt
Susan Mudd, who has attended 20 out of the 21 Congress for the New Urbanism annual congresses and is John Norquist’s wife, explained to me that the reason why CNU has chosen to call their annual gatherings ‘congresses’ rather than ‘conferences’ is due to the serious debates that take place each year. After attending the [...]
May 31 2013
May 31st, 2013Posted by Aascot Holt
Founding principal at Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company and Congress for the New Urbanism cofounder, Andrés Duany, discussed the post-recession future of new urbanism. His major theme was “Lean Urbanism,” or a harmony between “green” building (though not necessarily LEED certified as he often joked), sustainability, and economic efficiency. He envisioned a future that chose to [...]
May 28 2013
May 28th, 2013Posted by Finbar Gillen
Climate change has now become the problem the world cannot ignore. Addressing future global warming, and adapting to it now, will require making fundamental changes to the way we live. How we produce, distribute and use energy is key to this. Decentralised energy allows the financial costs and energy losses associated with the long-distance national [...]
May 24 2013
May 24th, 2013Posted by Geoff Bliss
The Month of May in Cincinnati celebrates cyclists & cycling in all forms – ushering in hundreds of events hosted by local bicycling advocates including the City of Cincinnati, Queen City Bike, Mobo Bicycle Coop and many other bike friendly businesses such as Park + Vine. This year, wheels are spinning, and gears are shifting [...]
May 23 2013
May 23rd, 2013Posted by Renée van Staveren
Global Site Plans, branding for environmental design, specializes in branding for small and medium-sized architecture, engineering, environmental non-profits, landscape architecture, and urban planning companies. Global Site Plans’ expertise lays in environmental design sector website design, branding, internet marketing, social media, social marketing, and content services, for all your online and print media needs. Every weekday [...]
May 15 2013
May 15th, 2013Posted by Aascot Holt
This post summarizes the CNU21 Preview Podcast, “Thinking Globally, Building Locally.” CNU21 is this year’s annual Congress for the New Urbanism conference and will be held at the Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City, Utah May 29th through June 1st, 2013. For this podcast preview, John Norquist, the current President of the Congress for [...]
May 14 2013
May 14th, 2013Posted by Finbar Gillen
Global energy demand continues to grow and tidal wave energy generation devices can provide a significant source of renewable energy. Technological developments in offshore engineering, and the rising cost of traditional energy, means that offshore energy resources will be economic in the next few years. Tidal wave energy is a form of hydropower that converts the energy [...]
May 14 2013
May 14th, 2013Posted by Devon Paige Willis
In December 2011, a former Grid blogger, Yosef Robinson, wrote a piece about the reconstruction of the Turcot Interchange, a major highway junction in Montreal, Canada. The original proposal came about as the aging infrastructure was beginning to crumble. The project faced fierce opposition, as it planned to widen the interchange (going against everything we [...]
May 10 2013
May 10th, 2013Posted by Geoff Bliss
American Legacy Tours – located at 1218 Vine Street in Cincinnati’s historic Over the Rhine (OTR) – has continued to gain popularity, media attention and distinction since their opening in 2008. The company, founded by a small group of friends, offers a diverse range of engaging walking tours through Cincinnati Heritage, legend and folklore. These [...]
May 01 2013
May 1st, 2013Posted by Steven Chang
After nearly 40 years of discussion and planning, the connection between BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) and the Oakland Airport is finally nearing completion. Like most transportation infrastructure projects (especially those in the Bay Area) this 3.2-mile, $484.1 million connector faced numerous obstacles, delays, and controversy even after construction broke ground in October 2011. Those [...]
April 30 2013
April 30th, 2013Posted by Finbar Gillen
The amount of wind power in the world is increasing quickly. The background for this development is improved technology, decreased costs for the units, and increased concern regarding environmental problems of competing technologies such as fossil fuels. The amount of wind power is not spread equally over the world, so in some areas, there is [...]
April 17 2013
April 17th, 2013Posted by Steven Chang
In 1989, the Loma Prieta Earthquake shook the Bay Area at a 6.9 magnitude, breaking a segment of the East Bay Span of the Bay Bridge. Further analysis revealed extensive damage along the 75-year old bridge, and a recommendation was made to build a new East Bay Span. However, East Bay residents didn’t want just [...]
April 16 2013
April 16th, 2013Posted by Finbar Gillen
In the neighbourhood “Polderwijk“ of Zeewolde, The Netherlands, more than a thousand homes, schools and a churches are sustainably heated with green heating that is produced with the production of electricity from biogas. The project is a partnership between the municipality, a local energy company (Essent) and a farm (Van Beek) located 5 km from [...]
April 14 2013
April 14th, 2013Posted by Renée van Staveren
Do you have a unique specialty in the field of environmental design? Do you currently live in a town or city that has not/or is currently not being covered by another blogger? Have you successfully managed social media platforms? Do you have a passion for writing and want to learn how to successfully blog? If [...]
April 12 2013
April 12th, 2013Posted by Meg Mulhall
I recently explored the bike-friendly status bestowed upon the University of Michigan and its town Ann Arbor by the League of American Bicyclists. A general consensus on their respective bronze and silver-level ratings is that there is room for improvement. An interesting way to look at the bike community in Ann Arbor is to consider [...]
April 12 2013
April 12th, 2013Posted by Geoff Bliss
In recent decades, public staircases have been subject to a great deal of controversy in most cities, often viewed as places which are commonly associated with dangerous illegal activities such as crime, drug use, and even violence. In Cincinnati, Ohio – these staircases can be found in various urban locations throughout the city – some [...]
