Spokane, WA is one of the most car-centric and sprawling cities I know. It’s also where I fell in love with cycommuting, or commuting by bicycle. Commuting or running errands by bicycle is possible without much or zero supporting infrastructure; you just need to choose your path wisely. If you know the basics of cycling [...]
On the surface, the iconic 200-year-old urban grid of New York City’s Manhattan Island towers over the surrounding hinterland. John Randel Jr., who surveyed & engineered the future of NYC urban growth from 1818-1820, used hand drawn maps that effectively mapped out today’s modern metropolis. But New York City, like all cities, also carries a [...]
The League of American Bicyclists has been working over the past ten years to “identify the DNA” of bicycle-friendly cities. The League does not simply put out a list of the most friendly cities, businesses, and universities in the nation, but provides education on the important components of that DNA they have identified. The annual [...]
After forty-eight hours in a city, you usually have an idea about whether you enjoy it, or if you just want to leave. This time frame may allow for a walk through the city’s center and, perhaps a visit to a few well-known attractions or landmarks. On a visit to Ecuador’s commercial center and principal port Guayaquil, you [...]
With increasing urban density, cities are being forced to find sustainable alternative solutions to problems of transportation in urban centers. In cities like Hong Kong, where urban density remains a major issue, creative projects have dramatically changed the urban landscape. The Mid-Levels is a residential area built on the steep slopes of Victoria Peak. It [...]
My commute to the university is not very long: I take a train, another train, and I’m as good as there. Still, almost every morning I ask my mobile app to tell me which way is the quickest. Maybe today I’ll switch at a different stop? When exactly will the next train arrive – is [...]
State, citizens and private investors have been vindicating the area of Eleonas in Athens for the last six years. The area of 9,000 square meters extends in the south-west boroughs of Peristeri, Egaleo, St. John Renti, Tavros and Athens and form the area of Eleonas. Eleonas is regarded as another “back yard” of Athens, in [...]
What is sustainability? Without using Google, that may be hard to answer, even for experts. Surely achieving something that one barely understands could prove to be evasive in success. Regardless of this, a multitude of world class cities set out to achieve the unknown. Nottingham, like many British towns, finds itself locked in the pursuit of [...]
“The more successfully a city mingles everyday diversity of uses and users in its everyday streets, the more successfully, casually (and economically) its people thereby enliven and support well-located parks that can thus give back grace and delight to their neighborhoods instead of vacuity.” ― Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities [...]
How can city streets be better used to create a sense of community and engage locals in conversations about public space? That’s the question that The Vancouver Public Space Network (VPSN), a grassroots organization focused on public space issues, sought to explore during their four week “Lunch Meet Series“ last summer. Each Thursday during July 2012 [...]
Like many cities in Latin America, Buenos Aires has many barrios so different between them that on some occasions there appear to be small cities inside a city. Acknowledging this historical fact, and in an effort to de-centralize the functions of the City Government in this divergent city, the system of comunas was established. This [...]
As Greece faces an economic recession, the country’s creditors have asked the government to move ahead with the privatization of major companies. It is believed that this process will offer the country economic sustainability. OSE, the Greek company in charge of railway transport, is one of these major companies. The solution suggested by the Greek government, [...]
In September 2012, New Yorkers were offered a first glimpse of what the Low Line will look like – New York City’s newest subterranean park, designed by co-founders James Ramsey and Dan Barish. According to the New Yorker, the exhibition, entitled “Imagining the Low Line,” on view through September 27, 2012, allowed visitors to “feel [...]
Urban planning officials in Tempe, Arizona are striving to keep pace with cyclists in town. According to a report by the League of American Bicyclists, an advocacy group that grants communities the title of Bicycle Friendly Community, the city is trailing behind neighboring Scottsdale in bicycle friendliness. Tempe is home to Arizona State University, and as a [...]
Outside of the city of Hamburg, Germany, lies a piece of land that is hard to get to via public transport, on a street which usually appears deserted. Surrounded on both sides by containers, trucks, and industrial storage spaces, it is not what you would normally call an urban, livable place. But then you look [...]
The central areas of Austin, TX continue to transform with the addition of shopping districts, new office space, condominiums, and apartments. The city’s aim is to create more compact and walkable neighborhoods/areas in order to encourage healthier and more sustainable lifestyles among its residents through reduced car and land-use. It appears that there has been [...]
Cheap labour is good, but free labour is even better. With the emergence of ever evolving social media platforms, many of the world’s industries are formulating creatively inexpensive strategies for optimal gain. However, when it comes to the tourism industry, the utilisation of platforms like Instagram and Pinterest are either non existent or tepidly innovative. [...]
Just months prior to the 2010 Winter Olympics, Vancouver authorities proudly announced the opening of “The Canada Line,” Canada’s only fixed link between a major city and its international airport. The rapid transit train, which runs primarily underground between Vancouver’s city center and the outlying suburb city of Richmond, takes only 25 minutes to move [...]
Montreal, Canada is a winter city. From November to March (and sometimes even April) the city grows cold, the days are short and it snows – sometimes a lot. Even so, in recent years cycling in winter months has increased dramatically, according to Vélo Quebec. As I write this post, it is a beautiful 6°C [...]
I live in Athens, Greece. For the last two years there has been a big increase of people traveling by bike in the city. It seems that the economic crisis, which began in 2010, has a positive effect, at least for the environment. Fuel prices, as well as the increasing cost of mass transit tickets, [...]
