After making mostly critical comments on the reports published by consulting companies, I have also to point out truly good articles. One of those is certainly the recent McKinsey article on Smart Cities in South East Asia. What we generally understand nowadays as a smart city is a connected city, where monitoring allows dynamic adapting … Continue reading What makes a smart city smart
The Economist published today another article about the success of the cable car in Latin America where they explain that the following factors are key for its success: Landscape of the cities (hilly) Fast construction time (the mayors can cut the ribbons within their legislative) Little displacement of people Positive development effects in the respective … Continue reading The success of the cable car in Latin America
Every time I visit Paris I am positively surprised that even though the city center has undergone countless transformations over time, it still kept its human scale. In the past, many architects and city planners have, as for most other cities or urban developments, proposed radical changes to Paris. From brutalist architecture to garden cities … Continue reading Cities that never have been built – sometimes for the better
Last week, a Swiss Think Tank published this interview about the development in trade in a city. I want to utilize this as a good example of the challenges and common misconception that we face when thinking about the future urban area. First of all, it follows the concept of ceteris paribus (other things equal). … Continue reading A common misconception of the city
Since all stakeholders seek the utmost flexibility when planning a town, it is not surprising that government regulations are perceived as blockage for innovation and development. However, the recent - and ongoing - events in Texas demonstrate once more the value of forward looking government regulations to limit loss of life, economic and environmental exposure. … Continue reading The effects of natural disasters on urban sprawl
I just watched this TED talk again and had to reconsider what possible impacts of driverless cars are on the city of the future. Hope it also encourages you to think beyond the next 5 years, from the perspective of the city as a living organism. https://embed.ted.com/talks/wanis_kabbaj_what_a_driverless_world_could_look_like
Over the weekend I saw a fascinating TED talk about the usage of glass in modern cities. Justing Davidson elaborates what he thinks is the effect of glass as a main fassade building material used in urban areas nowadays. He points out that other materials, from stone, brick walls, up to copper have strong advantages … Continue reading The effect on overusage of glass on cities
I just red this interesting article about marginalized communities in the mega cities of the futures. While the article shows stunning visualizations prepared by Olalekan Jeyifous, he also points towards an issue that is often overlooked: In urban planning, the focus usually is on industry and high quality/high wealth residential areas - other aspects of … Continue reading Envisioning the shanty town of the future
In a recent article by the Economist , the authors put a focus on what is potentially a major design and policy flaw in current cities in the western hemisphere, and at some point also at other places. As a kid, visiting various US cities, I was always surprised to not experience what I know … Continue reading Abolish minimum parking space requirements to create walkable cities
When we talk about urban transport systems and in its extent about urban planning, we usually discuss about utilities, pphpds, density, living spaces etc. However, one aspect we often neglect due to its nature is architecture. Architecture can, but not necessarily need to, play a crucial role in the success or failure of an urban … Continue reading The role of architecture in urban planning
mobilistics 