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
Tag: infrastructure
Mapping out the future of Railways in Africa
When reading (and also ordering) the map on the future of railways in SEA (see also Mapping out the future of railways in Southeast Asia ) made by James Clark, I was keen to do something similar for Africa. With the rise of Chinese Investments in Africa, more projects which seemed to be once very visionary have … Continue reading Mapping out the future of Railways in Africa
Abolish minimum parking space requirements to create walkable cities
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
Share of responsibility in railway operations
Today, the Swiss newspaper Sonntagszeitung published an Article on profitability of railway routes within Switzerland. The article was published in the environment of growing discussions if the Swiss intercity railway transport should be opened up to additional players (BLS and SOB). The main questions in the article was which railway lines are profitable and which … Continue reading Share of responsibility in railway operations
Spacial limits of alternative transport systems in urban areas
CityMetric pointed in a recent article on Elon Musk's vision for autonomous driving towards an interesting point regarding spacial limits: Musk's vision that everybody will not be moving anymore with public transport but with autonomous cars that offer point-to-point travel is somewhat flawed. The limits are or geometrical nature due to the limit in capacity … Continue reading Spacial limits of alternative transport systems in urban areas
Developing transport in post-war regions
Over the holidays I read this article in German about the development in transition regions after conflicts. Three aspects are in my opinion critical about that: Urbanization, resource consumption and respective migrant movements will have a significant impact in the future way of living The potential to start and support social healing through common projects … Continue reading Developing transport in post-war regions
Why small transport projects might be much more important than large infrastructure investment
In Switzerland, planners estimate that there will be a transport capacity shortage in the mid/long term. This is why, alternative modes of transport are analyzed such as the Cargo Sous Terrain (-> see project page). Today, the federal council announced in this article that they will adapt the regulation so that a project such as … Continue reading Why small transport projects might be much more important than large infrastructure investment
Major Chinese Interests in Railways in Africa
Over the last 10 years, we can observe a growing interest of Chinese railway companies in Africa. Given a potential shift in US policy, I would expect that even more opportunities can be tapped by Chinese exporters. Currently there are 3 fields they are interested in: Railway lines which facilitate access to resource deposits or … Continue reading Major Chinese Interests in Railways in Africa
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