designeconomics:

Shadows on the horizon: The rise and rise of skyscrapers
Super-tall skyscrapers are popping up all over the place. A sign of growing prosperity, presumably? Far from it, says a new report. Tom Bawden discovers why prestigious high-rises tend to presage economic doom

Shadows on the horizon: The rise and rise of skyscrapers

Super-tall skyscrapers are popping up all over the place. A sign of growing prosperity, presumably? Far from it, says a new report. Tom Bawden discovers why prestigious high-rises tend to presage economic doom

The Future of the Unplanned City - airoots.org

nomada:

… City users / city makers

Out of the agents that energise and produce the natural city, the post industrial artisan, the local contractor and the hardware dealer, are key characters. The local contractor is at once businessman, community player and a possible political figure. He knows the nuts and bolts of his constantly forming environment like no one else. We see him as part of the larger story of urban based class struggle that David Harvey talks about. According to Harvey, the city is no more the site where the factory exists but is – in lieu of the factory – itself the agency of production and also the product itself. It consists of the alienated worker in the planned discourse and the relatively less alienated figure – a bit like a post-industrial artisan – the contractor, his team of workers and network of collaborators. (We are aware this is a huge departure of the narrative presented but feel that this trajectory of thought is worth following as well.)

The Wall Street Journal published a letter expressing skepticism about anthropogenic climate change signed by a group of engineers, retired weathermen, and scientists from fields other than climate science. In response, a much larger group of actual climate scientists signed onto a letter rebutting the first letter. The WSJ rejected it. Instead, the pre-eminent science journal Science, which is know for its rigor in treatments of science, published it, as "Climate change and the Integrity of Science" on January 27th, 2012.

climateadaptation:

Climate scientists slam the WSJ in this long rebuttal to a trashy editorial on climate denial. The first half of the piece are dozens of signatures, so you’l have to scroll scroll scroll to get to the red meat. But it’s well worth your time. A sampling:

(i) The planet is warming due to increased concentrations of heat-trapping gases in our atmosphere. A snowy winter in Washington does not alter this fact.

(ii) Most of the increase in the concentration of these gases over the last century is due to human activities, especially the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation.

(iii) Natural causes always play a role in changing Earth’s climate, but are now being overwhelmed by human-induced changes.

(iv) Warming the planet will cause many other climatic patterns to change at speeds unprecedented in modern times, including increasing rates of sea-level rise and alterations in the hydrologic cycle. Rising concentrations of carbon dioxide are making the oceans more acidic.

(v) The combination of these complex climate changes threatens coastal communities and cities, our food and water supplies, marine and freshwater ecosystems, forests, high mountain environments, and far more.

Check out this must read piece at ScienceBlogs

The genius of American urban planning. This was what downtown Houston, Texas once looked like.

The genius of American urban planning. This was what downtown Houston, Texas once looked like.

(Source: militantsnoozer)

Human Scale Cities - About

This is a quick selection of links curated by Manu Fernandez. It is a sketch book that I use to archive pieces, stories and articles that someday will feed my writings in Ciudades a Escala Humana and my consultancy work.

It helps me to catalogue the books I am reading (or are in the wish list), to spread the word on innovative urban actions, to bookmark relevant ideas nd graphics to support my lectures of my projects,… It´s only a selection of what I share in Twitter (the best way to find out more stuff I am sharing) and what I bookmark in Delicious.

Urban #economy, adaptive #urbanism, impact of #tech in urban life, sustainable #architecture, urban #mobility,…

Cars Kill Cities

Red Squares Indicate Land that is 100% Dedicated to Parking in Midtown Atlanta

This is a (maybe) extreme example, but it is very illustrative.I have not yet been able to find figures of urban land dedicated to parking and roads globally or a comparative review of most important cities. Hints for search/links?

(Source: yippiyeay)

co-labdesign:

Robert Moses v. Jane Jacobs; Rationalism meets advocacy planning.

Link to documentary

$smarterplanet: Real Time Farms tells you exactly where your food came from | Grist Real Time Farms is a “crowd-sourced online food guide” that tells you exactly where the meal on your plate came from. As crazy as it sounds, our vision is to collectively document the whole food system. That does sound crazy, but so does the notion that a bunch of volunteers would build the most comprehensive and frequently updated encyclopedia in human history. And that one seems to have worked out okay. Real Time Farms is in its early days, so only a tiny fraction of restaurants, farmers markets, and their fans have imported data on where ingredients are sourced. It feels like the kind of thing that will require a really big technological solution at some point in the future, like DNA barcoding of food or super cheap RFID tracking of crops from field to fork. Or maybe just more of us moving to Portland.$

smarterplanet:

Real Time Farms tells you exactly where your food came from | Grist

Real Time Farms is a “crowd-sourced online food guide” that tells you exactly where the meal on your plate came from.

As crazy as it sounds, our vision is to collectively document the whole food system.

That does sound crazy, but so does the notion that a bunch of volunteers would build the most comprehensive and frequently updated encyclopedia in human history. And that one seems to have worked out okay.

Real Time Farms is in its early days, so only a tiny fraction of restaurants, farmers markets, and their fans have imported data on where ingredients are sourced. It feels like the kind of thing that will require a really big technological solution at some point in the future, like DNA barcoding of food or super cheap RFID tracking of crops from field to fork. Or maybe just more of us moving to Portland.