Human Scale Cities

emlocke: World’s Subways Converging on Ideal Form | Wired Science | Wired.comBy Brandon KeirnMay 15, 2012 After decades of urban evolution, the world’s major subway systems appear to be converging on an ideal form … [Statistical physicist Marc] Barthelemy and National Center for Scientific Research complex systems analyst Camille Roth focused a network analysis lens on the aforementioned cities’ subways, along with Barcelona, Beijing, Berlin, Chicago, Madrid, Mexico, Moscow, Osaka, Paris, Seoul and Tokyo … Patterns emerged: The core-and-branch topology, of course, and patterns more fine-grained. Roughly half the stations in any subway will be found on its outer branches rather than the core. The distance from a city’s center to its farthest terminus station is twice the diameter of the subway system’s core. This happens again and again. “Many other shapes could be expected, such as a regular lattice,” said Barthelemy. “What we find surprising is that all these different cities, on different continents, with different histories and geographical constraints, lead finally to the same structure.” Subway systems seem to gravitate towards these ratios organically, through a combination of planning, expedience, circumstance and socioeconomic fluctuation, say the researchers … The convergence “is a sign that there are some basic, profound mechanisms that drive the development of urban systems,” said Barthelemy. 

emlocke:

World’s Subways Converging on Ideal Form | Wired Science | Wired.com
By Brandon Keirn
May 15, 2012

After decades of urban evolution, the world’s major subway systems appear to be converging on an ideal form … [Statistical physicist Marc] Barthelemy and National Center for Scientific Research complex systems analyst Camille Roth focused a network analysis lens on the aforementioned cities’ subways, along with Barcelona, Beijing, Berlin, Chicago, Madrid, Mexico, Moscow, Osaka, Paris, Seoul and Tokyo … Patterns emerged: The core-and-branch topology, of course, and patterns more fine-grained. Roughly half the stations in any subway will be found on its outer branches rather than the core. The distance from a city’s center to its farthest terminus station is twice the diameter of the subway system’s core. This happens again and again.

“Many other shapes could be expected, such as a regular lattice,” said Barthelemy. “What we find surprising is that all these different cities, on different continents, with different histories and geographical constraints, lead finally to the same structure.”

Subway systems seem to gravitate towards these ratios organically, through a combination of planning, expedience, circumstance and socioeconomic fluctuation, say the researchers … The convergence “is a sign that there are some basic, profound mechanisms that drive the development of urban systems,” said Barthelemy. 

Fighting against private car invasion….in 1896 Some weeks ago I came across a great story in The Urban Country blog. The photograph shows the front cover of the San Francisco Call, headlining a demonstration of thousands of protesters -more than 100.000 according to the newspaper- who gathered to protest against what started to be an excessive presence of private cars in the streets of this Californian city. More on my blog @manufernandez

Fighting against private car invasion….in 1896

Some weeks ago I came across a great story in The Urban Country blog. The photograph shows the front cover of the San Francisco Call, headlining a demonstration of thousands of protesters -more than 100.000 according to the newspaper- who gathered to protest against what started to be an excessive presence of private cars in the streets of this Californian city.

More on my blog

@manufernandez

Rethinking the Automobile (with Mark Gorton)

(Source: streetfilms.org)

Sustainable Transportation Planning: Tools for Creating Vibrant, Healthy, and Resilient Communities via @Get_Resilient

Sustainable Transportation Planning: Tools for Creating Vibrant, Healthy, and Resilient Communities

via @Get_Resilient

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?

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)

morninghabit: map by Bill Rankin, 2005-06

morninghabit:

map by Bill Rankin, 2005-06

futurecitylab: 100 Years of Electric Car History Coming Full Circle “This timeline of the 100-year plus history of the electric car shows how despite a promising beginning, the EV technology simply couldn’t compete with the internal combustion engine for most of the 20th century. But that’s starting to change, as each new generation of electric car has a longer driving range, a faster-charging battery, and a lower cost. This trajectory will at some point cross the rising cost of gasoline thanks to peak oil and global warming problems, and make EVs the obvious choice for the cars that will be left on the road. Of course, the smart thing to do is not to wait for environmental problems to become worse before transitioning to cleaner ways of getting around: We need to walk, bike, take transit, and use plug-in cars now to get off fossil fuels, not at some distant point in the future. The faster we stop pumping so much CO2 in our planet’s atmosphere, the better off we and our kids will be in the long-term.” via treehugger / NPR http://www.treehugger.com/cars/100-years-electric-car-history.html

futurecitylab:

100 Years of Electric Car History

Coming Full Circle

“This timeline of the 100-year plus history of the electric car shows how despite a promising beginning, the EV technology simply couldn’t compete with the internal combustion engine for most of the 20th century. But that’s starting to change, as each new generation of electric car has a longer driving range, a faster-charging battery, and a lower cost. This trajectory will at some point cross the rising cost of gasoline thanks to peak oil and global warming problems, and make EVs the obvious choice for the cars that will be left on the road.

Of course, the smart thing to do is not to wait for environmental problems to become worse before transitioning to cleaner ways of getting around: We need to walk, bike, take transit, and use plug-in cars now to get off fossil fuels, not at some distant point in the future. The faster we stop pumping so much CO2 in our planet’s atmosphere, the better off we and our kids will be in the long-term.”

via treehugger / NPR

http://www.treehugger.com/cars/100-years-electric-car-history.html

theatlanticvideo:

Time-Lapse of Insane Traffic in Ho Chi Minh City

Photographer Rob Whitworth took 10,000 RAW images to make one spectacular time-lapse video of Ho Chi Minh City.

If you total the distances covered by the Tube rolling stock at peak times, this map shows how far they travel each day. The Central Line wins with over 13,000km – the equivalent of almost reaching Australia! In humble last place is the Waterloo and City Line that just passes Dublin with a little over 500km travelled.

If you total the distances covered by the Tube rolling stock at peak times, this map shows how far they travel each day. The Central Line wins with over 13,000km – the equivalent of almost reaching Australia! In humble last place is the Waterloo and City Line that just passes Dublin with a little over 500km travelled.

owsbookmobile: 722 Miles: The Building of the Subways and How They Transformed New York Clifton Hood When it first opened on October 27, 1904, the New York City subway ran twenty-two miles from City Hall to 145th Street and Lenox Avenue—the longest stretch ever built at one time. From that initial route through the completion of the IND or Independent Subway line in the 1940s, the subway grew to cover 722 miles—long enough to reach from New York to Chicago. In this definitive history, Clifton Hood traces the complex and fascinating story of the New York City subway system, one of the urban engineering marvels of the twentieth century. For the subway’s centennial the author supplies a new foreward explaining that now, after a century, “we can see more clearly than ever that this rapid transit system is among the twentieth century’s greatest urban achievements.”

owsbookmobile:

722 Miles: The Building of the Subways and How They Transformed New York

Clifton Hood

When it first opened on October 27, 1904, the New York City subway ran twenty-two miles from City Hall to 145th Street and Lenox Avenue—the longest stretch ever built at one time. From that initial route through the completion of the IND or Independent Subway line in the 1940s, the subway grew to cover 722 miles—long enough to reach from New York to Chicago.

In this definitive history, Clifton Hood traces the complex and fascinating story of the New York City subway system, one of the urban engineering marvels of the twentieth century. For the subway’s centennial the author supplies a new foreward explaining that now, after a century, “we can see more clearly than ever that this rapid transit system is among the twentieth century’s greatest urban achievements.”

drosophila: Mapa de las calles tranquilas para recorrer Madrid según su inclinación, tráfico y peligrosidad de los cruces. 

drosophila:

Mapa de las calles tranquilas para recorrer Madrid según su inclinación, tráfico y peligrosidad de los cruces. 

(via zuloark)

Vehicles per 1000 people in selected markets - World Energy Outlook 2011

Vehicles per 1000 people in selected markets - World Energy Outlook 2011

theoriginalchingy: Interactive Map Compares Transit Habits of Hundreds of Cities - “The European Platform on Mobility Management (EPOMM) just unveiled a new interactive web tool that makes it easy to compare transportation data between cities internationally. Now analysts, designers, and planners can conveniently view data on transportation habits in hundreds of cities. Unfortunately, all of this data highlights how far behind American cities are compared to European cities.” via Inhabitat.

theoriginalchingy:

Interactive Map Compares Transit Habits of Hundreds of Cities - “The European Platform on Mobility Management (EPOMM) just unveiled a new interactive web tool that makes it easy to compare transportation data between cities internationally. Now analysts, designers, and planners can conveniently view data on transportation habits in hundreds of cities. Unfortunately, all of this data highlights how far behind American cities are compared to European cities.”

via Inhabitat.

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