NEWS - AUGUST 2016

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31/8/2016 - The Growing Imperative for Age-Friendly Communities

31/8/2016 - How urban consumption lies at the root of deforestation

30/8/2016 - The City That Unpoisoned Its Pipes

30/8/2016 - Why high-tech parking lots for autonomous cars may change urban planning

29/8/2016 - Designing an Active, Healthier City

29/8/2016 - Three Lessons for Unlocking Efficient Cities for All

28/8/2016 - Car drivers are 4 kg heavier than cyclists, new study says

28/8/2016 - Diet From Design: How City Planning Can Prevent Obesity

27/8/2016 - London Olympicopolis: the design we might’ve had

27/8/2016 - How cities are rewiring international affairs

26/8/2016 - Indian cities prepare Comprehensive Mobility Plans

26/8/2016 - Americans Will Pay More to Live Near Transit

25/8/2016 - Apps don’t make a city smart

25/8/2016 - Making Room For Urban Expansion: Empowering African Planners To Focus On The Basics

25/8/2016 - Self-driving buses take to roads alongside commuter traffic in Helsinki

24/8/2016 - The Urban Informal Economy: Towards more inclusive Cities

24/8/2016 - Smart Cities - Smart Ambitions workshop

24/8/2016 - Pittsburgh Is Going Driverless

23/8/2016 - Vienna ranks high on almost every urban quality-of-life list. Here’s why.

23/8/2016 - 2016 Global Harbor Cities Forum

22/8/2016 - Chaos for London's Housing Market Post-Brexit Vote

22/8/2016 - Can ‘sponge cities’ solve China’s urban flooding problem?

22/8/2016 - Only 13% of world cities have affordable hoising

21/8/2016 - How LA's outdoor furniture creates a more livable city

21/8/2016 - New report to help cities find money for infrastructure projects

20/8/2016 - The CityStrength Diagnostic - Resilient Cities Program

20/8/2016 - SUMP Award: Webinar and launch of the 5th SUMP Award

19/8/2016 - How One African City Is Flipping the Script on Urban Development

19/8/2016 - What Exactly Is a Sanctuary City?

19/8/2016 - European Commission's "Low-emission mobility strategy" goes through cities

18/8/2016 - The '96 Olympics: Techwood And The New Face Of Public Housing

18/8/2016 - The challenges of urbanisation – How cities have to reinvent themselves

18/8/2016 - There is no sense in sensors: making a smart city for citizens

17/8/2016 - Welcome to Tesla Town: the new Melbourne suburb with a Powerwall in every home

17/8/2016 - Four ways we can make sure everyone has a place to call “home”

17/8/2016 - In Cities’ War Against Climate Change, Heating and Cooling, Transport Are Key Battlegrounds

16/8/2016 - Can Bangkok Curb Prostitution? And Should It?

16/8/2016 - ‘Crossfire’ app helps Rio residents avoid gunfights

16/8/2016 - 5 Ways Mayors Can Build Their Communities’ Workforces

15/8/2016 - International VOC Symposium- Sustainable Cities: sustainable and innovative public transport

15/8/2016 - Is an International Agreement for Sustainable Urbanization Possible?

15/8/2016 - Lively collaboration and sound technical delivery hallmarks of latest Cityfied Project meeting

14/8/2016 - Mobility and sustainability - the gender perspective

14/8/2016 - A portfolio approach for urban investments

14/8/2016 - Towards an Arab Urban Agenda

13/8/2016 - Uber Moves A Little Closer To Public Transit’s Turf

13/8/2016 - Building resilient cities key to tackling effects of climate change

13/8/2016 - 5 key technologies of a smart city

12/8/2016 - Children describe the car of the future

12/8/2016 - ‘Final’ talks fail to deliver consensus on New Urban Agenda

12/8/2016 - The sharing economy comes to urban public schools

11/8/2016 - Lightingforpeople: accelerating LED lighting in Europe

11/8/2016 - Five trends in Africa’s rapid urbanization

11/8/2016 - What U.S. Mayors Care About Most

10/8/2016 - Japanese Town Shows How 'Zero Waste' Is Done

10/8/2016 - Urbanization, climate change, and peri-urban water security

10/8/2016 - Regular cycling cuts risk of diabetes – new study

9/8/2016 - The Value of Street Trees

9/8/2016 - The future of Gaza: from city under siege to world tourism hub?

9/8/2016 - City of Montreal to host ICLEI World Congress 2018

8/8/2016 - “Olli” the First Self-driving Vehicle on the Road in Washington, DC

8/8/2016 - A Park Beneath New York City's Sidewalks

8/8/2016 - Apply now for the 2017 UNESCO Learning City Award!

7/8/2016 - Competitive Cities: A Local Solution to a Global Lack of Growth and Jobs

7/8/2016 - Have UN Member States listened to cities in the latest draft of the New Urban Agenda for Habitat III?

7/8/2016 - Rio Olympics: who are the real winners and losers?

6/8/2016 - EU programme offers SUMP training for cities

6/8/2016 - What does it mean to be an intercultural competent city?

6/8/2016 - Building sustainable cities major factor in meeting SDGs says Clos

5/8/2016 - We Make Europe! Cities and City Makers enhancing the (Im)Pact of Amsterdam

5/8/2016 - How Many Cars did This Car-Sharing Service Kill?

5/8/2016 - Convention Cities Reflect Challenges Facing the Next President

4/8/2016 - The City That Embraced Its Decline

4/8/2016 - Rotterdam secures top position in global water sustainability index

4/8/2016 - Digital Helsinki programme

3/8/2016 - Walking making enormous strides

3/8/2016 - Slovakia has officially taken over the Urban Agenda for the EU

3/8/2016 - The world’s most water-stressed cities?

3/8/2016 - Mayors to gather in Seoul, raising ambitions of the Paris Agreement

2/8/2016 - Towards a new Inclusive Integration Policy Lab

2/8/2016 - Sustainable urban mobility network launches in Romania

2/8/2016 - The fall and rise of the council estate

2/8/2016 - Johannesburg embraces sustainable planning

1/8/2016 - Mexico City's Invisible Rivers

1/8/2016 - Urban design can promote walking

1/8/2016 - What's Keeping Tourists Away From Paris?

1/8/2016 - Paris takes Global Earth Hour Capital 2016 title

 

 

The Growing Imperative for Age-Friendly Communities


Places that take the needs of an aging population seriously now will fare best over the long haul.
We hear a lot these days about the need to make communities smart and sustainable. But there's another aspect of our communities that is getting more and more attention, not only from forward-looking public officials but also in university studies and international conferences: preparing communities to be friendly for the unprecedented aging of their populations.


http://www.governing.com/gov-institute/voices/col-growing-imperative-age-friendly-communities.html

 

How urban consumption lies at the root of deforestation


Tropical deforestation accounts for an estimated 3 billion tons of carbon dioxide per year, equivalent to the emissions of some 600 million cars, according to researchers at Winrock International and the Woods Hole Research Center.
Urban growth drives deforestation in at least two ways. First, as rural migrants to cities adopt city-based lifestyles, they tend to use more resources. Their incomes rise and their diets shift to a greater share of animal products and processed foods. This, in turn, drives land clearance for livestock grazing and fodder, either locally or in other countries that export such products or their inputs. Meeting the food needs of a rising and urbanizing global population could require an additional 6.7–12.1 million acres of cropland per year.


https://www.greenbiz.com/article/how-urban-consumption-lies-root-deforestation

 

The City That Unpoisoned Its Pipes


Forty-five miles west of Flint, Lansing is nearly done replacing all of its lead pipes. Here’s how the midsize state capital achieved a feat few other cities have managed.
More than two years after the water switch in Flint, Michigan — a disastrous decision made under state oversight that put toxic levels of lead and other contaminants into the water of a city of nearly 100,000 residents — there’s no fix in sight. Criminal and civil prosecutions are unfolding; democratic representation has returned with an empowered mayor and council; public health programs have expanded to meet new needs, and people across the state are reckoning with the ignoble reasons why the early water concerns voiced by residents in the relatively poor city went unheard for so long. But the crux of the problem remains: Improperly treated water corroded the aging pipes, and despite Flint’s return to a safer water source and the institution of a free water filter program, those pipes still need to be replaced.


https://nextcity.org/features/view/flint-lansing-michigan-replaced-lead-water-pipes

 

Why high-tech parking lots for autonomous cars may change urban planning


With self-driving technology in play, these under-appreciated piece of infrastructure could play a key role in a more efficient urban future
With the advent of autonomous car technology expected to radically reshape our commutes and roadways, the fate of the lowly parking garage may not seem all that exciting. Honestly, unless you're circling downtown desperate for a place to park, how often is a parking garage all that exciting? But planners and architects believe the future of these often unremarkable parts of busy downtown neighborhoods will be much more interesting with the advent of improved autonomous driving technology. New self-parking systems mean more space and more adaptive structures, but only if planners, architects, and designers start thinking ahead.


http://www.curbed.com/2016/8/8/12404658/autonomous-car-future-parking-lot-driverless-urban-planning

 

Designing an Active, Healthier City


Despite a firm reputation for being walkers, New Yorkers have an obesity epidemic on their hands. Lee Altman, a former employee of New York City’s Department of Design and Construction, explains it this way: “We did a very good job at designing physical activity out of our daily lives.”
According to the city’s health department, more than half of the city’s adult population is either overweight (34 percent) or obese (22 percent), and the convenience of their environment has contributed to this. “Everything is dependent on a car, elevator; you sit in front of a computer,” said Altman, “not moving around a lot.”


http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/12/opinion/designing-an-active-healthier-city.html

 

Three Lessons for Unlocking Efficient Cities for All


Urban efficiency is all about linking the potential of buildings, energy and infrastructure to create smarter, more sustainable cities. But what does success look like, and how do cities get there?
This past June, 34 city mayors, sustainability directors and energy efficiency professionals gathered at Washington, DC’s National Press Club for a roundtable discussion, led by Johnson Controls, to discuss this very question—what does the implementation of urban efficiency measures in US cities look like?
Three key messages recurred throughout the discussion: the need for involving community members in decision making, the ability for government to play a variety of roles in different contexts and the importance of demonstrating the many positive environmental, social and economic impacts of energy efficiency projects.


http://thecityfix.com/blog/three-lessons-unlocking-efficient-cities-for-all-emily-nilson-alice-y/

 

Car drivers are 4 kg heavier than cyclists, new study says


People who drive cars as their main form of transport are on average heavier than those who cycle, a new study says.
The EU-funded PASTA project -led by an international group of experts, including the World Health Organization - is studying how different forms of transport relate to levels of physical activity, and consequently people's health.
PASTA researchers monitored 11,000 volunteers in seven European cities and asked how they move around the city, which mode of transport they use and how much time they spend travelling.


http://www.polisnetwork.eu/publicnews/1192/45/Car-drivers-are-4-kg-heavier-than-cyclists-new-study-says

 

Diet From Design: How City Planning Can Prevent Obesity


The prevalence of obesity in developed nations is a well-documented phenomenon. But, perhaps surprisingly, obesity rates have also been rising in developing economies. Initiatives to curb obesity are plentiful, but a strategy based in the discipline of city planning merits particular attention, especially in rapidly developing environments where the most impact could be made.
The concept is mixed use development, a model in urban design where the physical layout of a city–the streets, roads and built structures–is composed of numerous interconnected, pedestrian accessible neighborhoods, or zones, each containing a range of buildings that provide services or functions people would normally travel for. 


http://www.forbes.com/sites/chentim/2016/08/09/diet-from-design-how-city-planning-can-prevent-obesity/

 

 

London Olympicopolis: the design we might’ve had


Plans for the cultural hub to be built on the site of the 2012 London Olympics have been called ‘dull as ditchwater’. It could have all been so different, judging by an inventive, rejected proposal seen here for the first time


https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/aug/21/london-olympicopolis-arts-quarter

 

How cities are rewiring international affairs


If the 20th century belonged to nation states, then the 21st will be owned by cities. There is a certain inevitability about the planet’s urban turn. The past five decades have witnessed a veritable explosion of cities, especially in the developing world. At one end is the rise of supercities, megacities, urban conglomerations of 10 million people or more. On the other is the unheralded, but no less important, swelling of small and medium-sized cities across the globe.
Consider the statistics of city growth. Over the past 50 years the number of nation states doubled to reach 193 today. By way of comparison, the number and size of cities with more than 100,000 people increased tenfold over the same period to over 4,000. Today there are 29 megacities and the number should rise to 40 by 2050. And there are another 163 cities with more than 3 million people and at least 538 with 1 million residents or more. Not surprisingly, the geography of power is shifting.


https://www.devex.com/news/how-cities-are-rewiring-international-affairs-88517

 

Indian cities prepare Comprehensive Mobility Plans


25 cities have prepared Comprehensive Mobility Plans (CMP) based on origin and destination flow of traffic, identifying major traffic corridors and feeder corridors, land use etc which in turn would assist in proper urban planning. CMPs are subsequently made part of City Master Plans.
Minister of State for Urban Development and Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation Shri Rao Inderjit Singh, in a reply in Lok Sabha, stated that 25 cities from 8 States prepared CMPs with central assistance. Ministry of Urban Development assists up to 80% of the cost of preparation of CMPs.


http://www.urbannewsdigest.in/?p=19694

 

Americans Will Pay More to Live Near Transit


Fifty-five percent of Americans say they are willing to pay more for their mortgage or rent in order to get to work and recreational activities without having to use a car, a new study of transit-oriented developments by the HNTB Corp revealed.
Millennials, in particular, show much more willingness to pay more each month than older Americans – 70 percent versus 49 percent.


http://realtormag.realtor.org/daily-news/2016/07/18/americans-will-pay-more-live-near-transit#sf31201972

 

Apps don’t make a city smart


Cities from Amsterdam to Adelaide, from Boston to Bangalore, and San Francisco to Seoul are teaming up with big businesses like IBM, Siemens, Cisco, GE, and Google in a frenzied dash to become “smart.” They’re rolling out sensors for everything from street lights to trash cans. Homes are being wired up with smart meters and smart appliances that feed real-time data back to public utilities. Buses, cars, and bike-shares have GPS or radio-frequency identification that helps to alert users of when the next bus will arrive, as well as matching car and bike-share users to a the nearest Zipcar or Hubway bike.
But our current smart-city techno fetish rides roughshod across the public realm. It encourages the belief that there’s always “an app for that” — that we can address deep-seated, structural urban problems through business-led technological innovation and somehow sidestep the messiness of inclusive politics.


http://thinkingcities.com/apps-dont-make-a-city-smart/

 

Making Room For Urban Expansion: Empowering African Planners To Focus On The Basics


The typical Sub-Saharan African city grew at least 3-fold in area between 1990 and 2014[1], and the total urban population doubled over the same period. The region is already about 30% urban and the share of the population living in urban areas is expected to increase to 60%-70% by 2050[2].
This transition presents a major opportunity to leverage the economic productivity of cities to lift millions or hundreds of millions of people permanently out of poverty. Agglomeration economies at the city level could shift the economic profile of Africa from subsistence-based and agricultural to dynamic and export-oriented. But many cities in Africa are struggling with the spatial planning implications of their growth. It is quite likely that the total land area of cities in the region will increase five-fold by 2050[3]. If these cities are to be productive, inclusive, and sustainable, these newly built areas must be properly planned.


http://atdforum.org/making-room-for-urban-expansion-empowering-african-planners-to-focus-on-the-basics/

 

Self-driving buses take to roads alongside commuter traffic in Helsinki


Automated mini-buses will carry people on open public roads in southern district of Finnish capital during month-long trial
Two self-driving buses have rolled out on to the public roads of Helsinki, Finland, alongside traffic and commuters, in one of the first trials of its kind.
The Easymile EZ-10 electric mini-buses, capable of carrying up to 12 people, will roam the open roads of Helsinki’s southernly Hernesaari district in a month-long trial, negotiating traffic for the first time.


https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/aug/18/self-driving-buses-helsinki

 

The Urban Informal Economy: Towards more inclusive Cities


The majority of urban workers in developing countries earn their livelihoods in the informal economy. Therefore, understanding urban informal employment is critical to promoting inclusive cities and reducing urban poverty. But, many cities around the world are actively undermining or destroying urban informal livelihoods. Practices that exclude informal workers from participating in cities are the norm in many parts of the world: there are daily reports of slum and street vendor evictions and unreported harassment of informal workers by local authorities, including bribes and confiscation of goods, on a daily basis.


http://www.urbanet.info/urban-informal-economy/

 

Smart Cities - Smart Ambitions workshop 


The Scottish Cities Alliance is leading a consortium of Smart Cities to the European Week of Regions and Cities Conference in Brussels.
The Smart Cities - Smart Ambitions workshop “Inter-city approaches to funding and delivering Smart Ambitions” aims to build relationships in a bid to achieve collective smart ambitions.
The partnership involves more than 20 cities from countries including Denmark, Basque Country in Spain, Finland, Poland and Scotland and is supported by the Open and Agile Smart Cities (OASC) initiative.


http://www.eurocities.eu/eurocities/news/Smart-Cities-Smart-Ambitions-workshop-WSPO-ACXKBK

 

Pittsburgh Is Going Driverless


In what would be an industry milestone, the Steel City will welcome Uber’s first autonomous ride-sharing vehicles this month.
Bloomberg reported Thursday that the ride-hailing behemoth Uber will roll out passenger-ready autonomous vehicles in the city of Pittsburgh later this month. Customers summoning regular Ubers from their phones will be randomly assigned to one of a fleet of tricked-out Volvo SUVs, capable of driving without human assistance.


http://www.citylab.com/commute/2016/08/uber-self-driving-cars-pittsburgh/496499/

 

Vienna ranks high on almost every urban quality-of-life list. Here’s why.


When the human resources consultancy Mercer publishes its annual quality-of-life rankings for cities around the world, Vienna’s place at the top is practically automatic.
The Austrian capital has ranked first on the list for seven years in a row. Mercer has consistently praised Vienna for being a safe city with good public services, transport and recreation facilities. In another survey, Monocle magazine also gives Vienna high marks. While Vienna dropped to third place on that list this year, the magazine hosted its annual Quality of Life conference here in April. The Economist’s latest “Liveability Ranking” — released this week — put Vienna second.


http://citiscope.org/story/2016/vienna-ranks-high-almost-every-urban-quality-life-list-heres-why

 

2016 Global Harbor Cities Forum


Initiated by Kaohsiung City, the 2016 Global Harbor Cities Forum will commence this September!
Representatives from over 30 cities, including ASEAN, North East Asia, Europe and America, are all coming to Kaohsiung to take part in this large scale international conference that is estimated to have near 1000 participants. Through the connecting of the cities, delegates will explore the possibilities and prospects of harbor cities together.


http://2016ghcf.org.tw/event_detail.php?id=3

 

Chaos for London's Housing Market Post-Brexit Vote


But don’t expect the city to become affordable any time soon.
Is London’s great home price correction finally happening? The U.K. capital’s housing market has been notoriously unaffordable for years, but in the immediate aftermath of the Brexit referendum, there are some hints that things are about to change.


http://www.citylab.com/housing/2016/07/london-housing-market-chaos-brexit/493403/

 

Can ‘sponge cities’ solve China’s urban flooding problem?


Rain water is one of the world’s most wasted natural resources. Precipitation that falls upon cities typically gets expelled like a waste product, piped away via the standard complex of drainage systems.  Meanwhile cities go to great lengths to pump in water from rivers and lakes, or pump it up from aquifers that in many places are being depleted at a worrisome rate.
Three years ago, Chinese President Xi Jinping offered a new way to think about this. At China’s Central Government Conference on Urbanization in 2013, Xi announced that cities should act “like sponges.” This proclamation came with substantial funding to experiment with ways cities can absorb precipitation through permeable pavements, rain gardens and wetlands, or reuse the water locally for irrigation, parks or even for drinking. It also injected a new term into the global urban design vocabulary.


http://citiscope.org/story/2016/can-sponge-cities-solve-chinas-urban-flooding-problem

 

Only 13% of world cities have affordable hoising


According to the Global Sample of Cities – a sample representing 70% of the world’s population – the median house price is 4.9 times annual household income in the majority of metropolitan areas, well above the recommended ratio of 3.0 times.
The analysis is part of a preview of the Atlas of Urban Expansion, a partnership of UN-Habitat, the New York University Urban Expansion initiative, and the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.  It was presented in a press conference at the third Preparatory Committee for Habitat III, by Joan Clos, Secretary-General of the conference and Executive Director of UN-Habitat.
“In 2010 there were 4,231 cities of more than 100,000 inhabitants that represent the Universe of Cities. They account for 70% of the world urban population,” said Dr Clos.  “Out of these cities we have created a Global Sample of Cities made of 200 cities [from which] we extrapolate data for the other cities.”


http://unhabitat.org/only-13-of-worlds-cities-have-affordable-housing-according-to-new-research/

 

How LA's outdoor furniture creates a more livable city


There’s a battle of attrition being waged every day in our cities, and you can watch it all go down on the nearest street corner. Permanence wins over prettiness when it comes to street furniture, and the design of choice for cash-strapped cities is no longer the iconic green park bench at the center of our romanticized visions of public life. It’s the monolithic cement chess table—cut from chunky utilitarian lines, impervious to all sorts of indignities. It does the job, and it perseveres. But it doesn’t welcome us.


http://www.curbed.com/2016/7/20/12217086/street-furniture-los-angeles

 

New report to help cities find money for infrastructure projects


Siemens, C40 Cities and Citi, reveal in a new report that cities need to invest US$57 trillion in infrastructure in order to accommodate both their existing needs and projected growth.
Launched at the World Cities Summit 2016 in Singapore, New Perspectives on Climate Finance for Cities, highlights the global efforts needed by nations, banks, cities and the private sector. It provides potential financing options for climate change programmes and projects in cities, the lead times and steps required to access different types of climate finance, and the lessons learned from cities around the globe.


http://cities-today.com/sponsored/new-report-to-help-cities-find-money-for-infrastructure-projects/

 

The CityStrength Diagnostic - Resilient Cities Program


Conducted under the World Bank’s Resilient Cities Program, CityStrength is a rapid diagnostic that aims to help cities enhance their resilience to a variety of shocks. A qualitative assessment which requires 2-6 months to complete, the diagnostic takes a holistic and integrated approach and encourages collaboration between sectors to more efficiently tackle issues and unlock opportunities within the city.


http://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/urbandevelopment/brief/citystrength

 

SUMP Award: Webinar and launch of the 5th SUMP Award


The 5th SUMP Award will be officially launched on Monday 5th September 2016. In order to provide local authorities with information and answers to their questions, a webinar will be held on the launch day 


http://www.polisnetwork.eu/publicnews/1189/45/SUMP-Award-Webinar-and-launch-of-the-5th-SUMP-Award

 

How One African City Is Flipping the Script on Urban Development


From Wall Street to the World Bank, people are looking at Kampala as a model for how cities can finance their futures.
Joseph Aliguma is perched on the bull bars of a minibus, listing his expenses. Every day he drives his 14-seater “taxi” between Kibale, in western Uganda, and the capital Kampala, rising as early as four and sometimes not resting until 11 at night. There are loading fees, he says. Add to that insurance, petrol, engine oil, filters. And then there is the fee — 120,000 shillings ($36 U.S.) a month — that he must pay to the city authority. It’s too high, he thinks, but ordinary people like him have no power to change things. “It’s not our country, so we have to pay.”


https://nextcity.org/features/view/kampala-africa-urban-development

 

What Exactly Is a Sanctuary City?


Clinton and Trump clash on them. Congress and some states have been trying to defund them. But no one can seem to agree on what it means to actually be a sanctuary city.
Donald Trump typically gets an enthusiastic response from crowds when he rails against U.S. cities that are perceived as safe havens for undocumented immigrants. "My opponent wants sanctuary cities," the GOP presidential nominee told the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, drawing boos.


http://www.governing.com/topics/public-justice-safety/gov-sanctuary-city-congress-georgia-north-carolina.html

 

European Commission's "Low-emission mobility strategy" goes through cities


In its recently published climate and energy summer package, the Commission highlights the key role of cities - and more particularly the cities committed to the Covenant of Mayors - in delivering a low-emission mobility strategy for Europe.
The low-emission mobility strategy constitutes a framework for the Commission’s initiatives in the field of mobility for the coming years. The strategy is anchored to three pillars: increasing the efficiency of the transport system, speeding up the deployment of low-emission alternative energy for transport (electricity, hydrogen etc.) and moving towards zero-emission vehicles.


http://www.ccre.org/en/actualites/view/3337

 

The '96 Olympics: Techwood And The New Face Of Public Housing


This story is part of "Atlanta Remembers: The 1996 Olympics," WABE's series on the impact of the 1996 Summer Olympics on Atlanta, 20 years later. For more stories, click here. 
Walking down Merritts Avenue, at the edge of Centennial Place, Renee Glover points out the townhomes with well-groomed landscapes.
“As you can see, it’s a beautiful community,” Glover said. “It’s quiet.”
Glover directed the Atlanta Housing Authority during the 1996 Olympics.


http://news.wabe.org/post/96-olympics-techwood-and-new-face-public-housing

 

The challenges of urbanisation – How cities have to reinvent themselves


Across the world, people are relocating to cities. They are the places in which global challenges emerge, but at the same time, where change and progress are shaped. The New Urban Agenda has to support cities to fulfil their role as central actors for sustainable development.
The future of our world is urban. We are currently experiencing the greatest push in urbanisation in human history. According to UN DESA, with a total of 55%, more than half of all the people on the planet are living in cities and metropolitan areas for the first time ever, and by 2050, this will be 66%. Predominantly small and medium-sized cities in Asia and Africa will grow quickly in the coming decades. This will affect the so-called informal settlement areas in particular: between the years 2000 to 2014 alone, the number of people living in slums across the world rose from 792 million to more than 880 million people.


http://www.urbanet.info/cities-reinvent-themselves/

 

There is no sense in sensors: making a smart city for citizens


“Smart cities represent the culmination of a development that is bringing together local green grass-roots movements and Silicon Valley mind-sets.  Smart cities promise us that we can build clean, efficient, sustainable and attractive cities and at the same time increase economic development.  Policy makers hope that smart cities are the key to bridging the gap between social, ecological and economic sustainability.” (Alanus Von Radecki, Smart Impact State of the Art November 2015)
But there are problems at the same time. Being a smart city has become a badge of honour that European cities often claim without substance. It has become the next ‘big idea’ for ambitious politicians wanting to show how modern and attractive their city has become. Smart has become the adjective de jour, already a ‘plastic word’ at risk of becoming meaningless. Initially Smart Cities was taken up by big corporates such as IBM and Cisco in search of new markets for their internet of things. 


http://urbact.eu/there-no-sense-sensors-making-smart-city-citizens

 

Welcome to Tesla Town: the new Melbourne suburb with a Powerwall in every home


Less than six months after Australia received its first shipment of Tesla Powerwalls, plans for what could be the world’s first “Tesla town” – a mini-suburb on the outskirts of the Melbourne CBD whose new-build homes will include rooftop solar and Tesla battery storage as standard design features – are being unveiled by local property group Glenvill, as the green development’s first 60 homes go on sale this week.


http://reneweconomy.com.au/2016/welcome-tesla-town-new-melbourne-suburb-powerwall-every-home-18779

 

Four ways we can make sure everyone has a place to call “home”


Around the world, we all long for a place to call “home.”  More than just a house, a “home” is a safe haven for our families, a strong and stable place where our children can thrive, and a solid foundation on which a family can build a better life. Sharing our homes with family members and friends is a warm tradition as old as human settlement. Strong and stable homes help build strong and stable communities.
At Habitat for Humanity, we recognize that a home provides strength, stability and self-reliance for people across the Asia-Pacific region. While homes vary in appearance around the world, the need for a home is universal.


http://news.trust.org/item/20160704110840-io1gh/?source=fiBlogs

 

In Cities’ War Against Climate Change, Heating and Cooling, Transport Are Key Battlegrounds


“If you want to win the climate change battle, it will be fought in the cities of the world,” WRI President and CEO Andrew Steer told participants at a forum on the role of urban areas in the global shift to clean energy.
New research from the International Energy Agency (IEA) confirms that cities represent 70 percent of the cost-effective emissions-reduction opportunities between now and 2050. In short, metropolitan areas will be crucial in determining whether the world succeeds in limiting temperature rise to 2 degrees C (3.6 degrees F) to prevent the worst effects of climate change.


http://thecityfix.com/blog/in-cities-war-against-climate-change-heating-and-cooling-transport-are-key-battlegrounds-sarah-parsons/

 

Can Bangkok Curb Prostitution? And Should It?


Thailand’s first female minister of tourism wants the sex trade banned. Critics say the plan is shortsighted.
Tourists flock to Thailand for its temples and beaches, but also for its sex workers. From go-go girls to ladyboys, Thai cities and resorts like Bangkok and Pattaya are known as hubs of the Southeast Asian sex trade, despite the fact that prostitution has been illegal in Thailand since 1960.
It’s clear many officials and law enforcement have turned a blind eye for decades. This could be changing. Thailand’s first female minister of tourism, Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul, recently called for an end to the debauchery.


http://www.citylab.com/politics/2016/07/bangkok-prostitution-ban/493355/

 

‘Crossfire’ app helps Rio residents avoid gunfights


Weary residents of Rio de Janeiro’s favelas have a new crime-fighting tool: a smartphone app.
Catherine Osborn reports for Public Radio International that software designed by Amnesty International Brazil helps locals avoid trouble spots, such as police actions and gunfights.
Fogo Cruzado, Portuguese for “crossfire,” is one of several safety-minded apps that Rio’s residents use to stay safe, the radio network says. Details about shootouts, location, injuries, fatalities and other vital information is crowd-sourced by users. The app also fills a statistical void since the city does not compile data on shootouts.


http://citiscope.org/citisignals/2016/crossfire-app-helps-rio-residents-avoid-gunfights

 

5 Ways Mayors Can Build Their Communities’ Workforces


By making the most of their influence over postsecondary education, they can help narrow the skills gap.
There's a perception among many that mayors don't hold much sway over the higher-education system or the quality of the workforce it produces for their communities. I beg to differ. Not only do our cities' leaders have strong motivation for improving the talent pipeline through college and into the workplace, but they also have the authority to spur meaningful change.
Every mayor knows that ensuring that both existing employers and potential new ones have access to the talent they need to run their businesses is critical to a community's prosperity. Likewise, in my experience mayors are all about getting things done. In the early 1990s, for example, many mayors got involved in the reform of K-12 education after they decided they could no longer tolerate poor high-school graduation rates. Their involvement made a huge difference.


http://www.governing.com/gov-institute/voices/col-5-ways-mayors-help-build-community-workforce.html

 

International VOC Symposium- Sustainable Cities: sustainable and innovative public transport


The International VOC Symposium will take place on 5 October 2016 in Arnhem.
The meeting is organized in collaboration with one of the members of VOC (Association of Public Transport Cities in the Netherlands): the city of Arnhem, in the Netherlands since 1949 eminently known as sustainable public transport city by, amongst others, the Trolleybus. This same Trolley system went in the last few decades through various popularity stages: from innovative and unique (1980’s) through expensive and impractical (late 90's) to all the way at the time and durable (present).


http://www.polisnetwork.eu/publicnews/1187/45/International-VOC-Symposium--Sustainable-Cities-sustainable-and-innovative-public-transport

 

Is an International Agreement for Sustainable Urbanization Possible?


Diplomats and representatives of 100-plus countries gathered in Surabaya, Indonesia, this week to finalize the New Urban Agenda, a United Nations-brokered agreement that would guide urban development in nations across the world over the next 20 years, encouraging more sustainable and equitable policies. After three days of intense negotiations, however, diplomats failed to deliver an agreement


https://nextcity.org/daily/entry/habitat-iii-prepcom-3-new-urban-agenda

 

Lively collaboration and sound technical delivery hallmarks of latest Cityfied Project meeting


The consortium came together in Istanbul, Turkey late June 2016 to catch up on the latest developments, identify collective challenges and pinpoint future actions. 
Held at nearly the half waypoint of this five-year project and warmly hosted by Istanbul Technical University (ITU), this meeting was a valuable opportunity to assess progress; particularly after a number of deliverables submitted to the European Commission and a technical assessment of year two was recently completed with positive feedback. The demonstration sites are now well advance in their preparation and even in some cases delivery of works set to achieve considerable impacts. Discussions therefore focused on fine-tuning the horizontal actions of monitoring and analysing results across countries, common IT infrastructure, business models, exploitation and cooperation with CITyFIED’s extensive network of cities.


http://www.cityfied.eu/News/Press-Releases/Lively-Collaboration-And-Sound-Technical-Delivery-Hallmarks-Of-Latest-CITyFiED-Project-Meeting.kl

 

Mobility and sustainability - the gender perspective


In order to spark debate within Metropolis on key issues for metropolitan área – social sustainability and mobility that includes all citizens – Metropolis organised a workshop entitled "Mobility and sustainability from a gender perspective in metropolitan areas", which took place in Barcelona last  July 6. The event, which featured representatives of Metropolis member cities, eight cities in the Barcelona Metropolitan Area (AMB) and some of the collaborating organisations, was a great opportunity to forge synergies and generate interdisciplinary debate on mobility and sustainability from a gender perspective in metropolitan areas, as well as possible projects for Metropolis and the cities themselves to implement.


http://www.metropolis.org/news/2016/07/18/2801

 

A portfolio approach for urban investments


The projects that are financed in an urban environment depend on a variety of factors. With the portfolio approach cities can determine which projects benefit them most in terms of profits and social benefits and can choose them accordingly. 
The present global tightening of credit restricts local governments and private firms in their capacity to leverage debt in order to finance investments in urban development, especially when they advocate far- reaching sustainable solutions. High cost considerations and protracted delivery timetables continue to deter decision-makers and private investors from adopting innovative financing solutions as an alternative for investing in urban projects. However, city authorities and their leaders still give the private sector carte blanche, in some cases to invest in such piecemeal projects as, for example, multiplex shopping malls, Wifi upgrades in high rise apartments and waterfront features. Nevertheless, a new urban paradigm, which embeds economic, environmental and social aspects within innovative financial mechanisms, is emerging. Central to this new paradigm are creativity, knowledge and access to information as fundamental drivers of the new urban finance, where ‘creativity’ in our city context is the process of value creation (Porter and Kramer, 2011). And with knowledge and access, the goal is to ensure shared and inclusive prosperity, and to increase resilience to external shocks brought about by financial crises as well as natural catastrophes.


http://www.urbanet.info/portfolio-approach-urban-investments/

 

Towards an Arab Urban Agenda


The League of Arab States in collaboration with UN-Habitat Regional Office for Arab States organised a side event at Habitat III PrepCom3 in Surabaya, Indonesia – Towards an Arab Urban Agenda.
The event outlined the key challenges the Arab region is facing with regard to housing and sustainable urban development. It also addressed the future prospects and opportunities for the implementation of the New Urban Agenda and the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda - particularly the Sustainable Development Goal 11 (SDG11) - make human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.


http://unhabitat.org/towards-an-arab-urban-agenda/

 

Uber Moves A Little Closer To Public Transit’s Turf


Uber has said for years that it’s not here to kill public transportation. But a new uberPool promotion suggests the ride-hailing service may be inching closer to becoming competition for public transit.  
The company announced this week that it’s offering folks in Manhattan ridiculously cheap uberPool rides during commuting hours (weekday mornings and evenings, basically) throughout July and August. The deal, called the “Uber Commute Card,” is available to members of Gilt City, a free but ritzy coupon site for people in New York.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/uber-gilt-city-uberpool_us_578661f8e4b08608d3327621?section=

 

Building resilient cities key to tackling effects of climate change


Cities across Europe must step up their adaptation efforts if they are to handle the increasingly complex challenges caused by climate change such as more extreme flooding or prolonged heatwaves. A European Environment Agency (EEA) report published today stresses the benefits of investing in long-term preventive measures that cities should take to improve their resilience.


http://www.eumayors.eu/news_en.html?id_news=757

 

5 key technologies of a smart city


People are increasingly migrating from rural to urban areas. By 2050, about 86 percent of people in developed countries and 64 percent of people in developing countries are expected to live in cities. Because cities will absorb future population growth, it is crucial to use resources more efficiently. How will smart city technology make the urbanization process as smooth as possible?


http://thinkingcities.com/5-key-technologies-of-a-smart-city/

 

Children describe the car of the future


To see what tomorrow’s motorists thought of this, Bosch asked a group of today’s six year olds, what they want from their car of the future. Watch the results here.
The car of the future: penguin-loving, sweetie-powered and driverless
All of the six year olds that spoke to Bosch as part of its #asmartercar campaign said that they wanted their cars to be driverless, with most expecting their car to be more than just a method of transportation.
Kobei said: “If cars don’t have a driver that means that anyone can drive them no matter what age. That means that even people as old as 70 or 80 can drive them.”
While Meredith, added: “The front seats [could] turn around to face the back seats and there would be a table in the middle so if we want to eat, we can push a button and the car drives itself.”


http://erticonetwork.com/tomorrows-motorists-ready-driverless-cars/

 

‘Final’ talks fail to deliver consensus on New Urban Agenda


E.U. says Habitat III process is at 'fragile' point. Additional negotiation days likely in September.
Three days of occasionally round-the-clock talks failed to deliver an agreement this week on the New Urban Agenda, the United Nations’ urbanization strategy set to be adopted at the Habitat III conference this October in Quito, Ecuador.


http://citiscope.org/habitatIII/news/2016/07/final-talks-fail-deliver-consensus-new-urban-agenda

 

The sharing economy comes to urban public schools


Uber, Airbnb, WeWork: every day, entrepreneurs find new ways to diffuse the ownership of expensive infrastructure in order to drive down prices.
But while today’s sharing economy tends to focus on individual consumers, the concept could find creative new applications in the public sector. For example, urban schools contain many different programs and functions (libraries, green outdoor space, event spaces) that are often duplicated down the block by another municipal agency. Why not just share the infrastructure?
Luis Collado, a principal at Chicago’s STL Architects, calls this approach “breaking the school”: atomizing the facility’s secondary functions and sharing them with the surrounding neighborhood in ways that benefit students and their neighbors alike.


http://doggerel.arup.com/the-sharing-economy-comes-to-urban-public-schools/

 

Lightingforpeople: accelerating LED lighting in Europe


The EU-funded SSL-erate (solid state lighting) project is intended to accelerate the use of LED lighting in Europe.
Among the project partners are EUROCITIES members Stavanger and Malmo, and the universities of Munich and Flanders.
The three pillars of the project are: human-centric lighting; open innovation; and sustainable development.


http://www.eurocities.eu/eurocities/news/Lightingforpeople-accelerating-LED-lighting-in-Europe-WSPO-ABSJJS

 

Five trends in Africa’s rapid urbanization


Africa’s cities are growing fast. But the trend lines and context of that growth vary widely across the continent.
That’s a major theme in the 15th edition of the African Economic Outlook, published recently by the African Development Bank, the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development and the United Nations Development Programme. The report includes an entire section devoted to the theme of sustainable cities.


http://citiscope.org/story/2016/five-trends-africas-rapid-urbanization

 

What U.S. Mayors Care About Most


Mayors across the country delivered State of the City addresses this year outlining their most pressing challenges and top priorities.
To gauge the direction that cities are headed in, the National League of Cities (NLC) compiled transcripts of speeches from 100 jurisdictions of varying sizes. A report released Thursday details some of the major areas that mayors are focusing on and highlights a few of the more recent trends.
Speeches were considered to devote “significant coverage” to a topic if they included at least three paragraphs on a subject. The following list summarizes a few of the more prominent themes from the mayors' addresses.


http://www.governing.com/topics/urban/gov-national-league-cities-report.html

 

Japanese Town Shows How 'Zero Waste' Is Done


The residents of Kamikatsu, a town of 1,700, sort their trash into 34 different categories.
At the waste collection center in Kamikatsu, Japan, there are separate bins for different types of paper products: Newspapers, magazines, cartons, flyers. Then there are separate ones for cans: Aluminum, spray, steel. There are even individual bins for plastic bottles and caps. But that’s only a handful of the 34 categories that Kamikatsu residents have to sort their trash into, according to a short documentary by Seeker Stories.


http://www.citylab.com/politics/2015/12/let-this-japanese-town-show-you-how-zero-waste-is-done/419706/

 

Urbanization, climate change, and peri-urban water security

Urbanization processes in South Asia have resulted in the growth of peri-urban spaces. These are intermediary zones between rural areas and urban centres that reveal some features of both; mixed and changing land use, social and economic heterogeneity, and a wide diversity of occupational activities and interests. Land and water use patterns undergo a transformation as land uses change from agricultural to industrial and urban. The process of the growth of modern cities leads to the appropriation of land and water from peri-urban spaces.


http://blog.oup.com/2016/07/climate-change-peri-urban-water-security/

 

Regular cycling cuts risk of diabetes – new study


A study by the University of Southern Denmark says that habitual cycling may be associated with a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
The research studied the cycling habits of 24 623 men and 27 890 women between the ages of 50 and 65 over a period of 5 years.
Researchers asked participants to report their cycling habits, including the distance cycled to and from work, and for fun.


http://www.eltis.org/discover/news/regular-cycling-cuts-risk-diabetes-new-study

 

The Value of Street Trees


Trees are an indispensable component of good neighborhoods. When the right species are planted in the right place and cared for properly, many benefits are realized. Street trees soften hardscapes, buffer pedestrians from moving vehicles, and create “outdoor rooms” that are pleasing to walk through. They help to reduce traffic speeds, reduce the load on drainage infrastructure by absorbing precipitation, remove millions of tons of CO2 emissions annually, and extend pavement life with their shade. There even is compelling research that motorist road rage is less in green urban versus stark suburban areas.


http://smartgrowth.org/value-street-trees/

 

The future of Gaza: from city under siege to world tourism hub?


Elements of stylish, civilised Gaza have survived its darkest decade. Palestinian businessman Basil Eleiwa believes his city could become a world tourist hub – but are Gaza and its people holding out for a future that will never arrive?


https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/jul/28/future-gaza-city-world-tourism-hub-palestinian

 

City of Montreal to host ICLEI World Congress 2018


ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability and the City of Montréal are proud to announce that Montréal will host the upcoming ICLEI World Congress 2018.
Held every three years, the ICLEI World Congress assembles hundreds of local and subnational governments, international agencies, national governments, donors and other partners from around the world to set the course for globalizing urban sustainability. It is the premier assembly for cities, towns and regions in the ICLEI Network that are driving forward stronger cumulative action by connecting with peers, fostering partnerships and exchanging information, experiences and best practices. 


http://www.iclei.org/details/article/city-of-montreal-to-host-iclei-world-congress-2018.html

 

“Olli” the First Self-driving Vehicle on the Road in Washington, DC


Local Motors, the leading vehicle technology integrator and creator of the world’s first 3D-printed cars, introduced the first self-driving vehicle to integrate the advanced cognitive computing capabilities of IBM Watson.
The very first Olli will remain in National Harbor this summer, and the public will be able to interact with it during select times over the next several months. The development of the cognitive rider experience in Olli is a collaboration between Local Motors and IBM Watson IoT’s AutoLAB, an industry-specific incubation engine for co-creation of cognitive mobility applications. Production of additional Ollies is taking place at Local Motors headquarters near Phoenix.


http://www.citiesofthefuture.eu/olli-first-self-driving-vehicle-road-washington-dc/

 

A Park Beneath New York City's Sidewalks


Dan Barasch envisions verdant gardens below New York City’s concrete and asphalt. He pictures locals parading down flights of stairs to be confronted by stalagmites of ferns, bromeliads, and mosses in sunken spaces flooded with light.
It surely sounds fantastical, but New York City is one step closer to a year-round subterranean park now that the Lowline, a one-acre underground green space, has received a preliminary go-ahead from city officials.
On Wednesday, the city’s Economic Development Corporation designated the Lowline as the developer approved to work on plans for the decommissioned trolley terminal beneath the Williamsburg Bridge.


http://www.citylab.com/navigator/2016/07/low-line-nyc-city-approval/491378/

 

Apply now for the 2017 UNESCO Learning City Award!


The UNESCO Learning City Award is given to cities that have achieved outstanding progress in building learning cities. For instance, this means revitalising learning in families and communities, or fostering a culture of learning throughout life.
Is your city committed to helping all its citizens learn new skills and competencies throughout life? To apply, send the Award Application Form before 31 August 2016.


http://learningcities.uil.unesco.org/fileadmin/content/Pictures/Learning_City_Award/en-Application-form-learning-city-award.docx

 

Competitive Cities: A Local Solution to a Global Lack of Growth and Jobs


Cities are the future. They’re where people live and work and hubs for growth and innovation. But they’re also poles of poverty and, much too often, centers of unemployment.
One way to address this challenge is to improve a city’s competitiveness, transforming average cities into flourishing urban centers that successfully facilitate firm and industry growth to create jobs, raise productivity and increase incomes.
A team at the World Bank Group has been working since January 2014 on a series of analyses that looked at two central questions: what makes a city competitive; and how can more cities become competitive. The resulting report, Competitive Cities for Jobs and Growth: What, Who, and How shows that improving the competitiveness of cities can help eliminate extreme poverty and promote prosperity for all citizens.


http://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/trade/publication/competitive-cities-a-local-solution-to-a-global-lack-of-growth-and-jobs

 

Have UN Member States listened to cities in the latest draft of the New Urban Agenda for Habitat III?


The latest draft of the New Urban Agenda reveals that the voices of cities and territories are having an impact, but Habitat III must go further if it is not to be a missed opportunity to harness urbanization for sustainable development. 
In May of 2016, coinciding with the Habitat III Local Authorities Hearings, global networks of local governments, civil society, and the urban community launched the #Listen2Cities campaign to call on national governments and the international community to listen to cities and territories in the negotiations on the New Urban Agenda.


https://www.uclg.org/en/media/news/have-un-member-states-listened-cities-latest-draft-new-urban-agenda-habitat-iii

 

Rio Olympics: who are the real winners and losers?


Special report: With just weeks to go until the start of the Games is it possible to assess exactly how this city of more than 6 million has really been impacted – for good and bad – by the awarding of the Olympics? Jonathan Watts and Bruce Douglas visit five key sections of the city to assess the event’s likely legacy, and hear tales of corruption, hope and claims of thousands of families displaced


https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/jul/19/rio-olympics-who-are-the-real-winners-and-losers

 

EU programme offers SUMP training for cities


The EU-funded JASPERS programme is offering training on Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs) for national and city urban transport planning and mobility representatives.
The interactive and participatory training courses will provide participants with information and best practice on SUMP processes, and introduce existing SUMP tools, such as self-assessment tools provided on Eltis.


http://www.civitas.eu/content/eu-programme-offers-sump-training-cities

 

What does it mean to be an intercultural competent city?


After almost 60 years of migration, many Swedish citizens that have been living in the country for generations are still considered as temporary guests or not fully members of the Swedish society.
The understanding of what and who the Swedish society really should include need to change. Six years ago Botkyrka municipality, the most ethnically diverse municipality in Sweden, took the lead to promote such a change and started working to create the same possibilities and life opportunities for all individuals to enable all citizens to fully express their identities as a prerequisite for the growth and sustainable development of the city. To do so, Botkyrka municipality chose an innovative approach to diversity: the intercultural policy model. Being an intercultural competent city means thinking, acting and planning in an intercultural manner. And this includes the involvement of all sectors of the municipality in the coordinated development of intercultural actions and policies.


http://www.coe.int/en/web/interculturalcities/-/botkyrka-what-does-it-mean-to-be-an-intercultural-competent-city-

 

Building sustainable cities major factor in meeting SDGs says Clos


UN-Habitat Executive Director, Dr Joan Clos has said that much of the success in achieving the goals of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda will depend on “building sustainable cities.”
Dr Clos made the statement at the press conference for the opening of the third Preparatory Committee of the United Nations Human Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development to be held in Quito, October this year, of which he is also the Secretary General.  The conference was opened by the Vice President of Indonesia, Jusuf Kalla.


http://unhabitat.org/building-sustainable-cities-major-factor-in-meeting-sdgs-says-clos/

 

We Make Europe! Cities and City Makers enhancing the (Im)Pact of Amsterdam


The final report of the City Makers Summit, held on 29th May in Amsterdam, is available! Thanks to the cooperation of URBACT, Committee of the Regions, City Makers and Eutropian many cities and city makers from around Europe gathered to share their experience with the Urban Agenda Partnerships. The report gives detailed feedback on the current pilot partnerships of ‘Poverty’, ‘Affordable Housing’, ‘Air Quality’ and ‘Inclusion of Migrants and Refugees’. It ends with a section of feedback by URBACT and the Committee of the Regions, which also highlight the actions they will take to support the Urban Agenda for the EU.


http://eutropian.org/we-make-europe-cities-and-city-makers-enhancing-the-impact-of-amsterdam/

 

How Many Cars did This Car-Sharing Service Kill?


According to a new study, every car2go vehicle removes as many as 11 personal cars from city streets.
I sold my Prius when I moved to Washington, D.C.—I expected the city’s Metro system to be a reliable alternative. (It isn’t, but that’s another story.) Luckily, my feet, my bike, and several ride-hailing and car-sharing apps such as Zipcar and Turo have gotten me where I’ve needed to go.


http://www.citylab.com/commute/2016/07/car2go-car-ownership-vmt-ghg/491825/

 

Convention Cities Reflect Challenges Facing the Next President


The location of the Republican and Democratic party conventions always draws attention to the host cities, but this year there has been very little discussion of the serious economic and fiscal challenges that confront both Cleveland and Philadelphia. It’s time to take a look under the hood.
An analysis of the Lincoln Institute’s Fiscally Standardized Cities database reveals that both cities are struggling with structural issues that in fiscal terms keep them on the brink. The database allows comparison of local government finances for 150 of the largest U.S. cities across more than 120 categories of revenues, expenditures, debts and assets.


https://nextcity.org/daily/entry/convention-cities-philadelphia-cleveland-economic-challenges

 

The City That Embraced Its Decline


Once considered the fastest-shrinking city in America, Youngstown, Ohio, decided it would stop trying return to its former glory. The years since haven’t been easy—but they could have been a lot worse.


http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/07/the-city-that-tried-to-stop-growing/490313/

 

Rotterdam secures top position in global water sustainability index


According to Arcadis’ Sustainable Cities Water Index, Rotterdam has been rated as the top city worldwide for water sustainability.
The index, conducted by Arcadis in collaboration with the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR), explores water sustainability of 50 cities from around the world based on it’s robust (resiliency), effective (efficiency) and healthy (quality) water environment.
This index measures the sustainability of city waterscapes overall, as well as focusing on each sub-index measure as well.


http://www.urbannewsdigest.in/?p=19264

 

Digital Helsinki programme


People are accustomed to use their mobile phones to order food or a taxi ride, to book flights, and to check the results of sports events. This is also the world in which public services operate. The goal of public service providers is to better meet the changed expectations of citizens and to develop digital public services that are increasingly easy to use. The Digital Helsinki programme accelerates the digitalization of the City services openly and through experimentation with citizens.


http://www.smartcitieslive.com/#!Digital-Helsinki-programme/qyr59/5771b7660cf2e26a9984688a

 

Walking making enormous strides


Imagine living in one of America’s great walkable communities. 
Your day begins with a stroll—saying hi to neighbors, noticing blooming gardens and enticing shop windows, maybe stopping for a treat on your way to work. 
Weekends are even better.  You step out your door and join the hum of activity on the sidewalk en route to a coffeeshop, park, shopping district, friend’s home, recreation center or house of worship. 
More time on your feet provides an opportunity to reflect on your life (you feel more energetic and creative now that you’re not driving all the time) and your community (it feels more alive now that everyone walks more).  Even driving is more fun than it used to be with fewer cars clogging the streets. 


http://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2016/7/8/walking-makes-strides-in-all-kinds-of-communities?

 

Slovakia has officially taken over the Urban Agenda for the EU


The Minister of Transport, Construction and Regional development of the Slovak Republic Mr. Roman Brecely has took a visit of Mr. Nicolaas Beets, the Dutch Urban Envoy on June 30th 2016. The aim of the meeting was to officially forward the process of the Urban Agenda for the EU from the Netherlands to Slovak presidency.
The Urban Agenda for the EU was officially approved during the informal meeting of EU ministers responsible for urban policy on May 30th 2016 by adopting the Pact of Amsterdam.


http://urbanagendaforthe.eu/slovakia-has-officialy-taken-over-the-urban-agenda-for-the-eu/

 

The world’s most water-stressed cities?


More than 2.5 billion people don’t have access to basic levels of fresh water for at least one month each year – a situation growing ever more critical as urban populations expand rapidly


https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/jul/29/where-world-most-water-stressed-cities-drought

 

Mayors to gather in Seoul, raising ambitions of the Paris Agreement


The year 2016 is a unique year. The Seoul Mayors Forum on Climate Change, taking place on 1 to 2 September 2016, responds to this by focusing on two key developments: the Compact of Mayors and its relevance to the Paris Agreement, as well as the New Urban Agenda to be adopted at the HABITAT III Conference. This Forum, by invitation only, will see mayors discussing the impacts of key developments and shape a message towards COP22. The Paris Agreement recognizes the importance of engagement of all levels of governments in effective implementation, as well as the role of non-party stakeholders including cities and subnational governments. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development calls on countries to begin efforts to achieve 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with Goal 11 specifically focusing on sustainable cities and settlements. All these developments will have an impact on local governments, while it is also clear that no nation can successfully achieve its goals without the decisive contribution of cities and local governments - the implementers of the plans and policies.


http://www.iclei.org/details/article/mayors-to-gather-in-seoul-raising-ambitions-of-the-paris-agreement.html

 

Towards a new Inclusive Integration Policy Lab


On 23 May a restricted group of policy makers, researchers, and NGO representatives met in Florence (Italy) to prepare the further strategic development of the Intercultural cities programme by addressing the challenge of how to export the intercultural policy model at the regional and national levels.
Applying the intercultural paradigm to the national level would require European States to commit to promote cultural reciprocity and symmetry in interethnic relations, adopting a public discourse fostering a pluralistic - as opposed to ethnocentric - regional or national identity, encouraging social mixing and interaction in the public space, neighbourhoods and institutions, as well as rendering governing bodies more diverse and developing the diversity/intercultural competence of public officials.


http://www.coe.int/en/web/interculturalcities/-/towards-a-new-inclusive-integration-policy-lab

 

Sustainable urban mobility network launches in Romania


A new sustainable urban mobility network that will help Romanian cities and organisations learn about and exchange experiences on mobility and transport launched last month in Timi?oara.
Created by the EU-funded CIVITAS Initiative (link is external), the Romanian national network joins CIVINET – a group of European city networks that promote local sustainable urban mobility.


http://www.eltis.org/discover/news/sustainable-urban-mobility-network-launches-romania

 

The fall and rise of the council estate


For decades, the Aylesbury estate in south London has been seen as a symbol of the failure of British social housing. But now – just as it is being demolished – many people are starting to think again


https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/jul/13/aylesbury-estate-south-london-social-housing

 

Johannesburg embraces sustainable planning


Last week, the City of Johannesburg presented Johannesburg’s Spatial Development Framework 2040 (SDF) at the 2016 South African Planning Institute (SAPI) Conference entitled ‘Planning African Cities’. The Spatial Development Framework elucidates Johannesburg’s spatial vision to become a world-class African city. It was developed through a series of participatory multi-stakeholder workshops (charrettes) facilitated by UN-Habitat’s Urban Planning LAB and Johannesburg’s planning department. The framework was approved and adopted as council policy by the mayoral committee last month. 


http://unhabitat.org/johannesburg-embraces-sustainable-planning/

 

Mexico City's Invisible Rivers


One group is fighting to uncover the 45 rivers that flow under the Aztec capital, hidden underground for decades.
Millions of vehicles drive over the Piedad River in Mexico City every day.
Paved over in 1942, what was once one of the biggest rivers in the area now flows under the Miguel Alemán Viaduct, a major east-west highway. Traffic at peak times is so bad that cars average a speed of six kilometers per hour—less than four miles per hour.
But now, a group of experts is arguing that the solution to the traffic chaos is to return to the past, tearing down the overpass and reopening the river to the light of day.


http://www.citylab.com/design/2016/06/mexico-citys-invisible-rivers/486302/

 

Urban design can promote walking


People who live in the most ‘activity-friendly’ neighbourhoods in the world do up to 1.5 hours more physical activity a week than those in the least supportive neighbourhoods.
This is what a study summarized by the European Commission for their Science for Environment Policy newsletter shows. The new international study measured levels of exercise — mainly walking for recreation or transport — in relation to the urban environment across 14 diverse cities. The results show how urban design — such as parks and local amenities — can promote healthy lifestyles which also bring environmental benefits, such as better air quality, through reduced car use. 


http://www.polisnetwork.eu/publicnews/1186/45/Urban-design-can-promote-walking

 

What's Keeping Tourists Away From Paris?


This summer, the Paris tourism industry is wondering what hit it. The city has seen an 11 percent drop in visitors since January compared to the same period last year, resulting in estimated losses of €460 million.
This is a specifically Parisian phenomenon rather than a French one, as outside the capital the country’s visitor numbers have actually gone up by 1 percent. Such is the alarm in Paris that France convened an emergency economic committee on tourism for the first time this week, to get to the bottom of the problem and find solutions. So what’s been going wrong?


http://www.citylab.com/politics/2016/07/paris-tourism-drop/491288/

 

Paris takes Global Earth Hour Capital 2016 title


WWF has announced that Paris is the 2016 Global Earth Hour Capital, recognizing the city as a role model for climate action for its vision for sustainability. Paris is joined by 8 other ICLEI Members honored for their action toward sustainability by winning the Earth Hour national title.


http://www.iclei.org/details/article/paris-takes-global-earth-hour-capital-2016-title.html

 


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