Monday News Roundup

Happy Monday! Let's start the week off right by catching up on the top headlines in sustainability and urban design:

Living in Vancouver comes at a price (The Globe and Mail)

With a fresh mandate and another majority on council, Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson is laying out new priorities for affordable housing. 

How Planning is Like Growing Tomatoes (Planetizen)
An organic system is rarely the sum of its parts. Nothing demonstrates this as clearly as sinking your teeth into a store-bought tomato, writes Ben Brown...

In Copenhagen, gas stations are equipped for bicycle care (Springwise)

Norwegian gas company Statoil has equipped five of its Copenhagen stations with Cykelpleje centers dedicated to bicycle maintenance and repair.

The Benefits of Urban Forests (Planetizen)

This video explains how urban forests provide environmental benefits to densely populated cities that have felt a surge in health problems due to poor air quality.

A day in the life of a pop-up café (Sustainable Cities Collective)

For two years now NYC's DOT has been partnering with local restaurants to install pop-up cafés in parking spaces - creating vibrant public spaces the whole community can enjoy.

HopStop Infographic: Top Urban Travel Trends (Sustainable Cities)

Check out HopStop's infographic for insights into how commuters in more than 68 major metropolitan areas travel.

Addressing Climate Change Via Cities (Sustainable Cities)

This post takes a look back over the collaborative series COP17, discussing the best ideas explored and whether the agreement reached last Friday is enough.

Vibrant & Energy Efficient Social Housing Community in Scotland (Inhabitat)

Grödians, a vibrant social housing project, consists of 34 single family homes all traditionally designed but with major improvements for energy efficient design.

Folding Bikes Gain Popularity in Brazil (Planetizen)
Maria Fernanda Cavalcanti, a resident of Brazil, writes that folding bicycles "...have been catching the attention of urban cyclists everywhere."

Monday News Roundup

Here's what you missed last week from our Twitter Feed!

Transburbia: Tools for transforming suburbia (Transburbia)

An Evolving Repository of New Concepts, Processes & Tools That Can Help Transform Suburbia

Video: A Bird's Eye View of China's Rapid Urbanization (Sustainable Cities)

China's urbanization is happening at a pace never seen before. The following video shows a decade of transformation of 11 Chinese cities traced via Google Earth.

The Architecture of Banana Control (Sustainable Cities)

This article gives an introduction to the involvement of design for dissimulation or artificially inducing the fruit-ripening process. It is architecture pretending toward a condition of ideal nature.

Thoughts About Density (Seattle Transit Blog)

A response to both the oft-repeated notion that tall buildings and density are essentially the same thing, and the idea that what’s good for developers is perforce good for density and/or urbanism.

Bicycles and Chickens: A hidden side of Phoenix (Sustainable Cities)

A report of the third annual Tour de Coops, an event put on by the Valley Permaculture Alliance showcasing cool chicken coops throughout Phoenix. This year, an ingenious bicycle component was added to the tour.

Thumbs up for green architecture (Inhabitat)

While we’ve been talking about how cost-saving green architecture can be for some time now, a new nationwide government report has actually documented some impressive statistics that make it official.

Twin skyscraper design in Korea (Dezeen)

A design for twin skyscrapers in Korea attaches the two with a cloud-like pixelated cluster, dubbed "The Cloud" by Dutch architects MVRVD.

Raising Awareness of Renewable Energy - Not a bad idea... (Sustainable Cities)

Artist raises awareness of renewable energy with a public art installation in Durban. The sculpture is a giant interactive tree with lighting that is charged by numerous bicycles and solar panels.

Jan Gehl on Livability from the Moscow Urban Forum (Sustainable Cities)

This is a quick post to share a keynote presentation by Jan Gehl given at the Moscow Urban Forum. Gehl discusses urban livability, from reducing traffic jams to designing comfortable public spaces.

Monday News Roundup

Warm up this cold winter Monday with the hottest news and headlines from last week!

Sometimes all it takes is a little extra paint for placemaking (Planetizen)

Alyse Nelson describes the carefully placed and collaborative intersection painting of City Paint in Portland, OR as "community empowerment" at its core.

The promise of bike sharing to reduce emissions (Sustainable Cities Collective)

With the launch of NYC’s first system next spring, it appears that bikes and bike stations may become as widespread and popular as they are in Canada and throughout Europe.

2011 Holiday Gift Books in Architecture and Design (Daily Dose)

Just as the title implies, a gift list for design-minded just in time for the holidays.

Do we (still) need Vancouver? (New Urban Network)

Vancouver is known to have become one of the world’s most livable cities. This article discusses the many lessons we have learned (good and bad) from this great city as a model of urbanization. 

Why Montreal needs to tap into the "Development Charge" (Planetizen)

McGill University planners have released a report highlighting untapped sources of revenue in municipal funding. The most glaring of them: fees levied on developers to pay for city services.

Dear America, we need more public transportation! (Switchboard)

APTA reports those who switch from driving to public transportation can save almost $10,000/year. But, in the real world, more Americans will take public transportation only if it becomes more plentiful and convenient.

The Intersection of Health and Urban Planning (Planetizen)

Although urban planning used to be more connected with health, over the decades it has gotten more obsessed with separating uses and planning for automobiles.

A Simple Portrait of an Urban Place (Sustainable Cities Collective)

From time to time, a single image captures the look and feel of city life, and successfully depicts an urban place where people come together...

Achievement in smart growth honored by EPA (Switchboard)

One of the country’s very best, grassroots-led revitalizing neighborhoods and one of our most articulate city plans for a more sustainable future are among this year’s national honorees for achievement in smart growth.

7 Trends for Planning Post-Oil Cities (Sustainable Cities Collective)

In this post, Robert Bowen of Future Cape Town looks at the Masters Thesis of Allen Rhodes, entitled Planning the Post-Oil City, highlighting the seven trends identified and the opportunities they present for cities.