Topography and mobility

Chapter 1

Gironella’s inventive solution

The population in this small town in the north of Spain’s Catalonian region had become segregated by its own steep topography. The solution? Enlisting a skilled architect to design a camouflaged lift attached to the cliffside.

Chapter 2

Seoul’s new overpass

The South Korean capital has turned a highway overpass into an elevated pedestrian walkway and park and it’s set to open to the public this weekend. Our Seoul correspondent, Jason Strother, got an early tour of the refurbished bridge and brings us this report.

Chapter 3

Rio de Janeiro’s cable car

We travel to Rio de Janeiro where the city’s natural mountainous topography can make accessing some parts of the city incredibly challenging. With 20 per cent of Rio’s population living in hillside communities, a few gondolas have been put in place over the years to make these locations more accessible. But how much do these solutions really work?