Once a thriving civic space in the heart of Toronto’s urban core, College Park housed an ice-skating rink and a tree-lined park for its residents. Since the rink closed in 2013, the area has been reduced to little more than…
The rust-belt city of Detroit, which declared bankruptcy in 2013, has recently been experiencing something of an art-and-design resurgence – and homegrown retailer Shinola has been synonymous with its rebirth. Founded in…
What are the big urban trends of tomorrow? Ask almost any urban planner and they’ll tell you about the rebirth of the suburb, healthy architecture or perhaps how blue urbanism is the new way to go green. But what about the…
Rapid urban development takes many forms but in 2015 it quite literally reached new heights. Last year saw a record number of new skyscrapers, with 106 200-metre-plus buildings erected worldwide according to a new report…
Sunshine might be an easy sell but this week an urban conference is exploring how to make winter a winning proposition. Edmonton is holding the Winter Cities Shake-Up congress, a three-day affair that examines urbanism,…
New York is preparing to unveil the latest of its resilient urban parks. On 19 July The Hills will open on Governors Island, about a kilometre from the southern tip of Manhattan. The masterplan by urban-design and landscape…
A 1960s modernist dwelling in south London, designed by Richard Rogers, will become home to a group of architecture aficionados under a new Harvard University fellowship. Rogers, one of the UK’s pre-eminent architects,…
Responding to the decimation of green space in his hometown of Ho Chi Minh City, architect Vo Trong Nghia is known for creating sustainable architecture with bamboo. This week Vo kicked off the 2016 Asia Pacific Architec…
Despite Ankara’s image as a strait-laced spot built solely for politicians, policy-makers and diplomats, Turkey’s capital is also infamous for its urban eccentricity. Whether it’s dinosaur sculptures on the intersections…
For all its architectural splendour Paris often lacks in urban greenery, with the nearest verdant spread a Métro journey away. To tackle the problem, mayor Anne Hidalgo announced an urban regeneration plan in July, which…
The third Friday in September is Park(ing) Day and it has been since 2005, when art and design studio Rebar took it upon itself to transform a San Francisco parking lot into a mini park complete with a bench and tree. For…
Fancy yourself a bit of a modern farmer? Then you’ll be happy to hear that the Tainan City government in southwestern Taiwan has been encouraging urban dwellers to become rural entrepreneurs since 2011, promoting courses…
There’s a haze over Singapore – but not the usual kind. This week Credit Suisse released a gloomy forecast for the trade-dependent island in the shape of its 2016 report on Asian export leaders. Rising wages, stagnant…
Which city leads the world in competitiveness? Hong Kong, according to a new ranking by the Institute for Urban Strategies, a think-tank funded by Japanese property developer Mori Building. Hong Kong scored higher on the…
Population growth can be the bane of good urban design but Seattle has shown in recent years that a rapidly expanding city can also be a well-planned one. Following successful affordable housing and public-transport init…
Now that the majority of China’s population lives in cities, its central government is prioritising urban challenges such as pollution and traffic congestion – and “weird” architecture. According to the state council, which…
