Timișoara 2021 – Simona Neumann at Urban Talks

“Timișoara 2021 – European Capital of Culture” is a remarkably ambitious long term project that started as early as 2011. Using the help and the active engagement of the citizens, the initiative imagined a feasible development for the city during the next decade and even further, attracting numerous partners as well as media coverage and …

Singapore’s plans for a car-lite future

Singapore is already considered one of the greatest cities to work and live in, due to its easy access to high-quality, efficient public transportation. Further efforts now attempt to establish the state as a “car-lite” nation by 2030, making public transport account for 75% of rush hour commutes. Besides boosting the use of public transport, …

Green City Sacramento

Sacramento is a far more manageable city than Los Angeles and that is why Volkswagen expressed its interest in establishing an electric vehicle carsharing network here, rather than in the sprawling city down south. This initiative is part of the $14.7 billion settlement that Volkswagen has reached with state and federal officials in 2016 after the diesel …

Forest Cities for China’s Air Pollution Plague

It is well-known that China has been struggling with remarkably high levels of air pollution lately. There is, however, light at the end of the tunnel – forest cities, blanketed in greenery, designed to absorb carbon dioxide and fight pollution. Stefano Boeri is hardly a new name in green architecture, oriented towards sustainable growth. He …

Curitiba, Brazil: the world’s first sustainable city

Although there’s a lot of talk about cities that are sustainable, green and built for people, you’ve probably never heard much about the city of Curitiba, the capital of the Parana province in Brazil and the eighth most populous city in the country. Curitiba may not be in the news as much as other cities …

Yplan – how youth reclaimed 4 public spaces in Bucharest

Public space quality represents one of many criteria showing that Romania’s cities are lagging compared to Western cites. Public space, an essential part of every city that according to UN-Habitat should cover at least 30% of its total surface, has a central role when it comes to the success of already famous cities such as …