“Ocupa tu Calle” is a Lima-based NGO that seeks to create new public spaces in poorly planned urban areas in Lima. Through micro-interventions, Ocupa tu Calle has been able to plan and create urban projects effectively and rapidly. This initiative tackles one of Lima’s biggest problems: bad urban planning. Throughout the last decades, Lima has become the victim …
China has made remarkable advancements in many aspects of development (civil engineering, industry, urbanization, etc.), but landscape architecture can certainly be seen as the most outstanding of all. Here are ten examples of projects where sustainability, functionality, creativity and concern for the environment all come together. 1. Zhengzhou Vanke Central Plaza, by Locus Associates, Zhengzhou …
As technology and infrastructure improved, people forgot about the rivers flowing in their cities. Lately, 10 cities have been reconnecting with their rivers. Since the industrial revolution cities have been designed to take over nature, but now planners are pushing to reintegrate nature into the urban landscape. Rivers are one part of this movement, with some …
Organising the Olympics can become complicated due to unexpected economic costs, urban planning and deadlines. But previous Olympic hosts have taught us that it is even more difficult to deal with the newly built infrastructure after the closing ceremony. What at first seems like an attractive investment, it later becomes a burden for the hosting city. …
The Eixample district of Barcelona is the centre of a new initiative: Superblocks. This project plans to tackle air pollution and high noise levels by creating car-free spaces. Ildefons Cerda is considered one Barcelona’s architecture and urban planning pioneers of the 19th century. He is famous for having designed the Eixample district, an extension of …
Gentrification has been widely debated in the United States lately, as long-time residents of neighborhoods are being priced out by wealthier residents who flow back into these areas, and minority groups are said to be affected the most. A review done by researchers at the University of California Berkeley and UCLA, published by the Federal …
The revitalization of the Gdansk’s Lower Town district included investments in infrastructure and social fabric as well as social and cultural activities to tackle the specific problems in this area. All operations were aimed at fighting against social exclusion, with some activities focusing more particularly on children and young people from disadvantaged families, and others directly …
The Lowline is a plan to use innovative solar technology to illuminate an historic trolley terminal on the Lower East Side of New York City. The vision is a stunning underground park, providing a beautiful respite and a cultural attraction in one of the world’s most dense, exciting urban environments. New York’s City Hall has …
Albuquerque is celebrating the one year anniversary of the city’s successful “There’s a Better Way” program, which hires panhandlers to work in maintenance jobs and also aims to connect them with services. Mayor Richard Berry was driving around Albuquerque last year when he saw a man on a street corner holding a sign that read: …
Talented street artist Patrick Commecy, together with his team, creates huge murals of hyper-realistic facades that bring blank and boring city walls to life. What’s interesting here is that while these realistic yet fake facades trick you at first glance, some of the people painted there were once real. His hyperrealistic painted-on windows, balconies …