Archives /// Hilary Best
February 7th, 2012
Urban Planet: White Ribbons in Moscow
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Urban Planet is a daily roundup of blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We’ll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues.
In Moscow last week, drivers adorned their vehicles with white flags and ribbons to show their support for protests against Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. The city's Garden Ring highway was jammed with cars, demonstrating the widespread involvement of the urban ...
February 6th, 2012
Urban Planet: Pedestrian Desire Lines
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Urban Planet is a daily roundup of blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We’ll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues.
Two major road revitalization projects in London, England have planners talking about pedestrian priority and behaviour. As The Economist reports, improvements to Oxford Circus and Exhibition Road have required a fundamental re-examination of pedestrian "desire lines" - the paths ...
February 3rd, 2012
Urban Planet: Super tall
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Urban Planet is a daily roundup of blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We’ll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues.
Mark Lamster and Alexandra Lange at Places:The Design Observer discuss Supertall - a recent exhibit on the world's tallest buildings at New York's Skyscraper Museum. The exhibition focuses on buildings built between 2001 and 2016 that are taller than the ...
February 2nd, 2012
Urban Planet: Witold Rybcyznski vs Richard Florida
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Urban Planet is a daily roundup of blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We’ll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues.
Grist talks to urbanist Witold Rybczynski about his recent efforts to call out Richard Florida for playing "fast and loose" with income statistics for American urban centres. Florida posited a positive relationship between density and household income, using figures ...
February 1st, 2012
Urban Planet: Urban Highway Removal
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Urban Planet is a daily roundup of blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We’ll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues.
Anthony Flint at The Atlantic Cities explores the expansion of urban highway removal across more North America centres and notes the cultural tensions that can flare when such a major piece of infrastructure is slated for demolition. Also worth checking ...
January 31st, 2012
Urban Planet: Anamorphic Gardens
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Urban Planet is a daily roundup of blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We’ll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues.
The Smithsonian Magazine explores Who to Believe?, a Parisian garden in front of City Hall designed by Francois Abelanet. Playing with the traditions of the French garden and Anamorphosis, Abelanet shows that the view of City Hall is quite different depending on where you stand.
Video from WorldScott
For more stories ...
January 30th, 2012
Urban Planet: Citizen Cartography
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Urban Planet is a daily roundup of blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We’ll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues.
“The map user has now become the map creator,” says Fraser Taylor, Director of the Geomatics and Cartographic Research Centre at Carleton University. In a recent article on This Big City, author Christine McLaren explores the phenomenon of citizen cartographers. ...
January 27th, 2012
Urban Planet: Highway Caps
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Urban Planet is a daily roundup of blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We’ll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues.
Highways can carve up and scar urban neighbourhoods, which is why many North American cities are looking for ways to cover this infrastructure and restore community. The Chicago Tribune explores the experience of Columbus, Ohio which saw increased pedestrian traffic and business ...
January 26th, 2012
Urban Planet: Rem Koolhaas
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Urban Planet is a daily roundup of blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We’ll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues.
Spiegel speaks with starchitect Rem Koolhaas about the magazine's new building, generic urban design, the changing role of the architect and the negative outcomes of commercial and bureaucratic impulses.
Image from Spiegel
For more stories from around the planet, check out Spacing ...
January 25th, 2012
Urban Planet: Temporary Architecture
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Urban Planet is a daily roundup of blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We’ll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues.
We often think of architecture as a permanent art form, but temporary installations are becoming more and more pervasive. Think pop-up shops, post-disaster shelters, mobile food carts, streets cafes and pocket parks. Allison Arieff at the New York Times considers ...


















