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Surreal Islands of Dubai
Ever thought about buying your own country? Well it just got a whole lot easier. The World islands are currently being built four miles off the cost of Dubai. They will be finished this year and include wacky themes like a pirate island, a medieval castle island, and even a safari island shaped like an African country complete with its own wild animals. Watching their promo video makes you feel like you have just fast-forwarded into the future, kinda creepy Really interesting! This pod will take the viewers into this totally surreal set of islands, talk to its developers and residents and see what The World is really like, Dubai style. Ever thought about buying your own country? Well it just got a whole lot easier. The World islands are currently being built four mi... more
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Things to Do in and Around Detroit for Students
Detroit is NOT a bad city. While it is one of the worst, Detroit has much to offer especially if you are a student. Detroit is a fun, hip place to be. Detroit is NOT a bad city. While it is one of the worst, Detroit has much to offer especially if you are a student. Detroit is a fun, ... more
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Most 'Walkable' U.S. City: SF Is A Step Ahead
The city by the bay is the most "walkable" in the nation, according to rankings set for release today by WalkScore.com, a service designed to help those seeking a less automobile-dependent life. The distinction encompasses a host of environmental, health and economic advantages.
WalkScore, a division of Seattle software company Front Seat, evaluated the 40 largest U.S. cities based on residents' proximity to grocery stores, coffee shops, restaurants, movie theaters and other amenities. Hills were not taken into account in the rankings, just distance and concentration.
San Francisco scored an 86 out of 100, besting New York's 83 and Boston's 79. Seventeen of San Francisco's neighborhoods ranked 90 or above - considered a "walker's paradise" - including Chinatown, the Mission, Nob Hill and Haight-Ashbury. The city by the bay is the most "walkable" in the nation, according to rankings set for release today by WalkScore.com, a service desi... more -
What's your neighborhood's walk score?
Data visualization star Lee Byron rendered a map of San Francisco that color-codes blocks according to their walk score. How does your neighborhood do? Data visualization star Lee Byron rendered a map of San Francisco that color-codes blocks according to their walk score. How does your... more
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Cabbages in the sky: skyscraper farms the future of food?
What if "eating local" in Shanghai or New York meant getting your fresh produce from five blocks away? And what if skyscrapers grew off the grid, as verdant, self-sustaining towers where city slickers cultivated their own food? asks the Internationa; Herald Tribune today.
Dr. Dickson Despommier, a professor of public health at Columbia University, hopes to make these zucchini-in-the-sky visions a reality. Despommier's pet project is the "vertical farm," a concept he created in 1999 with graduate students in his class on medical ecology, the study of how the environment and human health interact.
The idea, which has captured the imagination of several architects in the United States and Europe in the past several years, just caught the eye of another big city dreamer: Scott Stringer, the Manhattan borough president in New York.
When Stringer heard about the concept in June, he said he immediately pictured a "food farm" addition to the New York City skyline. "Obviously we don't have vast amounts of vacant land," he said in a phone interview. "But the sky is the limit in Manhattan." Stringer's office is "sketching out what it would take to pilot a vertical farm," and plans to pitch a feasibility study to the mayor's office within the next couple of months, he said.
"I think we can really do this," he added. "We could get the funding."
Will skyscraper farms start appearing on a skyline near you, and would you welcome them? What would you grow outside your office or flat? Traffic-fumed tomatoes and acid rain-watered apples. Yum.
What if "eating local" in Shanghai or New York meant getting your fresh produce from five blocks away? And what if skyscrapers grew of... more -
Government must tackle poverty to combat gun crime
A new study has revealed the extent to which shootings and other gun crime in the UK goes unreported. It also highlights the poverty which lies behind gun crime.
The cultural unwritten law of not 'grassing' - and intimidation of witnesses - distorts gun crime figures.
The Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, which carried out the research, called upon the government to focus on social solutions to combat the menace. It warned that tough sentencing policies "may be ineffective".
"Contrary to its commitment to be 'tough on crime'... the Government's criminal justice policy has been characterised by a reluctance to acknowledge the causal relation between income inequality and violent crime," it said. A new study has revealed the extent to which shootings and other gun crime in the UK goes unreported. It also highlights the poverty ... more -
Portland and San Francisco among America's best cities for design
Portland is among the top five best cities for architecture and design, according to an independent study conducted by one of the world's leading architectural practices.
Looking at 10 criteria including architecture awards, "green" design and public transit systems, New York-based RMJM Hillier selected 10 cities leading the way in design policy and practice. Then the firm commissioned public opinion and research firm Zogby International to interview more than 1,000 residents of those cities on architecture and design issues and incorporated those results into the research to determine the final rankings.
Here is the final list:
1. Chicago
2. New York
3. Boston
4. Los Angeles
5. Portland
6. San Francisco
7. Seattle
8. Denver
9. Philadelphia
10. Washington, D.C.
"Good design makes better communities by boosting the economy, creating jobs, and, particularly today, sponsoring environmental strategies," said Peter Schubert, AIA, design director of RMJM Hillier. "We conducted this study to see which cities are the most forward-thinking in their planning and development strategies and to applaud those that are doing it right."
Portland is among the top five best cities for architecture and design, according to an independent study conducted by one of the worl... more -
All American City, Akron Ohio 3 Time Winner
For the third time, Akron has been named an All America City. Akron also won the honor in 1981 and 1995.
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World's most expensive cities!
Topping off the list is.... London Monaco and on it goes.
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In airport's twilight, Berlin's old song
The future of Berlin's Templehof Airport hangs in the balance between possible preservation and an unknown fate if the city of Berlin decides to terminate funding for the aging icon -- a nostalgic symbol of the city's modern civic projects and metropolitan air travel. New York Times' writer Michael Kimmelman contributed this story about the questionable fate of Templehof -- site of the U.S.-led airlift to supply West Berliners in the beseiged city 60 years ago and where Orville Wright earlier demonstrated his aircraft -- in this recent reprint on the International Herald Tribune site (19 May 2008). Although Berlin city Mayor Klaus Wowereit would like to close Templehof by year's end, a city-wide referendum narrowly passed with residents wishing to spare the old facility. Whether their votes will be enough to save Templehof remains uncertain as Berlin looks to expand Schnefeld airport on the city's eastern edge and move forward with plans for a newer airport -- the Berlin-Brandenburg International. Read more details about Templehof's landmark connection to Berlin in Kimmelman's article on IHT.com The future of Berlin's Templehof Airport hangs in the balance between possible preservation and an unknown fate if the city of Berlin ... more
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Rent Control: Y or N?
California's ballot initiatives are often signs of things to come around the nation. In a special June election, Californians will be voting on Proposition 98, which would abolition rent control in the state. California's ballot initiatives are often signs of things to come around the nation. In a special June election, Californians will be ... more
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The Frisky Guidebook: The Weirdest City In Texas
A really guide for Austin, Texas.. Makes me want to go!
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San Francisco in silver
It's sort of glorious, even though it's just, er, tableware.
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Green city to rise in the desert
Emirate Abu Dhabi is moving ahead with a large-scale project to build Masdar City -- a "green city" near the Abu Dhabi airport. Masdar City, expected to cost $20 billion and ten years to complete, will be a unique urban project that will be car-free, solar-powered, and feature advanced recycling facilities. Residents and visitors will get around on a light-rail system powered by solar energy in an eco-friendly city constructed with a contemporary design aesthetic. Read more in Craig and Marc Kielburger's contribution on this story in the Toronto Star. Emirate Abu Dhabi is moving ahead with a large-scale project to build Masdar City -- a "green city" near the Abu Dhabi airport. Masdar... more
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Golf and the Environment: How Green is Golf?
Golf Digest Magazine explores whether golf is green in this month's issue. John Barton, in his article "How Green is Golf?", identifies core problems with golf courses -- increasing water cost and scarcity, and the burden of golf green maintenance with pesticides. Burton raises some interesting questions which have been explored by environmentalists for years, but only initially explored between the golf establishment and environmentalists together at a Pebble Beach conference in 1995.
Golf course maintenance incurs high costs, and use 300,000 gallons of water each day for golf greens around the United States, according to Burton's article. But golf courses do not depend on water alone to keep it evergreen. Pesticides and synthetic chemicals are sprayed regularly, which compound the environment, and can result in disease and cancer.
Read more in Burton's essay, and additional interviews with golf architects, environmentalists, and others about these issues.
Photo: Desert Springs Golf Course, Costa de Almeria, Spain. Golf Digest Magazine explores whether golf is green in this month's issue. John Barton, in his article "How Green is Golf?", identifi... more -
São Paulo: A City Without Ads
Adbusters Magazine ran this interesting story last fall (Adbusters #73, Sep-Oct 2007) by David Evan Harris, and featured an interview by On The Media’s Bob Garfield with Vinicius Galvao, a reporter for Folha de São Paulo, Brazil’s largest newspaper, about São Paulo’s ban on visual pollution. São Paulo’s “Lei Cidade Limpa” or Clean City Law, which went into effect last year, put an end to commercial advertising and signage around the city, the fourth largest metropolis in the world. The ban extends to all kinds of outdoor signage and has a greater reach than putting an end to billboard campaigns, and has become an unexpected success. Read more in this fascinating feature about ending visual pollution in São Paulo. Adbusters Magazine ran this interesting story last fall (Adbusters #73, Sep-Oct 2007) by David Evan Harris, and featured an interview ... more
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Gays in Egypt besieged by wave of suppression
Police in Cairo have escalated arrests of gay men and alleged HIV-positive men who meet in public on streets around the city. Although homosexuality is not illegal, human rights advocates and independent observers have commented on the arrests as a symbolic show of force by governments "to out-moralize Islamic parties that have denounced the perceived depravity of Arab societies," writes Daniel Williams, a reporter for Bloomberg News. Read more about this story in a reprint in the International Herald Tribune.
Earlier coverage of this subject can be found in a substantial New York Times article with the sensational headline, "Prisoners of Sex" by Negar Azimi, the senior editor of Bidoun Magazine. Azimi writes, "There are no gay bars in Cairo, so coffee shops and the Qasr el-Nil Bridge are popular meeting spots." Photo: Qasr el-Nil Bridge by Ziyah Gafic, 2006, courtesy of the New York Times.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/03/magazine/03arabs.html Police in Cairo have escalated arrests of gay men and alleged HIV-positive men who meet in public on streets around the city. Although... more -
Life in London captured digitally
The Memory Project, a digital photography installation, is capturing a panaromic snapshot of London's skyline from the banks of the River Thames every five seconds. Designed by Gabby Shawcross and Jason Bruges, the Memory Project will tour Edinburgh and Liverpool after leaving London in the coming weeks. The Memory Project, a digital photography installation, is capturing a panaromic snapshot of London's skyline from the banks of the Ri... more
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Doc Debut : Super Amigos
Link TV will broadcast Super Amigos, a documentary about masked luchadores -- Lucho Libre-style wrestlers -- who wage fights against social injustices in Mexico City. The five anonymous "social wrestlers" include Super Animal who asks bullfighters to fight him instead of bulls; Super Gay champions gay rights and battles homophobia after a savage beating kills his boyfriend; Ecologista Universal fights for environmental protection and preservation; Fray Tormenta, who experienced homeless as a youth, battles against the injustices and struggles of homeless children and opened a shelter; and Super Barrio helps poor tenants resist evictions in neighborhoods facing emergent gentrification. Super Amigos was written, produced and directed by Arturo Perez Torres, and has an air date on Link TV on April 27.
For additional info, check out the films' official site here:
Super Amigos
http://www.opencityworks.com/superamigos/
Link TV will broadcast Super Amigos, a documentary about masked luchadores -- Lucho Libre-style wrestlers -- who wage fights against s... more -
Abused Chicagoans Revolt Against Daley’s Decayed Subways
After putting up with years of ongoing abuse from the city, Chicago's transit riders finally revolted against Mayor Daley and his decayed subway system. Packed trains were stranded under Chicago's Loop during rush hour for more than an hour on Tuesday. People were getting sick and throwing up from the lack of circulating fresh air. Finally, riders revolted en mass, ignoring transit workers' confused directions and pleas, abandoning the stalled trains and making a long and dangerous trudge through dark and dirty underground tunnels to the light of freedom. Some of them still remain hospitalized.
Photographs and videos are included. After putting up with years of ongoing abuse from the city, Chicago's transit riders finally revolted against Mayor Daley and his deca... more
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