Each week we will be focusing on 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 New York Times offers an interesting portrait of Richard A. Baker – CEO of retail giants, Lord & Taylor and the Hudson’s Bay Company. The piece offers a fascinating window into the financial and land use power Baker exerts through his retail property holdings in the US and Canada.
• PriceWaterhouse Coopers and the Partnership for New York City offer yet another ranking of the global metropolises. Perhaps more important than the individual results, VP Merrill Pond concludes, “a great city is all about growing, retaining and attracting talent. Whether it’s Stockholm with its strong education system or Toronto benefiting from its smart immigration policies, getting and keeping talent matters.” (The Atlantic)
• Toronto city councillor, Doug Ford, is game to attract more talent to Hogtown. The rookie councillor raised the ire of New Orleans NFL fans when he suggested that their franchise might be better suited to Toronto and named a number of possible sites for a regulation-sized stadium. (Globe and Mail)
• “The rumours have been circulating on the streets and online for months that the Eternal City is facing imminent destruction,” says the BBC. A persistent rumour predicting an earthquake in Rome on May 11, 2011 is causing many to flee the city and others to pre-emptively take the day off.
• While some cities, such as New York, plan to reduce minimum parking requirements, Brisbane, Australia moves to increase the minimums for commercial buildings. “Under the amendments to the Transport, Access, Parking and Servicing Planning Scheme Policy, the number of car parks in commercial developments in areas including Milton, Kangaroo Point, Woolloongabba, Auchenflower, Kelvin Grove and Toowong, will be doubled”. Bicycle parking, showers and lockers are also now mandated in large commercial developments. (Brisbane Times)
Do you have a World Wide Wednesday worthy article you’d like to share? Send the link to www@spacing.ca
2 comments
The Baker article is interesting because it explains a couple puzzles regarding the Bay, such as how the sudden change in ownership came to pass, why the tie-ins with L&T, and what was driving the whole Zellers-Target deal. I also don’t think it is widely known that an Abu Dhabi fund owns half of HBC — not much need for those iconic striped blankets in the UAE, but go figure.
The Atlantic city ranking was interesting.
Toronto is # 2, and has “all the building blocks of a superlative international city, beginning with smart ideas about sustainability and innovation.”
Worst feature: “Third last in cost of public transportation ”
I guess the good features were found somewhat before last October. The worst feature will be with us for some time.