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.
• Transportation for America reports that communities across the U.S. are demanding repairs to aging and unsafe bridges. A staggering 9.8% of bridges in the Chicago metropolitan area are considered structurally deficient.
• The UBC School of Public Affairs profiles a recent report on the impact of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. The study used 126 IOC-mandated indicators to assess the social, economic and environmental impacts of the Games. While the reported findings are somewhat vague, researchers note that the Games helped with the creation of new jobs and businesses and increases in visitor spending.
• At Next American City, Michael Hooper examines the role of public participation in infrastructure projects. While some prominent urbanists question the value of what they term ‘excessive participatory requirements’ – citing slower construction times, Hooper identifies other positive spillovers from public participation including user satisfaction, long-term economic and social sustainability and the development of social capital.
• Dutch designers Merel Sloother, Liat Azulay and Pieter Frank de Jong are showcasing their latest design: Feats per Minute is a bicycle that plays records on its wheels as riders rolls towards their destination. (DeZeen)
• At BDOnline, Elizabeth Hopkirk reports that Gaddafi’s death has prompted interest in Libyan development from international construction firms. But as architect Phillip Graham notes, it is too easy to make snap decisions on the country’s development trajectory at this moment. It is a time for “ideas not contracts”.
Image from DeZeen
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