• How variety within limits makes great places

    The most-loved places are comprised of buildings with an endless variety of details within a limited range of architecture, giving distinct and recognizable character.
    The most-loved places around the world vary enormously. At first glance, there seems to be no common thread, because it is the uniqueness of each of these places that makes them notable. Further observation, however, yields at least one common thread: each of them exhibits great variety within a...Read more

  • The real cost of six million people in a suburban swamp

    The recent deluge that inundated Houston and left it looking like Bangladesh reveals the myopia that distorts Joel Kotkin’s latest book, The Human City: Urbanism for the Rest of Us . A stalwart defender of drivable suburbanism, Houston is Kotkin’s poster child, “America’s Opportunity City.” What he...Read more

  • Cleaning up a mess in Long Island City

    How landscape and urbanism came together to transform Queens Plaza—a hostile place for people on foot or bicycle.
    Note: This article is part of a collaboration between Island Press and Public Square on a series of articles based on recently published books on subjects related to urbanism. A lot of us are driven by the urge to fix damaged things, make broken things work, if not actually heal the landscape. In...Read more

  • New eco-city combines ancient practice and modern technology

    Masdar City in Abu Dhabi is designed with energy, transit, human comfort, and sustainability in mind.
    A new city rising on the edge of the Arabian desert may become one of the most sustainable cities in the world. Perhaps ironically, this attempt at creating a low-carbon city is occurring in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, which has grown wealthy exporting hydrocarbons to the world. Yet it’s not pouring...Read more