Understanding Tokyo's Land Use: The Power of Microspaces
Tokyo’s low crime rates, world-leading transportation network, and affordable rents make it one of the world’s most livable cities. Despite its incredible size, the city is also home to a large number of microspaces, which range from tens of thousands of cozy microbars and restaurants to tiny mom-and-pop shops that occupy the ground floors of many row houses. In “Understanding Tokyo’s Land Use: The Power of Microspaces,” Joe McReynolds considers the lessons that the city can (and cannot) provide for American urban policy.
India’s electric rickshaws are leaving EVs in the dust
Little-known e-rickshaw companies like YC Electric are at the forefront of the country’s EV revolution.
India’s electric rickshaws are leaving EVs in the dust
Each month, this upskilled team produces...
Drawing the Line: Architecture of Repair in the Anthropocene
In the Anthropocene, innovative architecture will rely less on formal or material invention and more on repair, retrofit, renovation — on the collective pursuit of decarbonization. For architects this is a growth opportunity. Or better, a de-growth opportunity.
Daily Paid Parking Is Coming to Some Sound Transit Lots - The Urbanist
Up to 10 Sound Transit-owned parking facilities -- including at all Link station parking facilities -- could see daily paid parking begin around the time that the Lynnwood Link Extension opens.
China has flooded the market with so many solar panels that people are using them as garden fencing
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is set to discuss industrial overcapacity with top Chinese officials during her trip to China that starts on Wednesday.
Seattle Street Ends: South Ship Canal - The Urbanist
Eleven "Street Ends" along the south shore of Salmon Bay and the Fremont Cut offer great recreational opportunities. SDOT and volunteers from Friends of Street Ends work to maintain and expand these mini parks.
50 years ago, The World’s Fair helped reshape Spokane’s downtown
To remember the 1974 event that drew more than five million people, the city will host celebrations focusing on the environment and Indigenous culture.
Giant Sails Actually Help Cargo Ships Save Fuel, And The Planet In Turn
Shipping is not a clean business. The global economy is fueled by trade, and much of that trade involves hauling product from point A to point B. A great deal of that product goes by water. Shippin…
Space Mirrors: Dreams Of Turning The Night Into Day Around The Clock
Recently, a company by former SpaceX employee Ben Nowack – called Reflect Orbital – announced that it is now ready to put gigantic mirrors in space to reflect sunshine at ground-based s…
Bellevue City Council All But Abandons ‘Bike Bellevue’ Network - The Urbanist
By being crystal clear that most councilmembers don't support reallocating existing street space to create new bike corridors, the Bellevue City Council effectively rejected the network its transportation department created.
Metro Starts Federal Way Link Bus Restructure Planning - The Urbanist
King County Metro is launching its bus restructure planning process to accompany Federal Way Link, which opens sometime in 2026 adding three stations and about eight miles of light rail between SeaTac and Federal Way. Fill out Metro's scoping survey.
Residential electricity prices jumped nearly 12% in 2023 and they are going higher. But the carbon intensity of power generation isn't falling and low-income ratepayers are subsidizing the rich.
New Energy for Changes Along Seattle’s MLK Corridor, But Few New Ideas - The Urbanist
Recent initiatives at both Sound Transit and the City of Seattle have put the issue of safety along the at-grade segment of light rail tracks in the Rainier Valley back in the spotlight.
How Does Paris Stay Paris? By Pouring Billions Into Public Housing
One quarter of residents in the French capital live in government-owned housing, part of an aggressive plan to keep lower-income Parisians — and their businesses — in the city.