After Greece announced a public referendum on austerity (effectively rejecting it), Athens was a mix of apprehension and resignation. Drizzle fell on empty Syntagma Square, the scene of recent protests; crowds preferred ATM lines in…
Africa is rapidly urbanising, and the UN projects that a majority of the continent’s residents will live in cities within the next 20 years. Around the world, urban growth is receiving increasing interest, from governments…
With culture-based revitalization best left to natural evolution, neighborhoods can benefit from unexpectedly useful characteristics: fragmented property ownership and historical geographic disadvantage. In South Korea, Mullae and Gamcheon urban villages embody this paradox, and their…
Long-term concerns aside, Nepal must take progressive steps towards restoring services and providing shelter and basic necessities for earthquake victims. When recovery aid money is spent and life returns to some semblance of normalcy, Nepal…
Flexible policy broadens structural capabilities and builds resilience into urban systems, in either a specialized or diversified economy. The outputs include infrastructure both hard (transport, technology and housing) and soft (education, culture, and institutions). In…
Hinz, Greg. “What’s Chicago’s future as a global city?” Crain’s Chicago Business, 22 May 2015. http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20150522/BLOGS02/150529914/whats-chicagos-future-as-a-global-city#utm_medium=email&utm_source=ccb-dailyalert&utm_campaign=ccb-dailyalert-20150522 Longworth, Richard. “Chicago as Stockholm.” American Review, 28 April 2015. http://americanreviewmag.com/blogs/Chicago-as-Stockholm
Achieving transformative growth is not a matter of size, but of political vision and entrepreneurial initiative. New Zealand has an opportunity to enhance its competitiveness in the new global economy, and its secondary cities should…
Both the government and donors should demand a mix of hard options, such as earthquake-resistant buildings, and soft options, such as enhancing indigenous capacity for disaster management and improving institutional functionality. The country should use…
It is not often that transformative economic opportunities miraculously appear, as they have in most global cities. Urban governments should not expect to replicate the success of Silicon Valley, Wall Street, or even Hollywood. These…
This earthquake will remain in the global conscience only until it disappears from the broader news agenda. Sooner rather than later, donor efforts will turn to the next disaster. Once interest fades, Nepal will return…
