Nighttime is much more than a source of danger or an occasion to party – it’s a portal into a different world, with rhythms, challenges and lifestyles of its own.
The playground on Zaanhof.
Amsterdam City Archives/010009008690
One visionary modernist architect saw play spaces as crucial to the 20th-century city. But they have to be cared for in order to survive.
In the city of London, security cameras can even be found in cemeteries. In 2021 the mayor’s office launched an effort to establish guidelines for research around emerging technology.
Acabashi/Wikimedia
As states and nations struggle to regulate growing AI use, municipal authorities are often leading the way. An emerging paradigm known as AI Localism can help us better define the way forward.
Perhaps the most famous document of its type, Anne Frank’s diary is a version of the Holocaust without the actual horrors.
In Paris, the major east-west axis, from the Place de la Concorde to the Place de la Bastille, as given a temporary ‘coronapiste’ after the pandemic broke out. Mayor Anne Hidalgo has said that it will become permanent.
Mairie de Paris
The need for social distancing sparked a cycling boom, cutting air pollution and boosting city dwellers’ mental and physical health. But when the pandemic ends, will it be back to life as usual?
Courtyard of the Amsterdam Stock Exchange, circa 1670,
(Job Adriaenszoon Berckheyde).
Wikimedia
The neighbourhoods of Paris, Barcelona and Amsterdam with densities 3-5 times those of Melbourne and Sydney offer an insight into how we could transform our cities for the better.
Outside their usual living environment, tourists feel freer from social constraints. Much to the chagrin of the locals.
Nito/Shutterstock
Social networks tend to encourage behaviour considered deviant by local populations.
Sydney’s Darling Harbour: popular but noisy and expensive. Here’s how we could do better to provide a safe place to work and play.
from www.shutterstock.com
Rob Roggema, Hanze University of Applied Sciences, Groningen
Cities around the world are redeveloping their waterfronts to be accessible and resilient to the effects of climate change. Here’s where Sydney’s Darling Harbour went wrong and what we can do better.
The future of Sydney is under constant scrutiny. But before we consider creating a ‘third city’ in Sydney’s west, we should ensure we get the current infrastructure up to international standards.
Facing international competition to attract people, jobs and firms, cities are branding themselves. But to succeed they must identify key values and address the question of identity.
Chelsea Johnson, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
Natural hair has become a political rallying point for women across the African diaspora. For these women, wearing natural hair is way to resist Eurocentric norms and “post-racial” political thought.
At Tolhuistuin, the government provides the land, old building stock and a maintenance budget for a fixed period while the creatives develop the precinct themselves.
Maurice Mikkers/flickr