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
From wearables with monitoring chips to face scanners that assess your contentment, workplace surveillance seems to be going in one direction.
The benefits of ‘superblocks’ for Barcelona include better health, access to green space and other public space, and more transport-related physical activity.
Orbon Alija/iStock
The Spanish city is remaking urban neighbourhoods by limiting through traffic in superblocks that give priority to pedestrians and street activities, not cars.
The process of radicalisation is a complex system that cannot be reduced to the brain, behaviour, or environment. It exists at the intersection of all these elements.
Venice is among the cities that have had public protests against soaring numbers of tourists – including this protest banner on the Rialto bridge.
Andrea Merola/EPA/AAP
The future of tourism depends on ensuring visitors do not wear out their welcome. Giving locals more of a say in tourism can help ensure they share in the benefits and minimise the costs.
Barcelona is a city where various “smart” aspects contribute to everyday life.
Photo by Tim Easley on Unsplash
Advertising as a life story – this clever campaign branded a Spanish beer with a sense of belonging.
A smart city is usually one connected and managed through computing — sensors, data analytics and other information and communications technology.
from shutterstock.com
As cities become 'smarter', they need more and more objects fitted with technology. We need to think about designing these objects to accommodate computers, which often break down and create e-waste.
New York City is one of the world’s most cosmopolitan cities, with 37 percent of its population foreign-born.
Reuters/Eduardo Munoz
A sociologist interviewed hundreds of immigrants in New York, Barcelona and Paris. Here's what they say those cities get right — and do wrong — when integrating foreign-born residents.
People stroll along Moshoeshoe Street in Emfuleni.
Darya Maslova
By expanding our understanding of streets and enhancing their design, every street corner could become a space to socialise, to exercise, to play, or to trade.
Want to understand the Catalan election? You need to go back a long way.
The view of Cartagena, Colombia from Tierra Bomba. Despite being one of the most visited cities in South America, Tierra Bomba remains highly impoverished. Why doesn’t large-scale tourism benefit such a community?
Carter Hunt
At many popular destinations, residents are protesting against crowding, rowdy visitors and low wages. With some research, travelers can use their visits to enrich host areas instead of harming them.
Helsinki s City Wall, a collaborative social space.
With the rise of the knowledge-based economy, fab labs, maker spaces and more, cities are being transformed into production centres. This dynamic movement is ripe with promise, but also has risks.
PAH activists occupy a bank office in Barcelona in July 2013.
Albert Gea/Reuters
We rarely see residents of a city successfully push back in defence of their needs against the power of finance capital, which seeks to make money from the city. But Barcelona shows it can be done.
Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon is in a quandary.
Jane Barlow/PA