Rooftop construction at a high-rise building undergoing conversion to apartments in Manhattan’s financial district in New York City, April 11, 2023.
AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews
Turning excess office space into apartments isn’t a panacea for the housing shortage, but it’s producing thousands of new units yearly and is more sustainable and economical than new construction.
The Barrowland Ballroom in Glasgow, one of the most popular venues for bands in the UK, is a small independently owned operation.
Andrew Cawley / Alamy
Smaller live music venues are facing serious challenges to keep their doors open since the pandemic and the cost of living crisis. So is it time for proper financial intervention?
Black-crowned night herons perch on rocks in the Los Angeles River in Los Angeles.
Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Joseph Curti, University of California, Los Angeles and Morgan Tingley, University of California, Los Angeles
Even in a concrete jungle like Los Angeles, wild species show up in surprising places. New research identifies the types of wildlife that best tolerate urban development.
Infill development is patchy across Australian cities, as is its quality. Bigger and better projects are needed to hit planning targets and reduce urban sprawl.
Rankings often focus on economic and developmental factors that overlook sustainability.
(Shutterstock)
The four Cs – convenience, choice, competitive prices and COVID-19 – will decide the retail battle and how it affects the structure and function of our cities.
New Zealand cities grow mostly through building houses on undeveloped land. But this removes fertile soil and undermines the food production and other ecological functions city dwellers depend on.
French artists and intellectuals attempt to salvage the spirit of an era, as French government reveals plans to transform the country’s commercial zones.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford plows a field with a tractor at the recent 2023 International Plowing Match and Rural Expo, in Bowling Green, Ont.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
The Greenbelt fiasco has been an enormous distraction from the challenges facing the Greater Toronto Area — and it’s doubtful the Ford government will significantly change its approach.
A sign advertises retail spaces for lease at Union Square in San Francisco on June 21, 2023.
AP Photo/Eric Risberg
Developers have overbuilt office and commercial space in US cities for decades. Now, in the wake of pandemic shutdowns, many downtowns face hard choices about the future.
African Nova Scotians have historically suffered the negative consequences of urban redevelopment. New projects in Halifax must involve genuine engagement with racialized communities.
Parking consumes 20% or more of prime locations in many U.S. downtowns.
George Rose/Getty Images
US cities are starting to reform laws that required developers to provide minimum amounts of parking. But there’s more they can do to loosen the auto’s grip on downtowns.
Inner Sydney has near-zero population growth.
Shutterstock
Inner-city resistance to higher-density housing has diverted most of Sydney’s population growth, driven largely by non-white migrants, to the outer suburbs. The result is a racially divided city.
Local Aboriginal Land Councils are some of the largest private landowners in NSW. Making it easier for them to develop their land will benefit Indigenous communities and the rest of the public.
Simply rezoning land for higher density is not enough to achieve the planning goal of transforming low-density and car-centric neighbourhoods into mixed-use and walkable neighbourhoods.
PhD Candidate, School of Social Sciences, University of Tasmania, and Senior Research Consultant, Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney