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Redlining: the racist housing policy from the Jim Crow era that still affects us today.
Nancy Watson's insight:
Redlining may be illegal, but is it perpetuated in the suburbs?
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The compact suburban bungalows of the 1950s were actually pretty tree-friendly by comparison.
Nancy Watson's insight:
Urban and cultural units
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Walk on the streets and you´ll be exposed to its informal economy: people who do what they can to eke out a living including washing windshields, selling food, or even singing, dancing, and performing acrobatics for a tip. Via Seth Dixon 
Seth Dixon's curator insight,
December 1, 2016 12:57 PM
Mexico City has been the economic center of Mexico for a long time and is a true primate city. "Wealth accumulation in Mexico City has historically been concentrated in the hands of a few. In colonial times, the elite was mostly composed of Spanish-born immigrants who held high-ranking offices or worked as business owners or export-oriented merchants. Later, the wealthy were those who owned large estates known as haciendas…It is estimated that around 40 percent of Mexico’s income is owned by just 10 percent of its population, while 52.3 percent of Mexican citizens live in poverty."
Tags: urban, megacities, economic, labor, Mexico.
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Beyond the stunning act that has become Britain’s vote to leave the European Union lies a deeper message: Democracy is not destiny, but devolution. Ceaseless entropy — the second law of thermodynamics — applies to politics as well. The more countries democratize, the more local populations seek greater self-rule. Via Seth Dixon
Seth Dixon's curator insight,
June 29, 2016 9:17 AM
In his book Connectography by Parag Khanna, he argues that connectivity and networks are more important today. Using those ideas, Khanna discusses London's options after the recent Brexit vote in this op-ed (this additional article explores the demographic divide on the Brexit vote, especially how many British Millennials feel that their future has been snatched from them). Tags: London, op-ed, political, globalization, urban, devolution, autonomy, economic. 
Kelsey McIntosh's curator insight,
January 18, 7:40 PM
In this article, Parag Khanna argues exactly what the title suggests, "London should secede from the United Kingdom". In light of the UK's decision to leave the European Union, Khanna discusses that "Londoners... voted by a wide majority to 'remain' in the EU" and suggests that many Londoners have lost their sense of British Pride after the secession. Though it is mentioned that the city "can't and won't" leave the country, the exit from the EU directly impacts London's economy because "immigrants are essential for the city’s financial and education sectors". Without the immigrants, the city's finances will not only be in jeopardy, but its connection between foreign places will be impacted as well.
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"The world's biggest urban gondola system, known as Mi Teleférico, opened in La Paz, Bolivia, in May 2014. The 6-mile-long system is an engineering feat."
Tags: transportation, South America, Bolivia, urban, planning, architecture. Via Seth Dixon 
Sally Egan's curator insight,
June 26, 2016 7:14 PM
The gondola system of La Paz, Bolivia called Mi Teleferico, addresses the transport challenge in a large and unplanned city already overcrowded with vehicles and facing steep terrain. This short video provides a great overview of the creative response to a transport challenge and the background images provide a view of what the city is like.
Alexis Rickey's curator insight,
February 8, 5:55 PM
Bolivia creatively found a new way of transportation for the public people that works around it's heavily condensed physical geography. With the creation of the world's biggest urban gondola system, public commuters can now get to needed and desired destinations via skylines. The system, which began operation in May 2014, now transports over a million people monthly, with a ride costing 40 cents (rides are half off for students, children and the elderly). The gondola system is expecting to expand it's six mile long system with four new lines in the near future.
Nicole Canova's curator insight,
February 10, 7:24 PM
An interesting look at how urban geography and physical geography pose problems that lead to creative solutions! La Paz, Bolivia, is an example of an unplanned city, with a maze of narrow streets that is nearly impossible to navigate. Combined with the hilliness of the area, it is complicated to get around in this city. Their innovative gondola system circumvents the irregular streets and hills by simply carrying passengers *over* them.
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We once aspired to beautiful cities and governments that work. Why did we give up?
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The Iranian capital is replacing anti-Western billboards with works of art, and welcoming new architecture by world-class designers. Via Seth Dixon
Nancy Watson's insight:
Culture, Politics, Urban Geography, all wrapped up in Iran
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This is hard to believe, but it is true. They have it down to a science.
Nancy Watson's insight:
Intensive land use
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A new analysis suggests that jobs previously lost to the suburbs are returning to the core.
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The part of town where you live—and especially where you grew up—can profoundly affect lifetime earnings.
Nancy Watson's insight:
urban unit
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"Sometimes, rehabilitating a rough neighborhood is a tough process. But in one West Coast American city, it was as simple as adding a Buddha statue. Since the statue's installation, a street corner has been transformed from a notorious eyesore to a daily prayer spot for local Vietnamese Buddhists. For this Geo Quiz, we're looking for the city where this shrine is located — can you name it?" Via Seth Dixon
Seth Dixon's curator insight,
December 9, 2014 7:51 AM
This podcast is a great glimpse into an urban transformation that took place without any central planning nor can the changes be classified as gentrification. Tags: neighborhood, place, culture, economic, urban. |
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Older millennials are ditching the city for a new kind of suburb that offers the convenience of high-quality grocery stores and boutique fitness centers without the hustle and bustle of urban life.
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"A host of environmental factors are threatening to push a crowded capital toward a breaking point." Via Seth Dixon 
Douglas Vance's curator insight,
January 31, 10:03 AM
Mexico City is sinking, and the failure or inability to understand the long term challenges associated with building on a lake bed have started to plague the city. The city is sinking at almost a foot a year, presenting an abundance of challenges to the engineers who are desperately trying to maintain the city's infrastructure. The drought conditions and geological factors have set up the city for disaster if major and radical changes are not made to the city.
Taylor Doonan's curator insight,
February 7, 10:44 AM
Mexico City sinking is what climate change looks like. This city is sinking due to lack of water coming into the city and the government drilling into the ground to try and get more water, the problem with this is that the ground they are drilling into is weak which is causing the city to sink. The potential risks Mexico City sinking could cause are astronomical. Mexico is not a first world country, but it is a second world country with a lot of manufacturing being done there. If the city sinks it could drastically affect the rest of the country. Mexico City being the only "big" city in the country makes the whole country very dependent upon its success, it sinking could cause the whole country to sink with it.
Zavier Lineberger's curator insight,
February 8, 1:04 PM
(Mexico/Central America) Mexico city seems to be built in the worst way possible. The original Aztec architects could not imagine the locational problems the city faces today. Originally built on an island, Spanish conquerors drained the lakes and created an inland, mountainous position that causes the city to sink inches every year. Ironically, the city is now forced to use underground water sources or expensively import drinking water and poor locals can rarely count on tap water. The uneven clay and volcanic soil foundation and climate change further drives subsidence of this unplanned metropolis. Climate change will also create a series of floods and droughts and the inefficient sewage and water system will lead to devastation.
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Seth Dixon's curator insight,
December 1, 2016 1:30 PM
The concentration of wealth within U.S. cities is one of the most powerful geographic patterns in North America (and remains of of the key geographic stories of the 2016 presidential election). NYC served as a hub for the import/export of primary economic resources during the 18th and 19th centuries as the Erie Canal opened up the interior of the United States to become part of NYC's hinterland. NYC expanded as a hub for the manufacturing of consumer products and then began to transition to a more tertiary based economy. “There are more than 3,000 counties in the U.S. Of the 75 with the highest incomes, 44 are located in the Northeast, including Maryland and Virginia. The corridor of metropolitan statistical areas that runs from Washington, D.C., through Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York and Boston includes 37 of these top-earning counties (where the median family takes home at least $75,000 a year)."
Tags: urban, industry, manufacturing, labor, economic, NYC, Washington DC. Boston. 
Lorraine Chaffer's curator insight,
December 18, 2016 12:00 AM
Influences on settlement patterns. Where is Australia's population concentrated? Syllabus
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The amount of rainfall a place gets isn't the only factor in how much water is available to it. These major urban areas show how dire the coming global freshwater shortage could get. Via Seth Dixon
Seth Dixon's curator insight,
April 13, 2016 3:58 PM
Seen from space, this planet is a blue marble, a world where the surface is dominated by water. The Pacific Ocean alone is nearly half of the surface area of our planet. Add in polar ice caps and the rivers and lakes, we can see that water profoundly impacts Earth. Yet most of that water is salt water (97%) and two-thirds of our non-salty water locked away in ice sheets (2% of the global water). Everything else, rivers, lakes, marshes, aquifers, and reservoirs represent that remaining 1% of the Earth's water supply--and that 1% of water is what sustains human settlements and allows for agricultural expansion. The geography of this 1% is highly uneven and a huge water crisis can cause governments crumble--the fact that this precious resources has been wasted and polluted becomes more frustrating as water resources are being strained in so many places. In this article, it describes 8 major metro areas where water is being depleted rapidly -- Tokyo, Miami, London, Cairo, Sao Paulo, Beijing, Bangalore and Mexico City.
Tags: urban, water, land use, megacities, urban ecology, consumption, environment, resources.
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Visualised in graphs I am presenting the long-term data on how we are changing our world. This is the Empirical View on How We Are Making Our World a Better Place. Topic by topic I cover the decline of violence and the increase of tolerance and political rights. Improving living standards, health and well-being; population changes and associated success in preserving our environment. Increasing knowledge about our word and spreading education.
Nancy Watson's insight:
Data source for several units
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A new law recently passed in France mandates that all new buildings that are built in commercial zones in France must be partially covered in either plants
Nancy Watson's insight:
This is going green. Good for Urban unit, culture, development 
Caitlyn Christiansen's curator insight,
May 26, 2015 4:18 PM
France recently passed a law that says that all new rooftops must have either plants or solar panels on top. There are lots of benefits to this law because it is environmentally sustainable. Solar panels create a green source of energy and save power and land by using renewable resources. Plants would absorb rainwater which helps with runoff water and cleans the atmosphere of toxic chemicals and adds oxygen back to the atmosphere, helping to reverse the greenhouse effect.
This article is related to cities and urban land use through the use of rooftops in urban areas to reduce the environmental effects of urbanization. The urban areas are rather crowded in general and there is not much room for solar panels/ plants. By thinking up and using the rooftops, space is created and greater planning is employed in the use of urban land.
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A new report tracks demographic trends across 66 U.S. metro areas. The report provides comprehensive evidence for Aaron Renn's "new donut" model of cities (pictured in above image, on the right). Renn's model proposes that city centers and outer-ring suburbs are doing well economically, but inner-ring suburbs are struggling with a new influx of poverty."
Tags: urban, economic, urban models, APHG. Via Seth Dixon 
Michael Amberg's curator insight,
May 26, 2015 11:09 PM
This shows the changes in urban geography and how the world is changing due to all the new technology available now. 
Bella Reagan's curator insight,
May 26, 2015 11:33 PM
Urban unit Summary This article goes in to depth on a newer model on cites called the donut model, as pictured similar to a donut. The donut model was created by Aaron Renn, and it shows urban development recently in cities. The center of the city is grownign economically and falling. There is an influx of people moving in , resulting in an increase of poverty too. Also more educated people are moving in like young newly educated individuals. insight The new structure of cities forming is a change from the old. With cities now developing bigger and more industrial, there are many opportunities for people for work in the center of the cit. however, many people may want the jobs but can't get them, so many of those in poverty live in the city centers in search of economic opportunities. It is also interesting to see the status of the people changing the in the city center with that also more young educated people move to city centers, most likely in search of job opportunities. This new way of urban development is modernizing the work system. 
Shane C Cook's curator insight,
May 27, 2015 8:44 AM
More and more the urban stage is filling and cities are becoming once again the next big thing. After WW2 suburbs became intensively popular but now since a change in personnel views people prefer the city more.
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A new analysis suggests that jobs previously lost to the suburbs are returning to the core.
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With only 20 percent of the population, the world’s 300 largest metropolitan economies account for nearly half of global economic output. Through our new Global MetroMonitor report and interactive, users can understand the individual trajectories of the world’s large metropolitan economies and gain new insights into sources of growth that national or regional assessments tend to obscure.
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Many urban neighborhoods are places of concentrated poverty, and it's killing opportunity in the US.
American cities are growing, and as they grow, they're adding lots of high-poverty neighborhoods. Nearly three times as many "high-poverty" census tracts existed in 2010 as in 1970. That's unsettling on its face but even more so when you see the havoc a poor neighborhood can wreak on a resident's chances at a good life. Forget gentrification — this is a bigger problem.
The chart above tallies up the people living in these neighborhoods in 1970 and 2010. What it shows is that the number of people living in high-poverty neighborhoods — those with poverty rates of 30 percent or more — has roughly doubled since 1970. That's because these neighborhoods of concentrated poverty have a tendency to stay that way, even while new ones sprout up.
Tags: urban, unit 7 cities, housing, economic, poverty, place, socioeconomic, neighborhood. Via Seth Dixon |
