Monday News Roundup

Happy Monday! Here's what you missed last week:

Fantastical Concept City Moves in Circles (Planetizen)
If the whole city is moving, does that technically make the city itself a form of transit? This video explains that transit is unnecessary in a rotating city: your office building will come to you.

New Data on Walkable Neighborhoods, Cities (Switchboard)
A recent survey of 7,000 “avid walkers” found a variation to the rule:  within each level of population density (low, medium, high), the proportion of frequent walkers increases as the perceived walkability of the neighborhood goes from low to high.

Sustainable Skyscraper Could Meet 20 Percent of City's Food Demand (Sustainable Cities)

The “London Farm Tower” is a sustainable building concept that can actually cultivate 1.5 million pounds of fresh produce per year! Offering a way to combat urbanization and diminishing agricultural lands, the London Farm Tower operates much like a tree, depending on solar energy and rain water to grow and survive.

 

The Car is No Longer King in Boston (Planetizen)

Mayor Thomas Menino declared that "the car is no longer king in Boston" as the Hubway bike-sharing system made its debut this week, putting the city abreast with Washington D.C.

 

World's Tallest Blog Post: World's Tallest Building (Archidose)

It's all about the next contender for the tallest building in the world: Kingdom Tower would surpass the Burj Khalifa by at least 173 meters (567 feet). Kingdom Tower in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia would be over 1 kilometer tall...not yet a mile but pretty tall nevertheless.

 

Greenery Clad Housing Complex (Inhabitat)

This 11-unit apartment complex is made from 100% recycled steel and fully clad in greenery

 

Could you live in a 4-foot-wide home? (Apartment Therapy)

Even if your apartment is big, your building is likely only a few feet from the buildings next door. Most of us just walk right on by these gaps without a thought - but writer Etgar Keret noticed a four-foot-wide space in Warsaw, Poland and decided to build a home there.

 

Want to speed up your transit? (Planetizen)

Follow San Francisco's lead and let your passengers enter any door they please, says Yonah Freemark. A pilot program on the J-Church line is testing out the idea.

 

Where in the World? A Google Earth Puzzle (The Atlantic)

Looking at the world through via Google Earth offers striking images of the diversity of our planet and the impact that humans have had on it. Today's entry is a puzzle. We're challenging you to figure out where in the world each of the images below is taken.