The High Density Livability Question

Suzanne H. Crowhurst Lennard, Ph.D. (Arch.) This diagram, suggesting that Singapore is one of the densest and one of the most livable cities in the world, has put the cat among the pigeons and stirred up a frenzied debate. But what does it really show? Firstly, what are they measuring along the “liveability” scale? Is … Read more

Side Effects of Social Media

In his thoughtful and perceptive article, We’re All Connected: Too bad more is not necessarily the same as better, Scott Doyon questions whether our ubiquitous “social media” strengthen our connections to one another. While social media offer innumerable pleasures and benefits, there are side effects that we prefer to deny. We do so at our … Read more

Americans Becoming Sicker: Make the Right Diagnosis

By Richard J. Jackson, MD, MPH In medicine, when a patient is getting sicker despite increasing medicine and treatment, the doctor must find why the therapy seems useless.  What else is going on? What can work better?  One of the first things a medical student learns is: “Make the (Right) Diagnosis”.  If you are not … Read more

We’re All Connected: Too Bad More is Not Necessarily the Same as Better

By Scott Doyon Roughly two hundred years ago, working in a little Bavarian workshop, Samuel Soemmering created a crude device that, refined by others, would revolutionize communications for the emerging industrial age: the telegraph. A hundred years thereafter, post-Victorians began to ponder its evolution — wireless telegraphy — in which individuals would receive telegraph messages, … Read more

Safe Routes to School Vindicated: Injuries Reduced

How satisfying to find a research report that verifies what we have all believed, and supported congressional funding for:  roadway design improvements (sidewalks, bike lanes, stop signs, traffic-calming, crosswalks, signage, lighting, etc) do indeed reduce school-age pedestrian injuries. Data are important in these times of limited funds and fiscal skeptics. The report by Charles DiMaggio … Read more

Proposal for Urban Regeneration of the Suburb ZEN, Palermo, Italy

Prof. Arch. Ettore Maria Mazzola The University of Notre Dame, School of Architecture, Rome Studies Program Summary The Social Housing district Z.E.N. in Palermo, today re-named “San Filippo Neri”, despite the great name of its architect – Vittorio Gregotti – is sadly famous as one of the most dangerous and “criminogenic” neighbourhoods in Italy. In … Read more

A City Arises from Sprawl: Carmel, Indiana

A remarkable city is arising out of the suburban sprawl of Carmel, Indiana.  Over the last 13 years, what began as an area of high-end suburban housing, strip malls and fragmented office buildings is being transformed into a true city with a mixed-use urban fabric, and a hospitable public realm. So far, the transformation has … Read more

Strasbourg: City of Vision

Strasbourg, for centuries considered the “Crossroads of Europe”, is located in the Alsace Region of France, close to Freiburg. In the Middle Ages, it’s function as an important European meeting place was expressed in the innumerable squares and market places that supported international exchange. Today, Strasbourg’s unique identity finds expression in its role as seat … Read more

Freiburg: 2013 City of Vision Study Tour

The City of Freiburg is often called Germany's "ecological capital" and has been recognized internationally as one of the world’s most livable, sustainable and child-friendly cities. In 1993, IMCL awarded the City of Freiburg the IMCL City of Vision Award. Since then, Freiburg has received numerous awards for its leadership in sustainable transportation planning, promotion … Read more

Strasbourg: the Crossroads of Europe

Not for nothing is Strasbourg called “The Crossroads of Europe”.[i] In the Middle Ages, trade routes met here; goods from the Baltic, Britain, the Mediterranean and the Far East were exchanged for local wines, grain and fabrics; and traders speaking a dozen different languages met and conducted business. The places where they met became the … Read more