This may happen, and it’s just a small element of the ideas they are throwing out there, but still… The cynical can read it as “companies wil continue to socialize costs while privatizing benefits at the expense of the social infrastructure”.

Companies will likely build smaller, decentralised working centres. They may even use existing neighbourhood infrastructure – from the local coffee shop to the community centre – for flexible working arrangements.

via What’s in store for city-dwellers in 2040? | Forum For The Future.

“Operating on a scale never before attempted in this country, the city would demolish houses in some of the most desolate sections of Detroit and move residents into stronger neighborhoods. Roughly a quarter of the 139-square-mile city could go from urban to semi-rural.”

A lot of issues here, from property acquisition to end use and ownership. At this stage, haven’t seen anything on depaving or soil remediation, which would add a whole new layer into what *could* be done within this kind of framework.

One of the potential dangers in this kind of redevelopment is the encouragement of semi-rural slums to replace the decaying neighborhoods – perhaps an improvement, but not much. On the other hand, this could lead to semi-planned resilient communities, and a wide variety of business opportunities, including large-scale reuse and recycling of construction materials.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100308/ap_on_bi_ge/us_downsizing_detroit

While this piece has a somewhat odd tone to me, in terms of catching the lessons I think it’s a win. There are far more lessons, of course – about building refugee camps, and disaster relief, and the limits of isolation – but it’s good as far as it goes.  I would like the narrator to try and navigate without the “symbolic” streetlights on a duststorm night, but nevermind.

As the Metropolis theme develops over the next year, expect to see more here about urban design, housing innovations, and related topics.

via YouTube – 5 Things Cities Can Learn from Burning Man.

In the ever-expanding metropolis of Mexico City, green space is hard to come by. An estimated population of 22 million inhabitants bears an impressive weight on the Valley of Mexico and, in recent years, architects and urbanists have been examining solutions to combat the thickening smog. This stunning Vertical Park by Jorge Hernandez de la Garza intends to infuse the city with much-needed green space in the form of a modular skyscraper made up of a series of stacking units.

via Inhabitat » Vertical Park: Stackable Solar Skyscraper for Mexico City.