Each week we will be focusing on blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We’ll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues. • While most global cities boast round the clock activity, made possible by armies of streetlights, many cities are moving to reduce nighttime lighting to save money on electrical bills. Citizens have expressed concern about safety, environmentalists welcome a darker night sky and others are exploring solar or concentrated lighting systems to reduce costs and focus the illumination where it is needed. (NYTimes) • A photographer in London, a city famous for 24-hour hustle and bustle, captured what happens when the streets are empty on  Christmas morning. (Flickr) • Forget the metropolis. The new unit of urbanity ought to be the megapolitan area, argue Arthur Nelson and Robert Lang, authors of the new book Megapolitan America. By 2040, they forsee a United States carved up into 23 "megapolitan" areas -  large regions of interconnected metropolitan areas. While issues such as housing and education will be controlled at a smaller scale, the authors argue that the megapolitan area will be the unit of choice for transportation, economic development, and environmental planning. (The Atlantic Cities)

Each week we will be focusing on blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We’ll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues. • Which Canadian cities are seeing the fastest ghettoization? Researchers from Queen's University, University of Toronto and StatsCan released a working paper in December showing increasing segregation by income in virtually all of the country's major cities. (Huffington Post) • Cradled next to the State Department, the Vietnam and Korean War Veterans Memorials, the World War II Memorial, and the Lincoln Memorial, architect Moshe Safdie's design for the U.S. Institute of Peace transformed a navy parking lot into a monument for humanity. (Huffington Post) • Behold Boxpark - the world's first pop-up shopping mall. The London retail location is comprised of 60 shipping containers (five wide, two high). Owner Roger Wade calls it the most environmentally friendly shopping mall ever built and promises "after five years, we'll return the land back to its owners in exactly the same condition as we got it, and then the community can decide if it wants a more permanent retail space there."  (CNN)

Each week we will be focusing on blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We’ll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues. • The Atlantic Cities looks at some key lessons learned from America's busway systems (segregated roads left exclusively to bus traffic) - Boston's Silver Line, Los Angeles' Orange Line, the Miami Busway and the Pittsburgh Busway. Best practices include off-board fare collection, elevated boarding platforms and signal priority at intersections with auto traffic. • Belgian transportation company, De Lijn, is pioneering the SMS ticketing system on public transit systems in Antwerp and Gent. Users text a number and receive confirmation of their purchase by text message which they can then show to the driver and use to transfer between lines. SMS tickets are applied to mobile bills and save users up to 28% of the cost of standard tickets. (Dutch Mobility) • It's "poetry in motion" according to NYC Department of Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan. Known for her innovative approach to safer streets, JSK's new poster campaign to improve road safety uses haikus and bold images by artist John Morse to catch attention. (Transportation Nation)

Each week we will be focusing on blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We’ll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues. • In Leuven, Belgium, street artist Strook uses moss and a power washer to shape living murals on bare walls. (Colossal) • Officials in Flanders are taking a serious look at the role that bike couriers can play in reducing vehicle traffic and emissions. Recent studies of local bike courier firms highlight the additional flexibility and reliability of this mode of delivery. Moving forward, the Flemish government will evaluate which packages could be switched over to delivery by bike couriers. (Dutch Mobility)

Each week we will be focusing on blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We’ll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues. • Project for Public Spaces is experimenting with digital placemaking in revitalization efforts for downtown San Antonio. The online platform, Placemap, allows residents to suggest interventions and illustrate their ideas with links and pictures. Participants have noted the advantages of the digital placemaking approach over limited public meetings. • In 2012, a 5km stretch of Germany's Autobahn 7 will be transformed into a public park - the largest of its kind. The 10 ft tall canopy will reconnect districts divided when the highway was built thirty years ago. (The Weather Network) • Canadian firm, Bombardier, is piloting a wireless above-ground transit vehicle that recharges its batteries from cables embedded underneath the track. The technology, Primove, eliminates the need for overhead wires or stationary charging stations. Transportation experts anticipate cost and winter-readiness concerns. (Globe and Mail)

Each week we will be focusing on blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We’ll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues. • Can a little greenspace reduce crime? That's the thesis advanced by a new study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology which analyzed a ten-year project in Philadelphia to turn 4,436 empty lots into park space. Researchers suggest the significant drop in crime is attributable to the way potential criminals view and interpret the space. (Grist) • In London, traffic planners are experimenting with reduced barriers between motor vehicles and pedestrians on Exhibition Road. The planners are attempting to draw pedestrians back to the cultural centre of the city, using visual cues and textures to communicate proper behaviours while encouraging all road users to slow down. (GOOD) • The New York Times explores three unconventional but highly successful modes of transportation. In Maine, the Brunswick Explorer is a small fare bus that affords independence to people living in rural communities without access to a car. In Brooklyn, private dollar vans provide an option to folks travelling where other options don't exist. Across the country, the Independent Transportation Network allows users to share rides with those unable to get around on their own. Users can transfer rides earned to those in need or bank them for a future time when they are unable to drive. These alternative models demonstrate that transit solutions require ingenuity and not necessarily major infrastructure investments.

Each week we will be focusing on blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We’ll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues. • Sarah Fine at Next American City responds to recent incidents at the Occupy Oakland protest where drivers used their vehicles to injure and intimidate protestors. She considers the lessons from the Occupy movement for Complete Streets advocates. • By its own standards, LA is park-poor (15,717 acres of parkland despite a standard of 10 acres for every 1,000 residents). But with a lack of available open space, LA will take the small is beautiful approach as it seeks to open 50 new "pocket parks" in urban neighbourhoods over the next two years. (LAist) • Streetsblog DC has a powerful map of America's traffic fatalities, produced by British firm ITO World. The WHO reports 12.3 annual traffic deaths per 100,000 residents in the US.

Each week we will be focusing on blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We’ll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues. • Not for the faint of heart - if the top of China's Tianmen Mountain is your destination, your options are 1) The Avenue Towards Heaven - 99 turns and 1500m of elevation gain or 2) the world's longest cable car ride. (Kuriositas) • Ever wondered what it is like to bike the length of Broadway? This video compresses the 13 mile ride into 5 minutes. The video includes great shots of some of the city's recent bike lane improvements. (Observer)  

Each week we will be focusing on blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We’ll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues. • Canadian transit stations are pretty, but we just can't compete with the likes of the Stockholm metro station pictured above which features pixel-art inspired by classic games. (BoingBoing) •“Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century”, the US federal transportation authorization bill is up for debate in the Senate. Complete streets advocates were pleased to see that the draft bill makes bicycling and walking projects eligible under the core funding program and defines ‘road users’ as including people who walk and bicycle and use public transportation, as well as people with disabilities and older adults. (CompleteStreets.org)

Each week we will be focusing on blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We’ll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues. • Three Southern California cities are taking dramatic steps to improve the health and well-being of residents. Using a program designed by Dan Buettner, the cities are attempting to make the healthy choice the easy choice for local residents. Measures include walking schools buses for children, improving access to healthy food, enhancing bike infrastructure and pedestrian access and encouraging personal interactions. (CNN) • Edmonton moved one step closer to a new home for the Oilers this week when council voted in favour of a new arena cost-sharing arrangement with team owner Daryl Katz. The new rink is the centrepiece of a slate of revitalized commercial-residential downtown development. But with the deal $100 million short and both the provincial and federal governments refusing to pony up tax dollars to fund private enterprise, the way forward for the new rink is somewhat unclear. (Globe and Mail) • Meanwhile in L.A., plans to build a downtown football stadium as a way to boost the city's bruised economy are being met with scorn by Joel Kotkin at New Geography. Kotkin says "urban vanity projects like sports teams and convention centers add little to permanent employment or overall regional economic well-being... Certainly mega-stadiums have done little to boost sad-sack, depopulating cities such as St. Louis, Baltimore or Cleveland."