Millers Point Gentrification in Australia. Photo by The Guardian.
Residents of public rental apartments at Millers Points, one of the oldest neighborhoods in Australia move out as the mega-rich take over the area. In this audio slide show by The Guardian, the working class people share their feelings on what it is like to leave the place they have called home for decades.
Hoergaarden Recycling Station, a meeting place
A recycling station in Hoergaard, area in Copenhagen, is a meeting place for local people.
In 2013 local teenagers took part in its reconstruction after it had burned down one summer in 2012. An experienced professional supervised the guys when they took down the fence, built up a grill and outdoor furniture, set up flower beds, which are now used for growing herbs. Continue reading
George Clooney with Nespresso
One old Nespresso commercial depicts George Clooney having a piano fallen down on him and finding himself in heaven, with beautiful angels, God and coffee.
Please watch it here
A Switzerland-based Solidar used the commercial to attack Nespresso for not using fair trade, while being one of the most expensive coffee brands.
Young people bring the promise to Leipzig neighborhoods. Photo by the author
After the wall, dividing Eastern and Western Germany, went down in 1989, Leipzig experienced a significant loss of population.
People moved out into the suburbs and to parts of Western Germany. Entire houses, streets and areas emptied out. I wrote about the abandoned buildings in Leipzig before in this blog.
After the fall of the Berlin Wall, many houses were returned to their original owners. The city was confronted with a couple of hard challenges: to settle things with the original owners, and to return a lively atmosphere back to the streets. Within the UpoUrban Academy ‘Leipzig Manual’, that took place on December, 2-4, 2013, I got to learn some examples of how these tasks are being solved.
There are approximately 5 thousand people living per 1 square km in Minsk, the capital of Belarus.
Newly built residential buildings are gradually becoming taller and taller. The number of newly-built residential buildings 14 storeys and higher in Minsk in 2006 amounted to 10, while in 2010 it reached 43. The number of newly built buildings with 10 to 13 storeys increased during this time from 35 to 113.
Seeking for more profitable locations construction companies opt for the lots within the populated and already developed areas, with shopping malls, kindergartens and working infrastructure. With multiple new apartments more cars, as well as parking areas and business buildings appear. Such urban development leads to significant decrease of green areas in the vicinity of the residential buildings – small parks, lawns, playgrounds, and so forth. Continue reading
Environmentally Certified Neighbourhood, Stockholm. Source: http://bit.ly/1dTgKP9
Swedish Institute Alumni Network supports a seminar “New Urban Topologies. The Chisinau and Minsk Experience” in Minsk, Belarus.
The event will start at 18.00 at the Gallery of contemporary art «Ў» in Minsk. The seminar will include presentations and topic-related discussions in small groups, where the participants will share their ideas on Sustainable City Development.
More information on the event is here.
Just 1,5 years ago at our sustainable urban management programme at Malmo University in Sweden we were talking about the research on most desirable bike helmet features. The most popular wish among the bikers was that a bike helmet should be invisible. And here it is already in reality!!! Developed in Sweden.
Recently, I shared a car to an airport with a woman from Spain whose husband is from France, and who works in Germany. Wow, that’s international! But the most interesting part about the woman is a boat. Yes, a boat. ‘I live on a boat’ she said. Having quite an average income… Georgina is telling about it in a casual tone, as if she is talking about her house: ‘I constructed a lot in there. Quite a lot I did myself. I painted stuff, installed electricity, made a lot of safety arrangements. Every now and then I have to repair things. I decided that since I travel a lot, it is smarter and well less expensive to buy a boat instead of an apartment. In that way I can just move from country to country, and I am not stuck in one location. Home is where I am’.
Green Stories of Urban Places 