Solar Map of New York City
New York City's new Solar Map has gone live, and it's a beauty. With a googlemap style interface, you can zoom into any building in the greater NYC area. Click…
cities
How Rob Ford Can Fix Social Housing
I have an opinion piece in today’s Toronto Star regarding Toronto’s Mayor, Rob Ford, and the Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC). Mr. Ford would like to see a considerable number…
Municipalities, Procurement and Canada-EU Trade
There is an excellent post by Scott Sinclair at the CCPA blog.
Post C40 Summit Cities Need to "Go Big or Go Home" on Climate Policy
[I've got a new piece running over at The Mark News. The latest Clinton C40 urban climate summit just wrapped up in Brazil, and as always there's been a flood…
Bixi Responds to Flurry of Financial Coverage
Montreal news has been awash with coverage of BIXI's financial situation. After some delay, the city has approved $108million in loans and loan guarantees for the non-profit that operates BIXI.…
Jane’s Walk 2011: This Weekend Biggest Ever now in 15 Countries
This weekend is the fifth year of Jane's Walk, and it is the biggest ever. Volunteers will lead 491 walks spread across 72 cities and 15 countries. What I love…
Eco-Sensual: LEED certified sensual healing in Montreal
“Eco-sensual design” – it's got a Marvin Gaye kind of ring to it – but I like it. It's Montreal architect Owen Rose's (meme-worthy) shorthand for the relationship that exists…
Jay Carson, Cities, and Climate…no wait Donald Trump & Tori Spelling!
I rarely read Fortune magazine. OK, that's an overstatement. But it came across my desktop last week when they ran an interview with Jay Carson, disheveled CEO of the newly…
Railway Opens Tokyo’s Largest Rooftop Farm
JR East railway, one of Tokyo's largest railway operators, has opened a 535 sq.m. (5758 sq.ft.) rooftop farm on top of the company's Lumine Ogikubo Building. Part of a series…
Cities Running Huge Risks by Ignoring Climate Change II: UN Habitat Report PDFs
I've been amazed at how little attention UN Habitat's Report on Cities and Climate Change has garnered since its release at the end of March. The report (which I contributed…
Bixi Sighting: New Ads Mark Roll Out of 2011 Bikes
Here are some of the first bixis of 2011, notice anything different? New ads, mounted above the wheel and on the baskets, have raised a lot of criticism on Twitter…
Canada’s Crumbling Intrastructure – The Big Non-Issue of this Election
It's no secret that Canada is running a massive infrastructure deficit. Four years ago the Canadian Federation of Municipalities pegged the price tag for renewing aging bridges, roadways, transportation and…
Bixi Rolling Out for 3rd Season In MTL
If you are in Montreal right now you've seen it: the Bixi docking stations are popping up all over the city. Sitting empty they have a strange sci-fi ghost town…
America’s Smallest Apartment: Walkable Micro-living in NYC
New York-based writer Felice Cohen lives in an amazingly small apartment -- 90 sq.ft. to be exact. Since it was profiled in the Daily Mail, this video of her micro-abode…
Cities Running Huge Risks by Ingoring Climate Change: UN Habitat Report
I'm one of the many contributing authors for this year's UN Habitat Global Report on Human Settlements, launched in London on Monday (see also BBC). This is the first time…
New Landmark Greenroof for Montreal
Montreal is set to build a new landmark green roof on it's eccentrically colored convention center. This summer the Palais des Congrès de Montreal – better known for being clad…
Carbon Zero: A Short Tour of Your City’s Future – Kickstarting A New Book
Alex Steffen, the founding editor of the excellent worldchanging.com (who I wrote for during the blog's seven year run), has announced an interesting new project. His new book-in-the-making "Carbon Zero"…
Cities, Green Development, & Politics: Passing the Buck or Jumpstarting Change?
I've been meaning to write about Steve Cohen (director of Columbia Universty's Earth Institute) Valentine's Day piece in the Huffington Post since it came out on Monday. It's an interesting…
The Big Picture Approach to Cities and Climate Change
It was former London Mayor Ken Livingstone who started the ball rolling in 2007 when he announced that “Urban areas are responsible for over 75 per cent of greenhouse gas…
Jane Jacobs in Cowtown
Calgary's new Mayor Naheed Nenshi seems intent on shaking things up, and the Globe and Mail this weekend has a snapshot on some of the green shifts that he is…