China
The One-Billion Milestone for Cars
The total number of cars around the world exceeded the billion-unit mark in 2010, according to a study by Wards Auto. This figure has essentially doubled since 1986 when the 500-million-unit mark was crossed.
Livability Grows in China's Emerging Megacities
A new breed of developers in China are increasingly trying to make the country's new cities into pleasant, walkable and even environmentally sustainable.
Multi-Million Dollar Student Housing in Manhattan
It is not uncommon for wealthy Chinese to spend seven figures - in cash - on real estate "as housing for children studying in New York."
Making Money in Public Transit
Public transit is expensive, and most transit agencies don't make money. But Hong Kong's MTR is different.
Chinese Megaproject Goes From Urban to Rural
New York architects Tsao & McKown are developing a handful of communities in Chengdu that range from dense urban living to agrarian lifestyles.
Real Estate Bliss in Singapore
Like the Hamptons for affluent New Yorkers, Singapore emerges as the go-to real estate hot spot - replacing Hong Kong - for wealthy Chinese. "It confers class status in China to say that you own a flat in Singapore," asserts Mohamed Ismail.
New Building Material Captures Heat, Releases on Demand
Researchers in China have reportedly created an insulation material that can "retain and release heat according to specific temperature requirements."
Landscape Impacts Spur Major Repairs to Three Gorges Dam
After years of denial, the Chinese government has admitted that its massive Three Gorges Dam project is destabilizing the land around the reservoir.
China's Road Safety Epidemic Attributed To Unskilled Drivers
With one third the number of cars on the road as U.S., China has at least twice the fatality rate. Most vehicles are designed in the West, and driven a similar amount. Road conditions as well as driver and pedestrian error are blamed for crashes.
Property Loans Dry Up in Chinese Cities
Banks in China have stopped accepting loan applications for property in the country's second- and third-tier cities in an effort to curb inflation.
How the Other Half Lives in Hong Kong
For a city of over 16,000 people per square mile, less than 7% of Hong Kong's land is designated for residential use. Subdivided apartments - aka "coffin units" - totaling 150 square feet aren't uncommon, reports The Wall Street Journal.
High Speed Rail Crash In China Leaves 43 Dead
Two bullet trains collided in China killing 43, injuring 211, on Saturday evening, July 23 in Wenzhou city, after one train stalled on a viaduct, causing four cars of the moving train to fall up to 100 ft. to the ground below. Video attached.
Drunk Driving Crackdown In Beijing
Traffic safety is an emerging issue in China, and officials are treating drunk driving, the cause of more than 50% of traffic fatalities, severely - so much so that a new business is flourishing: chauffeur service.
NY MTA Chief Resigns, Takes Job In Hong Kong
The head of the New York MTA, Jay Walder, is leaving to take charge of a private transportation company in Hong Kong.
China's Urban Development Closing in on its Military Bases
New development is spreading uncontrolled throughout much of China, and it's closing around many of the country's military bases.
Shanghai to Create Suburbs as Remedy for Urban Density
Shanghai in its 12th Five-Year Plan is modeling seven new satellite cities as suburbs to alleviate the density in the city center, reports Yu Ran, China Daily.
Crops, Greens on Hong Kong's High Rises
The personally rewarding and healthy activity of urban farming continues to solidify a foothold on Hong Kong high rises, in spite of the lack of support from the government.
China's Experiments with Financing and Building Transit
The Economist is fascinated by China's experiments in public-private financing in which the government gives land to private transit developers in exchange for greater mobility.
China's Thames Town Stands Empty
Forget Disneyland, Shanghai - China has already built a series of themed lands, each themed after a different European community. Problem is they are terrible flops. Thames Town, strangely themed after an Austrian village, is deserted.
China to Clone Austrian Hamlet
A state corporation in China has announced plans to reproduce exactly the Austrian village of Halllstadt, down to the smallest detail. Hallstad residents are both flattered and creeped out.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Ascent Environmental
Borough of Carlisle
Caltrans
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions
Salt Lake City
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
