Europe

As leaders in Madrid and Barcelona slug it out to lure a new megacasino to their cities, some are questioning the economic, environmental, legal, and moral compromises being offered.

March 19, 2012 - The Guardian

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, Kaid Benfield profiles the sustainable practices of the most Irish of emblems, Guinness Beer.

March 17, 2012 - Switchboard

Julie Ma investigates how one Swedish company is paving the way for a new urban food system that aims to increase one city's self-sufficiency.

March 14, 2012 - Good

Shriya Malhotra explores the potential for participatory mapping to manage the complexities of cities in the 21st century.

March 9, 2012 - The City Fix

The Economist reports on what Europe's tanking carbon market means for efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions on the continent.

March 8, 2012 - The Economist

Giovanna Borasi & Mirko Zardini examine the state of pervasive anxiety afflicting the urban populations of the West and how "medicalization" and an ambition for total well-being are effecting architecture and urban planning.

March 7, 2012 - Places

Chuck Wolfe outlines the importance of soundscapes to cities past, present and future, and describes efforts to both document urban sounds and use sound as a planning tool.

March 7, 2012 - The Atlantic Cities

Perhaps it's appropriate that Starbucks has chosen a city known for self-exploration and experimentation to unveil a new concept store that offers a glimpse of the cafe of the future.

March 7, 2012 - Fast Company Co.Design

John Metcalfe profiles the work of Spanish art collective luzinterruptus, who have used public art pieces to highlight the failings of Spanish authorities, such as Madrid's dysfunctional drinking fountains.

February 28, 2012 - The Atlantic Cities

In one of the countries leading the world in green energy adoption, a program to support solar energy has become a victim of its own success, reports Bjørn Lomborg.

February 28, 2012 - Slate

Jennifer Hattam profiles a DIY project of artist Anton Polsky, who set out to create a better bike map for the city of Moscow.

February 24, 2012 - Treehugger

Kaid Benfield revisits the results of a plan to revitalize the town center of Plessis-Robinson, a suburb of Paris, with the suggestion that its success could inform similar efforts in the United States.

February 23, 2012 - Switchboard

Nate Berg reports on a plan by federal and city government officials in Moscow to decamp from the central city for offices in newly annexed outer regions, and to redevelop the former office buildings as housing and hotels.

February 15, 2012 - The Atlantic Cities

In most cases, traffic signals are used to stop vehicles succumbing to Newton's law of motion, but a new decree in Paris will change that. Eighteen intersections are now subject to newly relaxed rules that allow cyclists to continue at red lights.

February 9, 2012 - The Telegraph

Chuck Wolfe uses the urban scale adaptive reuse of the Roman Emperor Diocletian's retirement palace in Split, Croatia to argue for blending the past and future on a broader scale.

February 8, 2012 - The Atlantic Cities

The first bicycle bus for schoolchildren, built by Dutch company Tolkamp Metaalspecials, of course.

February 8, 2012 - Fast Co.Exist

In Baku, Azerbaijan, the opportunity to host the annual Eurovision song competition in May has served as a catalyst for showing off the city as an untapped luxury tourism hot spot.

January 28, 2012 - The Atlantic Cities

A new theme park dedicated to all things Napoleon has been proposed for the area south of Paris by former French minister and history buff Yves Jégo, and is being touted as a rival to Disneyland, reports Henry Samuel.

January 27, 2012 - The Telegraph

The Atlantic Cities has posted a photo essay of the world's newest subway system, which opened on December 1, 2011 in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

January 27, 2012 - The Atlantic Cities

Frugality, a lack of debt, and a government focused on high production, low inflation and extensive social services are the secrets to providing many Germans with a standard of living higher than Americans making twice as much.

January 26, 2012 - Los Angeles Times