Central and South America
Central and South America
Friday Funny: Apocalypse Tourism
Your probably heard of ecotourism -- responsible tourism to natural areas. Apocalypse tourism celebrates the the end of the world on December 21, 2012, and Mexico's tourism board has the event locked up.
Banned Billboards A Success in Brazil
Five years after Gilberto Kassab, the mayor of São Paulo, Brazil passed the "Clean City Law", banning all visual pollution around the city, both citizens and businesses are thankful.
Revive Farming, Revive Haiti
After the earthquake, Haiti's recovery has not been in rebuilding the center city, but through decentralization and the development of farming. But even this plan, reports Randal Archibald, is fraught with challenges.
Hondura's Experiment in Massive Free Market City Building
Can Honduras develop it's own Hong Kong by enabling free market "startup cities"? The sleepy city of Trujillo is selected for the country's first experiment.
Folding Bikes Gain Popularity in Brazil
Maria Fernanda Cavalcanti, a resident of Brazil, writes that folding bicycles "...have been catching the attention of urban cyclists everywhere."
Latin America's Most Competitive Cities
Brazilian cities dominated the list compiled by AméricaEconomía. Many traditional Brazilian metropolises rose in the list, while many of its B-level cities like Campinas (20th) and Manaus (29th) were included for the first time.
Guatemala's Silicon Valley
In Guatemala City, Campus Tec, a single tech firm building, shows early signs of promise for the city's "Silicon Valley dream."
Gas Prices On The Rise Despite Reduced Gas Consumption
Americans are driving less and more efficiently, resulting in reduced gas consumption - yet prices are rising. What gives? For a nation that relies on oil imports despite surging drilling, the answer is unusual.
Bicycling on the Rise in Mexico City
USA Today reports that efforts to increase cycling in Mexico City have succeeded in getting middle and upper-class residents on two wheels.
Friday Funny: Mimes Scold Naughty South Americans
Brazil, Venezuela and Columbia have all hired a curious sort of police force to encourage pedestrians and drivers to follow the rules -- mimes, who hang out at busy intersections and make fun of bad behavior.
Planning for the 2016 Olympics in Rio
The City of Rio de Janeiro announced the winner of its design contest for the 2016 Olympic Park. Contestants also designed a master-planned, mixed-use neighborhood to take over the space post-Olympics.
Prefab, 10' by 10' Affordable Homes
Stación-ARquitectura Arquitectos has designed a modular home to house poor families in Monterrey, Mexico.
Western Planners Swoop In To Attack Sao Paulo's 'Worm'
The Big Worm is a 2.2 mile elevated highway carving its way through South America's biggest city, carrying 80,000 vehicles a day past the bedroom windows of once elegant art deco apartment buildings.
"Earthscraper" Beats Height Limits By Going Down Instead of Up
In the dense center of Mexico City, an architect has proposed a 65-story building - straight down.
São Paulo's "Big Worm" Needs to Flatten
At least, according to the city's urban planners. The two-mile elevated highway is a hindrance, reports Juan Forero, to the city's modernization.
Rich, Poor and Outcasts Coexist on Brazil's Rua Augusta
Brazil's economic boom has revitalized the five-block Rua Augusta and turned it into a "cultural blast furnace," writes Vincent Bevins for the Los Angeles Times.
Oil Bonanza In Western Hemisphere
New technology is allowing massive investment in oil drilling in North and South America, from Canada to Argentina. This article centers on the investment in the region's two largest economies, U.S. and Brazil, and its effect on energy geopolitics.
Guatemalan Schools Built on Bottles
The nonprofit Hug It Forward is helping Guatemalan neighborhoods build schools at less than $10,000 by making them out of plastic bottles, writes Zak Stone for GOOD.
Bolivia's 'Day of Pedestrian' Replaces Cars With People
Bolivia took two million cars off the street in nine cities during the "National Day of the Pedestrian." The event arrived when President Evo Morales' government plans to build a highway through the Amazon rainforest, the BBC reports.
Melbourne Ranked as Most Livable City
With high scores in five broad categories, Melbourne, Australia received the highest spot in livability rankings from The Economist's research unit.
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.
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
Ada County Highway District
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
