Construction

The 2008 Summer Olympics brought a boom of construction to host city Beijing. But now, six months later, much of the office space built in the lead up to the games sits empty -- and likely will for years.

February 24, 2009 - Los Angeles Times

In an effort to revitalize the local economy, Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper has announced a plan to fast-track more than 200 construction projects in the city.

December 14, 2008 - The Denver Post

A growing number of local governments are turning to "green cement" resolutions to rectify North Texas' status as a shameless failure when it comes to complying with clean air standards.

November 24, 2008 - The Dallas Observer

According to the Urban Land Institute, there is no need for Atlanta to continue building; currently, there is more than four times more construction going on than there is office spaced being used.

November 13, 2008 - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Cement production is notorious for generating large amounts of C02. Now a Stanford professor claims to have developed a new process that will eliminate the problem.

September 5, 2008 - The San Francisco Chronicle

In British Columbia, a proposal to require all new buildings to be carbon-neutral is being considered. The rule would require that buildings have no carbon footprint by 2020.

August 15, 2008 - The Globe and Mail

The Oil Drum charts recent figures released by the U.S. Geological Survey, which show a stunning growth in cement use (and therefore, presumably, building activity) in China as compared to world usage.

June 18, 2008 - The Oil Drum

As rescue work continues in the aftermath of the earthquake in China's Sichuan province, many -- including the state-run media -- are asking questions about why so many buildings collapsed, and blame corruption and shoddy construction methods.

May 16, 2008 - The Globe & Mail

Massachusetts wants to require affordable housing developers to pay construction workers a "prevailing wage", but with costs already totaling $200,000 or more per unit, the proposal may ultimately decrease the amount of affordable housing built.

May 9, 2008 - The Boston Globe

A 17-story condominium tower in Boise, Idaho is being built on a 32-foot-wide footprint. Workers talk about the challenges of constructing such a skinny building.

April 23, 2008 - The Idaho Statesman

This article from National Geographic looks at the construction boom that is rapidly changing the face of Beijing.

April 18, 2008 - National Geographic

One Philadelphia councilman wants his city to follow the lead of more pedestrian-friendly New York and ensure that construction projects don't interfere with sidewalks.

April 13, 2008 - The Philadelphia Inquirer

It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle. ~Ernest Hemingway

September 9, 2007 - Mike Lydon

Two moments in this trip bring home the pace of change here. Sunday morning, 8am, I wake up in the Zhongshan Park section of west-central Shanghai. Head out into the backlanes of the superblock behind the hotel and construction on a high-rise gated apartment building is already at full tilt. Two other construction projects intitimate in my life... a dorm across from our apartment in Manhattan, and a restaurant next to the Institute in Palo Alto, are definitely not on the same aggressive shifts.Next moment, Wednesday evening 11:18pm at our hotel in Pudong, I glance out the window before bed and see a line of cement mixers 10-12 deep waiting to unload at the construction site across the street.

March 28, 2007 - Anthony Townsend