Emily Laetz

Motivated by factors such as municipal incentive packages and the changing preferences of younger workers, many companies are relocating to central business districts, reversing a post-war trend that based the American workplace in the suburbs.

The mid-term elections have created even more uncertainty for the Livable Communities Act, which has stalled in the House and has yet to be taken up by the full Senate. Critics worry about government spending and housing affordability.

Single-story, tiled-roof houses called hanok used to cover the footprint of Seoul, now a city of skyscrapers and avant-garde architecture. Today many describe the hanok as "endangered,"and conflict has come to a head in the small district of Bukchon.

Twin Cities developer and software guru Rick Harrison believes that, through innovative urban design configurations such as 'coving,' suburban areas can be transformed from "disdainable to sustainable."

An influx of chain stores and new development in Harlem has many residents worried about retaining the historical character of the nation's so-called "African American 'Main-Street.'" Not everybody minds the changes though.