urban history
« Previous EntriesWorldwide, cities are good for women
Tuesday, March 9th, 2010In honour of International Women’s Day this week, I offer the following argument:
The global shift toward cities and more urban based economies has benefited women — and the status of women — in at least three ways.
First, urban women and girls typically need to spend fewer hours doing household chores, including ensuring basic survival, than […]
Finally, a city celebrates its successes
Sunday, February 28th, 2010Vancouver frequently receives positive accolades, whether as the world’s most livable city, for its sustainable nature, or as one of the more attractive tourist destinations in North America.
Despite these, or perhaps because of them, local residents and the media tend to focus on the problems the city has: drug wars, homelessness and crime; as well […]
The coming blurred boundaries between work and home
Monday, February 8th, 2010Over the past year I’ve spent a lot of time analyzing the intersection of workplace trends and urban living trends. It’s becoming probable that the urban knowledge economy will require many workers to supply their own private workspace. Employers — or the city milieu itself — will be responsible for supplying the space for collaboration. […]
Libraries as public 3rd places
Tuesday, January 12th, 2010Seth Godin and CEOs for Cities raised the issue of what do to with public libraries in the 21st century. Over time, all books will be available on the internet, which will mean fewer people checking out the hard-cover, hard copy versions.
Seth thinks they should “train people to take intellectual initiative.” Not a bad goal, […]
Five Phenomena of the Century (so far)
Wednesday, January 6th, 2010The first decade of the 21st century has come to a close. For the first blog post of the new decade, I decided to ponder the most significant trends of the past decade related to cities or affecting urban spaces.
Below are the five most significant happenings, in no particular order because they are all somewhat […]
Resiliant Canadian Home Prices–Alternative Theory
Wednesday, December 16th, 2009Unlike the housing market crash in the USA, in Canada the average home price is reaching record highs, or is already there depending upon how you measure it and adjust for inflation. Market watchers are starting to cry “bubble!” They are predicting a burst, or at least a noticeable slow down soon. (Good article […]
Your most outragious examples of “urbany”
Tuesday, November 24th, 2009Urbany — Trendwatching.com’s new word for the urban experience lifestyle.
100 years ago, less than 5 percent of the world’s population lived in cities. Today over 50% call urban areas home and that number could reach 70% within a few decades.
What’s the significance? Urban culture is taking over. As explained by Trendwatcher:
A forever-growing number of more […]
American cities facing challenges
Wednesday, November 18th, 2009As the United States grapples with the worst job losses since World War Two, the nation’s cities need to be centers of solutions and incubators of private sector jobs. Yet, with government bank balances at all levels in the red, finding the resources to provide infrastructure and even maintain basic services will be challenging. Municipalities […]
Apartment living and women’s empowerment
Tuesday, November 17th, 2009Back when North American metropolitan areas were laid out, in suburbs connected by freeways, women typically stayed home to raise the 3.9 children that was typical for a woman to have in 1961.
The entire metro area design evolved interconnected with this dominant idea about womanhood as motherhood. Suburbs detached from work areas; malls and shopping […]
Changing urban jobs, new urban lifestyles
Monday, November 9th, 2009How is the changing nature of urban employment changing our cities?
Many cities, particularly in North America, emerged as centers for manufacturing, primary industry and some natural resource processing and trade. In recent decades, manufacturing finished products has become more automated and global. Making primary products like steel has undergone a similar transformation. And many of […]