Cities

Air Pollution May Diminish the Benefits of Exercise

You might want to rethink that walk along the smoggy roadway

An apiarist tends to beehives at Hastings Urban Farm in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.

Can Honeybees Monitor Pollution?

The tiny pollinators are useful sentinels of what’s going on in an ecosystem, and might just be environmentalists’ best asset

One proposed feature is a system where trash would be separated and removed through underground tunnels.

Five Questions You Should Have About Google's Plan to Reinvent Cities

A waterfront neighborhood in Toronto will be a test bed for technological innovations. It also raises concerns about privacy.

The inherent flexibility and adaptability of the Shotgun Chameleon House in Houston grew from designer Zui Ng’s desire to create an economically and environmentally sustainable house. The exterior staircase serves as a separate entrance for potential renters.

What the Housing Market in America Needs Is More Options

From granny pods to morphing apartments, the future of shelter is evolving

The Man Dead Set On Building an Offshore Wind Farm on Lake Erie

Lorry Wagner has Cleveland on track to lead a nascent offshore wind industry in the U.S., creating clean energy and jobs for a city in need of both

Little Children on a Bicycle

How Instagram Is Changing the Way We Design Cultural Spaces

As neighborhoods, restaurants and museums become more photogenic, are we experiencing an "Instagramization" of the world?

The Abbey Road crosswalk, which has been moved slightly since 1969, in modern times.

A Short History of the Crosswalk

Pedestrian crosswalks and roads have a complicated relationship

A 1908 postcard depicts Halloween mischief.

When Halloween Was All Tricks and No Treats

Nineteenth-century urbanization unleashed the nation's anarchic spirits, turning holiday mischief into mayhem

Students and advisers in a class at the new Vaux Big Picture High School in Philadelphia

This Philly Transformation Plan Rethinks the Neighborhood School

The city housing authority’s designs for a mixed-income community include a once-shuttered high school that could guard against displacement amid change

A self-driving shuttle at Texas A&M

Are Self-Driving Cars the Future of Mobility for Disabled People?

Combining machine learning, artificial intelligence and autonomous vehicles could revolutionize how people with disabilities get around their communities

Themira lohmanus

New Species of Fly Found Breeding on Central Park Duck Droppings

The creatures are likely drawn to the area by the high concentrations of duck poop

The historic Coplay Cement Company kilns used in the 1890s.

The Modern World Depends on Humble Cement

Portland cement is a key ingredient in one of the world’s most common materials

Tim Renner, undersecretary of state for cultural affairs, at a 2016 press conference for the Urban National Museum for Urban Contemporary Art.

Museum Devoted to Street Art Opens in Berlin

The façade of the five-story building is covered in large murals

New York City Could Finally Lose Its Prohibition-era Dancing Rule

The infamous "Cabaret Law" is rooted in racism

An engraving from later in the 1880s shows rioters burning an orphanage for black children.

The Civil War Draft Riots Brought Terror to New York’s Streets

This dark event remains the largest civil insurrection—the Civil War itself aside—in American history

Rescue workers search for survivors among the rubble of a collapsed building in Mexico City. Structures throughout the capital were devastated during yesterday's earthquake.

How Mexico City’s Unique Geology Makes Deadly Earthquakes Even Worse

The entire country—but especially the capital—has all the ingredients for seismic catastrophe

Metropoles like Shanghai have survived and thrived in large part because of their massive populations. But what happens when people start to become a liability rather than an asset?

Can the World’s Megacities Survive the Digital Age?

Like companies, megacities must adapt

Developers are breathing new life into indoor shopping malls.

The Transformation of the American Shopping Mall

Headlines claim malls are dying, and some are. But many others are having second lives as churches, schools, hospitals, even farms

Aerial view of Pennsylvania Station

Five Architects on the One Building They Wish Had Been Preserved

From an elegant solution to urban density to a magnificent financial hub

On a summer Friday, people gather at O'Connor Brewing Co. in Norfolk, Virginia.

Are Craft Breweries the Next Coffeehouses?

Taprooms springing up across the country are cultivating communities and helping to revitalize entire neighborhoods

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