I’ve traveled to Dubai several times in recent years to research and write about the city. I became impressed with its solar energy program and, as a curious planner, intrigued by the city itself. I was invited to write a feature length article for Planning called Dubai's Planning Paradox. I've also written on it's renewable energy aspirations and the DGCX.
This aspirational city in the Abu Dhabi desert continues to plan and build. It may become a 'greenprint' for urban development if it indeed achieves very low or even zero-carbon. My editor at AramcoWorld pushed me to find metrics. I wrote about the place, the planners, the researchers and their ongoing efforts in Chasing Zero.
Chicago is one of the world’s great cities but its future isn’t so certain. The 2nd annual Global Cities Forum, held downtown during three days in June, asked many questions about the world’s top cities. Our town stood shoulder to shoulder with the giants and fared pretty well. But the global economy is in constant flux. Chicago, which painfully transitioned from industrial city to global city, could decline again. The forum was really an interesting 3-day reflection on the nature of cities today and the nature of cities always. I relied on a...
I occasionally travel to the Caucasus region and enjoy visiting the city of Baku. I met two city planners there who helped me to understand the rich layers of history in the place. I wrote this piece for Planning called Baku at a Crossroads.
I traveled several times to Brazil during the early 2000s and made good friends in Sâo Paulo. I became fascinated with Brazil's great industrial powerhouse. I had never before seen a city so immense, so dense yet vast and spread out like a huge human hive. In 2004 when the city celebrated its 450th anniversary I wrote a short blurb for Américas magazine. Later I wrote a feature-length piece called Citizens Map a Megacity. And, in late '04, I went on a US State Dept. fellowship that supported my work for four months with the regional planning...
After visiting Milan, I went to see a friend Dave Stein in Vienna and began to learn about that interesting city. Dave, a grad school colleague now living in Vienna, knew the city and its transportation system very well. I suggested that we write an article for Urban Land Europe, while Dave came up with the concept Vienna Turns Again to the East.
I visited Milan in early 2002 and, aided by friendly interpreter Chiara Pelizzoni, undertook to learn about its place in Lombardia, in the North Italian and European economy, and its gradual transformation. I wrote a feature for Urban Land Europe called Postindustrial Milan.