City trends of today and tomorrow.
Gain insights into urban development all over the globe.
A smart city is an urban settlement that uses technology to solve problems and optimize city life. This idea can come to fruition in two ways: Some cities, such as Singapore or Dubai, are working on becoming "smart cities" via infrastructural updates and investments.
First inhabited by the Aboriginal locals some 50,000 years ago, Sydney was one of the most significant cities in the Western world by the 19th century. Currently home to over 5 million Sydneysiders, it remains Australia's most populous city and commercial center.
The Jetsons, the 1960s futurist cartoon that was made in the US, depicted the namesake family living in Skypad Apartment in the year 2062, in a city called Orbit. The family of four — and their dog — enjoyed a leisurely life in a smart home, complete with a robot maid, flying cars, and other whimsical inventions.
As their planes descend on the Zurich Airport, passengers can catch a glimpse of a boomerang-shaped structure enveloping a 80,000 square-meter greenery and an attractive complex that will fulfill all their needs. What the travelers might see is The Circle.
Around a billion people worldwide live in slums, informal settlements typically populated by the urban poor. These residents represent a third of the global urban population and drive over 90 percent of its growth. By 2030, there'll be two billion slum dwellers, residing primarily in Asian and African countries.
“Why has slamming a ball with a racquet become so obsessive a pleasure for so many of us?" mused cultural critique, Nat Hentoff. “It seems clear to me that a primary attraction of the sport is the opportunity it gives to release aggression physically without being arrested for felonious assault."
The global spread of the COVID-19 has been asymmetrical: Some countries like New Zealand or Hong Kong were able to significantly reduce the cases by the middle of 2020, some were already embracing the so-called second wave. In the meantime, large and decentralized countries like the United States have seen the viral epicenters shift from dense cities to provincial areas.
"I don't believe architecture has to speak too much. It should remain silent and let nature in the guise of sunlight and wind," said celebrated Japanese architect Tadao Ando. The four following architectural projects in sensitive habitats align precisely with Tadao Ando's vision. They show that a different world is possible, in terms of both architecture and habitat conservation.
The Champs-Élysées, the iconic avenue stretching for about two kilometres in the heart of Paris, is often said to be the world's most beautiful. Since its completion in the 17th century, the elegant avenue lured shoppers and visitors for centuries, attracting as many as 300,000 visitors a day.
Cities gave birth to civilization as we know it, according to many historians and archeologists. Since the first cities in Mesopotamia came to be thousands of years ago, the growth of global urbanization has been unstoppable. By 2050, more than two-thirds of the world's population will reside in cities, a jump from today's 55 percent.
Whether in direct or indirect ways, all the human lives on the planet depend on forests. Yet, particularly with the rise of industrialization, millions of hectares of forests become depleted due to unsustainable human consumption every year. Since the earliest human settlements, timber has been one of the most popular construction materials.
Doorknobs are among the most touched items in day-to-day life, especially in public spaces like offices, hospitals, or educational institutions. The high intensity of human traffic in these places mean people might be depositing a large volume of harmful bacteria or viruses on doorknobs.