Category Archives: Africa

Is Soul City’s dream being realized in Illinois?

Floyd McKissick nurtured a powerful vision following the conclusion of World War II. His dream encompassed the creation of a groundbreaking integrated city, one that would provide Black Americans with the opportunity to embrace the full range of economic, cultural, … Continue reading

Posted in Active transportation, advertising, Advocacy, Africa, Alternative transportation, architecture, atomic age, bicycling, Biking, book reviews, books, branding, business, cities, civics, Civil Rights, colleges, commerce, Communications, culture, demographics, distribution, diversity, economic development, economic gardening, Economy, ecosystems, education, engineering, entrepreneurship, environment, futurism, geography, government, health, highways, historic preservation, history, Housing, humanity, inclusiveness, industry, infrastructure, land use, literature, logistics, Maps, marketing, new urbanism, Passenger rail, pictures, place names, placemaking, planning, politics, Privatization, product design, racism, rail, Railroads, reading, recreation, social equity, spatial design, sprawl, Statistics, topography, toponymy, tourism, trails, transportation, Travel, trucking, urban design, urban planning, walking, writing, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

World’s largest cities with three (3) letter names

Below is a compilation of the world’s largest cities with only three letters in their names. These cities represent a total of 35 nations. Interestingly, none of the cities on the list are from the United States, Canada, Australia, or … Continue reading

Posted in Africa, Asia, Cities, Communications, culture, fun, geography, Latin America, North America, Oceania, place names, Russia, South America, toponymy | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

A global map of active solar observatories

The map provided below identifies the currently active solar observatories on Earth. While other observatories may include some facets of research related to the Sun, this map identifies those optical and radio observatories whose primary purpose is the study and … Continue reading

Posted in aerospace, Africa, Asia, Astronomy, China, civics, Communications, digital communications, education, engineering, environment, Europe, geography, government, history, humanity, India, infrastructure, land use, Latin America, light pollution, Maps, military, mountains, nature, North America, Oceania, Outer Space, pictures, place names, planning, politics, pollution, Radio, Russia, Science, Skies, solar, South America, space, spatial design, technology, tourism, Transportation, Travel, urban planning, visual pollution, weather | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Living amid an “Ecology of Fear”

I recently read Ecology of Fear: Los Angeles and the Imagination of Disaster by the late Mike Davis. It is an intriguing book that switches from whimsical to dark and foreboding at the turn of a page. In fact, the … Continue reading

Posted in Advocacy, Africa, Animals, archaeology, art, Asia, book reviews, books, branding, business, Canada, Cars, cities, civics, Civil Rights, civility, climate, climate change, commerce, Communications, culture, demographics, density, diversity, economic development, economics, ecosystems, education, entertainment, entrepreneurship, environment, film, fun, futurism, geography, Geology, government, Guns, Handguns, health, highways, hiking, historic preservation, history, homelessness, Housing, human rights, humanity, immigration, inclusiveness, India, industry, infrastructure, injustice, land use, Latin America, literature, marketing, money, movies, music, natural history, nature, opinion, planning, politics, pollution, poverty, psychology, racism, reading, Religion, revitalization, schools, Science, Science fiction, Sexism, Small business, social equity, Social media, spatial design, Statistics, sustainability, technology, Television, theaters, topography, tourism, Trade, traffic, transportation, Travel, unemployment, urban design, urban planning, visual pollution, weather, Wilderness, Wildlife, Women, writing, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Humorous nicknames for complicated freeway interchanges

“The Beast,” “The Octopus,” or “East Delay” just east of downtown LA – Source: maps.google.com Below are the humorous names given to complicated freeway interchanges. The most common terms tend to be “Spaghetti Junction” (20), “Spaghetti Bowl” (6), “Malfunction Junction” … Continue reading

Posted in Africa, Asia, branding, Canada, Cars, cities, commerce, distribution, engineering, Europe, geography, highways, history, infrastructure, land use, Maps, North America, Oceania, pictures, place names, planning, spatial design, sprawl, topography, traffic, transportation, Travel, urban planning | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Top ten (10) tallest airport control towers by continent

Cairo’s Airport Control Tower design – Source: acams.com Below are lists of the ten tallest airport control towers in each continent (other than Antarctica), as well as a comparison of the average height for each continent. The lists are based … Continue reading

Posted in aerospace, Africa, air travel, airport planning, airports, architecture, Asia, aviation, cities, Communications, Europe, geography, history, infrastructure, land use, North America, Oceania, pictures, planning, skylines, South America, spatial design, Statistics, tourism, traffic, transportation, Travel, urban planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

World’s largest h-y-p-h-e-n-a-t-e-d core cities

As a companion to the previous post on cities/towns with the most hyphens in their name, this post lists the largest cities (core city not metro area) that have a hyphen in their name. The minimum population for inclusion in … Continue reading

Posted in Africa, Asia, branding, Canada, Caribbean, China, cities, civics, culture, economic development, Europe, fun, geography, government, history, India, Latin America, Maps, North America, place names, placemaking, planning, Russia, South America, Statistics, toponymy, UK | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Monikers/nicknames for film and movie-making hubs

The allure of stardom not only applies to those in acting, but also the geographic locations where movie magic is made. The following list identifies those places around the globe where film/movie-making has been significant enough for the city/region/nation to … Continue reading

Posted in Africa, art, Asia, branding, business, Canada, Caribbean, China, Cities, commerce, Communications, consumerism, culture, economic development, entertainment, Europe, film, fun, geography, history, India, industry, Latin America, Mexico, movies, North America, Oceania, pictures, placemaking, planning, South America, Television, theaters, tourism, Travel, UK, video | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

World’s tallest Mormon Temples

The following list identifies the tallest Mormon (LDS) Temples in the world. Many of these stunning structures are architectural masterpieces and regardless of your beliefs, one cannot help but impressed and inspired by their beauty. A minimum height for inclusion … Continue reading

Posted in Africa, architecture, art, Asia, Canada, Caribbean, Cities, culture, economic development, geography, infrastructure, land use, Latin America, Mexico, North America, Oceania, product design, Religion, skylines, skyscrapers, South America, Statistics, third places, tourism, Travel, UK, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The global network of subsea digital communication cables and the coastal hub cities that stand to benefit from them

Despite the fanfare surrounding satellite networks, subsea cables still transmit 99 percent of all data between continents. Much like the interstate highway system, airline networks, and railways, undersea global communication cables form a hub and spoke system, albeit being somewhat … Continue reading

Posted in adaptive reuse, Africa, architecture, Asia, business, cities, commerce, Communications, digital communications, distribution, ecommerce, economic development, economic gardening, economics, engineering, environment, Europe, futurism, geography, globalization, government, history, industry, infrastructure, internet, land use, logistics, Maps, marketing, nature, North America, Oceania, placemaking, planning, politics, Science, Social media, South America, spatial design, spying, Statistics, technology, topography, Trade, traffic, urban planning, video | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment