Category Archives: Europe

Top Eleven Planning Lessons from Lisbon, Portugal

Posted on October 8, 2018 by

Below are my top eleven (11) planning lessons from a delightful week-long trip to Lisboa (Lisbon), Portugal in late September. Many more could be added this list, but for brevity’s sake we’ll stay with these eleven (11) for now. They … Continue reading →

Posted in Active transportation, adaptive reuse, architecture, art, cities, civics, civility, Cuisine, culture, diversity, downtown, entertainment, entrepreneurship, environment, Europe, Food, fun, geography, Geology, historic preservation, history, humanity, inclusiveness, land use, music, nature, pictures, placemaking, planning, Portugal, revitalization, spatial design, topography, tourism, transit, transportation, Travel, urban planning, zoning | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

The Beauty of the Contrasting-Chaotic City Form

Posted on October 3, 2018 by

As urban planners we have a tendency to emphasize the importance and efficiency of the traditional grid street pattern. Compared to the disconnected neighborhoods and subdivisions constructed over the past 75 years, the traditional street grid is far and away … Continue reading →

Posted in books, Cars, Cities, culture, density, downtown, Europe, geography, government, health, historic preservation, history, infrastructure, land use, Maps, North America, pictures, placemaking, planning, Portugal, spatial design, sprawl, topography, tourism, traffic, transit, transportation, Travel, urban planning, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Lisboa, Glorious Lisboa

Posted on September 28, 2018 by

Posted in air travel, architecture, art, bridges, Cities, commerce, culture, downtown, entertainment, Europe, fun, geography, historic preservation, history, humanity, inclusiveness, infrastructure, land use, landscape architecture, pictures, placemaking, planning, Portugal, rail, sailing, skylines, spatial design, topography, tourism, transit, Transportation, Travel, Uncategorized, urban planning, walking | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Unofficial Guide to Hipsterhoods of the Iberian Peninsula

Posted on July 26, 2018 by

The following is a list of current hipster hoods and/or streets identified in cities across the Iberian Peninsula (Portugal and Spain). If there are any neighborhoods that were missed in these or other cities, please let us know and they … Continue reading →

Posted in cities, Cuisine, culture, diversity, downtown, economic development, economic gardening, entertainment, Europe, fun, gentrification, geography, history, humanity, inclusiveness, placemaking, tourism, Travel, urban planning | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

A visual celebration of Le Corbusier’s five Unite’ d’Habitation

Posted on February 16, 2018 by

Five European cities have the distinct honor of being home to a magnificent Brutalist style, utopian ideal, multiple-family housing complex designed by renown architect, Le Corbusier. These Unite’ d’Habitation are breathtaking in their form and functionality. Each building has slight … Continue reading →

Posted in architecture, art, Cities, culture, Europe, geography, historic preservation, history, Housing, humanity, land use, minimalism, placemaking, planning, skylines, spatial design, urban planning | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

360 Degree Orbital Beltway Cities

Posted on January 15, 2018 by

The following list identifies those cities around the globe that are circled by a full orbital expressway system (a.k.a. beltway, ring road, perimeter highway, loop, beltline etc.) encircling the city 360 degrees. Inland cities have an advantage for being included … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, Asia, Canada, Cars, China, cities, economic development, Europe, geography, India, infrastructure, land use, Maps, Mexico, North America, Oceania, planning, South America, spatial design, sprawl, States, Trade, transportation, Travel, UK | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Cities leading the autonomous vehicle (AV) revolution

Posted on November 14, 2017 by

According to Bloomberg, the cities listed below (Piloting Cities) are hosting autonomous vehicle tests or have committed to doing so in the near future. For more information on what’s taking place in each of these cities, go to the Global Atlas … Continue reading →

Posted in Active transportation, Asia, Bus transportation, Canada, Cars, China, cities, economic development, electric vehicles, Europe, fun, geography, history, infrastructure, land use, North America, Oceania, planning, product design, Science, South America, spatial design, technology, transit, transportation, Travel, urban planning | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Russian cities that arose from the Gulag era

Posted on August 22, 2017 by

Below is a list of some of the larger cities that were founded, built, or significantly enhanced through Gulag-era forced labor. If the city was founded during the Soviet Union’s Gulag era, the date is provided in parenthesis. Otherwise, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Asia, cities, culture, Europe, geography, human rights, humanity, land use, Mining, pictures, place names, politics, Statistics | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

A physical Brexit with Iberian flair

Posted on July 4, 2017 by

Imagine, if you will, a place known as Iberia, a peninsula consisting of two great nations (Portugal and Spain). One day, for no apparent reason or cause, this geographic feature abruptly adopts a mind and a course of its own … Continue reading →

Posted in art, book reviews, books, entertainment, Europe, geography, Geology, globalization, government, history, humanity, literature, Maps, politics, topography, Travel, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Regional place names that sound like names of nations

Posted on June 27, 2017 by

  Below is my list of regions whose name sounds more like a nation’s name. Some of these are geographic regions while others are political. In some cases they correspond with the boundaries of a state, multiple states, and/or province(s). … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, Asia, Europe, geography, North America, Oceania, place names, South America | 2 Comments