Category Archives: Portugal

From sea to shining sea of wasteful surface parking lots

The images below depict the extent of wasteful surface parking lots that can be found across the United States at many major sports venues, especially those dedicated to football, baseball, and soccer. Much of the land currently set aside for … Continue reading

Posted in Active transportation, Alternative transportation, Cars, cities, downtown, economic development, engineering, geography, history, Housing, infrastructure, land use, Maps, parking, Passenger rail, placemaking, planning, Portugal, product design, rail, Railroads, spatial design, sprawl, Statistics, technology, third places, tourism, traffic, transit, transportation, Travel, UK, urban design, urban planning, visual pollution, walking | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Soaking up the sun with floating solar farms

In recent years floating solar farms have been popping up on water bodies around the globe. While typically more expensive to initially install, floating solar facilities have several notable advantages, including: Less use of productive farm land or valuable lands … Continue reading

Posted in adaptive reuse, agriculture, Alternative energy, architecture, Asia, China, climate, climate change, economic development, ecosystems, energy, engineering, environment, Europe, geography, India, infrastructure, Maps, nature, North America, pictures, planning, politics, Portugal, product design, Renewable Energy, rivers/watersheds, Science, solar, spatial design, States, Statistics, technology, topography, UK, urban planning, water | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Favorite national park system sites visited

  Below is my list of favorite national park system sites that I have visited by state (USA), by tribal nation (Navajo), by province (Canada), and by country (elsewhere).  This list will likely change over time as these are revisited … Continue reading

Posted in archaeology, Canada, culture, deserts, ecosystems, entertainment, environment, Europe, fun, geography, Geology, government, hiking, historic preservation, history, humanity, infrastructure, Ireland, land use, landscape architecture, Native Americans, nature, North America, placemaking, planning, Portugal, rivers/watersheds, Science, spatial design, States, Statistics, technology, third places, topography, tourism, transportation, Travel, UK, walking, Wildlife | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Top Eleven Planning Lessons from Lisbon, Portugal

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

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 , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Lisboa, Glorious Lisboa

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 , , , | 2 Comments