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7 Vertical Gardens From Around The World

October 21, 2011 By Leave a Comment
a wall of the Sylvia Hotel, overgrown with green life.

As things here in many locales of North America are beginning to retire for the winter, and as foliage around many of us is turning to gold, and to fiery orange and red, I thought I'd add a bit of green to the proceedings. More to the point, I thought I'd scour the Internet and find some of the most impressive vertical gardens in the world. Vertical gardens, or living walls,  have been looked upon as a means to add greenery to urban locations, as well as to model future sustainability where natural … [Read more...]

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DIY Streets Program in the UK: Reclaiming a Neighborhood

June 15, 2011 By Leave a Comment
DIY Streets

One of the reasons that we talk a lot about public transit and city planning on this humble blog of ours, is that these areas are inextricably linked to the issues of green building and green lifestyles. These in turn of course are also tied to the idea of local communities working together to improve quality of life for everyone living in them. Thanks to Jeff at Sustainablog who tweeted the link, and to Kaid Benfield's piece about urban renewal in the Clapton area of Hackney, London reprinted … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Green Building, Urban planning Tagged With: , , ,

The Dirt on Urban Farming and Community Gardens

May 13, 2011 By 1 Comment
Photo: jonathanvlarocca

Some say urban farming is a trend, some say it is a movement, and some say it is a revolution. I say urban farming is going back to a lifestyle prevalent before the Industrial Revolution. In the 1800s, we started to pull away from a self-sufficient, agrarian lifestyle, and built cities and populated them, because that’s where the jobs were. Since we weren’t farming and bartering to feed our families anymore, we had to go to work to make money to buy food that was trucked in from somewhere … [Read more...]

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7 Reasons That City Living Is Eco-friendly

May 11, 2011 By 8 Comments
Green City Central Park Grass

I grew up in the 60s in the back-to-the-land movement. We cherished the earth and moved to rural areas to farm, be self-sufficient, and grow communities. We wanted to connect with each other and the land. We looked down on cities as places of evil – crime, pollution, crowds, concrete, and no community. Many of us were from upper middle class homes in the suburbs, and when we rebelled, we chose a country lifestyle instead of the city. Today, city living isn’t seen as evil anymore. As it turns … [Read more...]

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7 Impressive Green Roofs Around the World

March 30, 2011 By 1 Comment
fukuoka green roof

Green roofing has been a major strategy in pollution absorption, stormwater management, and general air quality improvement in urban areas. Green roofs have provided heat retention and general energy efficiency in all kinds of settings, as well. Other than these practical benefits, green roofs also add visually to urban settings, and generally work contrary to the idea that cities stand in opposition to the natural world. The irony of course is that city living is becoming one of the most eco-friendly … [Read more...]

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Houseboats: Sea of Green Living

February 23, 2011 By Leave a Comment
house boat with flowers canal scene amsterdam holland

Being raised in a suburban setting as I've been, and then having moved around a bit in urban areas as a starving student, and even living in another country for a while, I've had a unique perspective on what "home" means in contrast to my upbringing. And by this, I mean about what my expectations are of things like floor space, the size (and necessity) of a yard, the proximity of neighbors, and other aspects of what a house, home, domicile, family dwelling, means. As such, I thought I'd look at … [Read more...]

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Under the Smog: Going Green in the Inner-City

December 22, 2010 By 1 Comment
Rooftop Gardens

Here on this blog, I've spent some time talking about the importance of cultural shifts when it comes to urban planning. But what are some actionable strategies that every day people can do to help affect this shift? And how are some cities supporting those efforts? Guest poster Joy Paley weighs in on the ins and outs of turning things around when it comes to shifting the paradigm from that of the 20th Century to the 21st, along with new city legislation that supports those changes. But, what … [Read more...]

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The Future of Public Transportation

November 24, 2010 By 1 Comment
Infographic-The-Future-of-Public-Transportation

My burning interest in public transit comes out partially from a fascination with it when I was younger as depicted in sci-fi movies and the like. I've never hidden my nerd tendencies, particularly on this blog. I wear them proudly. But another reason I'm interested in public transit is because I really do think that investment in a robust, scalable public transit system is the smartest, and most logical progression away from fossil fuel dependence and crappy air quality when it comes to getting … [Read more...]

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Green Roofing in Singapore

September 3, 2010 By 1 Comment
Singapore Green Roof

Today's guest post is from online writer Mary Fineday, who recently took a trip to Singapore, a country that recently hosted the 2010 International Skyrise Greenery Conference.  While there, Mary was struck by some amazing architecture that may mark a standard feature to the cities of the future.  Mary tells us all about it here in this exclusive post ... *** I recently spent a gorgeous week in Singapore, staying at a beach-side resort and taking the city's amazing public transit north to explore … [Read more...]

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Green Public Transit: London Bicycles!

August 11, 2010 By 3 Comments
Boris Johnson Bike Hire London

With serious problems like urban pollution and the resulting impact on global climate change, there must come radical solutions in place to counteract those problems.  And the best of these can often produce a byproduct that perhaps we never expected; FUN! Take a look at this video that outlines a program put in place in my old stomping ground of London, England.  Current Mayor Boris Johnson, along with sponsorship from Barclay's Bank, and Transport for London have introduced a new program to … [Read more...]

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