Jun 30, 2021
By Christine Kerrigan and Louis Petitclerc Struggling Downtowns The year 2020 has drastically transformed our city centres – forcing them to adapt, innovate, and even reinvent themselves. With countless storefronts closed, several events cancelled, and many professionals working remotely, some downtown districts have been left feeling empty and abandoned. However, there are many opportunities for…
Jun 18, 2021
NewCities is located on the unceded Indigenous lands of Tiohtià:ke, traditionally known as a gathering place for many First Nations. The Kanien’kehá:ka Nation is recognized as the custodians of the lands and waters on which the city of Montréal was built, today home to many Indigenous and non-indigenous people. As an organization committed to shaping…
Apr 23, 2021
By Holly Hixson and Greg Lindsay Amidst a barrage of conversation on 15-minute cities in recent months, planners, politicians, policymakers, and residents have more information than ever about how exactly we are supposed to “right size” our urban form to include notions of proximity. Whether it’s creating a 30-, 20-, 15-, 5-, or even one-minute…
Mar 25, 2021
We had the pleasure of speaking with Andrea San Gil Leon, “one of Latin America’s important female figures working in transportation,” about her introduction to cities, the future of urban sustainability, gender-inclusivity, and her new ventures with the Global Partnership for Informal Transportation. – March 25, 2021 Q: Can you tell us a bit…
Mar 17, 2021
By Greg Lindsay, NewCities It has been a year since the pause on urban-life-as-we-know-it across much of the Global North. A year since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic, since the day the NBA suspended play, since New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio told New Yorkers — in a moment of either…
Dec 23, 2020
Finding yourself with extra time over the holidays to finally sit back and watch some of the content you pinned during the year? We compiled a list of our favorite NewCities event panels, webinars, and blog posts! Scroll down or watch directly on our 2020 Staff Pick Youtube channel. 1.[Webinar] The Big Rethink | Housing:…
Nov 17, 2020
Photo by Alvin Engler on Unsplash With the U.S. elections in the rear-view mirror and a vaccine on the horizon, it’s time to start thinking about what a new administration — and new normal — might look like. Brave New Home author Diana Lind joins us to discuss the cognitive dissonance between the pandemic-induced desire…
Nov 05, 2020
Photo by Johannes Schwaerzler on Unsplash Before the Burj Khalifa and before the Palms, there was the British architect John Harris, tasked with drafting a town plan for Dubai in 1959. This would be the first iteration of the emirate’s fractal modern history — the visionary sheikh, the Western consultants, the “Dubai Model” and “Dubai…
Oct 28, 2020
Photo by yue su on Unsplash By now it’s a cliché to note more than half the world’s people live in cities. But how does the other half live? That’s the question tackled by both the Guggenheim Museum’s “Countryside: The Future” exhibit and Blockchain Chicken Farm author Xiaowei Wang, who spent several years exploring the…
Oct 20, 2020
Photo by Tierra Mallorca on Unsplash After the housing crash, private equity firms bought foreclosed homes by the thousands, removing them from the market and creating a new class of affluent renters. With another wave of evictions about to break, those firms are back at it again — this time while prices are rising, not…
Oct 06, 2020
Photo by Rachel Martin on Unsplash. The history of black housing in America is one of segregation, stigma, and wealth destruction, not creation. Architect Melvin Mitchell, CEO of Bryant Mitchell Architects, calls for a new black-owned and controlled corner of the housing industry, one capable of creating household wealth for black communities rather than funneling…
Oct 01, 2020
The United Nations General Assembly in 2015 established a shared set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for achieving sustainability and prosperity around the world by 2030. To achieve the 17 goals and 169 targets by 2030 will requires collective action to occur at a scale never witnessed before and sustained collaboration from sectors such as…
