The anonymous members of Il Padrone di Merda (“crappy boss”) stage protests outside employers in the Italian city who are accused of exploiting their workers
On a warm summer afternoon in the Italian city of Bologna, a group of around 15 young people march through the crowded city centre to a high-end pastry shop in Strada Maggiore.
If employers are afraid of image damage, things can change
Continue reading...The Mexican capital was founded by Aztecs on an island in a vast lake. No wonder water flows through so many of its unbuilt projects
Ever since Mexico City was founded on an island in the lake of Texcoco its inhabitants have dreamed of water: containing it, draining it and now retaining it.
Nezahualcoyotl, the illustrious lord of Texcoco, made his name constructing a dyke shielding Mexico City’s Aztec predecessor city of Tenochtitlan from flooding. The gravest threat to Mexico City’s existence came from a five-year flood starting in 1629, almost causing the city to be abandoned. Ironically now its surrounding lake system has been drained, the greatest threat to the city’s existence is probably the rapid decline of its overstressed aquifers.
Continue reading...Independent panel criticises Sidewalk Labs over ‘frustratingly abstract’ proposals for new tech-oriented neighbourhood
A controversial smart city development in Canada has hit another roadblock after an oversight panel called key aspects of the proposal “irrelevant”, “unnecessary” and “frustratingly abstract” in a new report.
The project on Toronto’s waterfront, dubbed Quayside, is a partnership between the city and Google’s sister company Sidewalk Labs. It promises “raincoats” for buildings, autonomous vehicles and cutting-edge wood-frame towers, but has faced numerous criticisms in recent months.
Continue reading...Emissions rose 20-30% in Paris when temperatures topped 30C, raising urgent questions as the climate gets hotter
Emissions from diesel cars – even newer and supposedly cleaner models – increase on hot days, a new study has found, raising questions over how cities suffering from air pollution can deal with urban heat islands and the climate crisis.
Research in Paris by The Real Urban Emissions (True) initiative found that diesel car emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) rose by 20% to 30% when temperatures topped 30C – a common event this summer.
Continue reading...Report predicts radical scheme could cut air pollution by a quarter as other cities including Seattle prepare to follow suit
Barcelona could save hundreds of lives and cut air pollution by a quarter if it fully implements its radical superblocks scheme to reduce traffic, a new report claims.
A study carried out by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health calculates that the city could prevent 667 premature deaths every year if it created all 503 superblocks envisaged in its initial plan – up from the current six schemes.
Continue reading...Plan formally announced in August will see 1.5 million people move to new capital, but residents and conservationists have expressed deep concerns
Sugio’s orchard is his life’s work and a great source of pride for the 79-year-old resident of Tengin Baru village in Indonesia’s East Kalimantan. The orchard sits back from the main road, which in places is no more than a potholed track that cuts through jungles and villages. The plot of land is tranquil and filled with birdsong.
For 42 years Sugio has cultivated his hectare, diligently planting a variety of colourful fruits and vegetables. He points out corn, durian, rambutan, pepper and sweet potato plots; ducks and chickens wander around in the afternoon sun. “We have everything we need here,” he says. “Our family can’t even eat everything before it spoils, so we sell it at the market. Our life is already perfect.”
Continue reading...Gilets jaunes-style movement has threatened to bring down national government
Regional elections in Norway on Monday are being billed as a referendum on the country’s environmental policies, with the country split over road toll rises that have already threatened to bring down the national government.
A sharp increase in motorway toll and congestion charges in recent years has helped fuel a political movement that is proving a threat to mainstream parties in a number of major cities.
Continue reading...Just a stone’s throw from La Rambla, the Spanish city is building 12 shipping container flats to help tackle its social housing crisis
Barcelona has begun installing its first shipping container homes just a stone’s throw from La Rambla, the famous thoroughfare in the city centre, in a bid to provide emergency housing for people who have been evicted or otherwise driven out of the neighbourhood by gentrification.
Work commenced last week on the 12 small apartments, which are being installed on Carrer Nou de Sant Francesc, a narrow street in the densely populated Ciutat Vella (“old city”) district.
Continue reading...The French city wanted to demolish large portions of its St Jacques neighbourhood as part of a wider development plan. It had not reckoned with its residents
Photography by Jesco Denzel
Never schedule a demolition in St Jacques for the afternoon. Nothing much stirs in the morning in this mainly Gypsy neighbourhood of Perpignan, south-west France, but by 4pm on 27 July last year, when the diggers turned up at Place du Puig, the locals were up – and full of fire.
Sixty of them, furious at what they saw as mystifying recent demolitions in other parts of the neighbourhood, and worried about a conspiracy to force the Gypsy community out of the heart of Perpignan, refused to let the workman pull another lever.
Continue reading...A self-governing community in central Athens which has helped house refugees is threatened by a government crackdown
It’s just after 5am in the central Athens neighbourhood of Exarcheia. A group of Afghans and Iranians are sitting down together for breakfast in the middle of the street, with a banner that reads “No Pasaran” (“They shall not pass”) strung between the buildings above their heads. They laugh and joke as they help themselves to bread and cheese pies from the communal table.
The public breakfast is outside Notara 26, a self-organised refugee accommodation squat. Since opening in September 2015, at the height of the refugee crisis, it has provided shelter to over 9,000 people. These ‘‘Breakfasts of Resistance” – held in the early hours when police-led evictions are most likely – have become daily events since Greece’s New Democracy government assumed office in July.
Continue reading...From power cuts to infrastructure failure, the impact of climate change on US cities will be huge – but many are already innovating to adapt
Between record heat and rain, this summer’s weather patterns have indicated, once again, that the climate is changing.
US cities, where more than 80% of the nation’s population lives, are disproportionately hit by these changes, not only because of their huge populations but because of their existing – often inadequate – infrastructure.
Continue reading...In the Netherlands, where there are more bikes than people, serious money is being spent encouraging even more people to get on their bikes
In a nation with more bikes than people, finding a space to park can be a problem. The Dutch city of Utrecht is unveiling an answer at its railway station on Monday morning: the world’s largest multistorey parking area for bicycles.
The concrete-and-glass structure holds three floors of gleaming double-decker racks with space for 12,500 bikes, from cargo bikes that hold a family to public transport bikes for rent.
Continue reading...The illustrated city: Its main arts institution may be sinking, but the city’s influence on artists and thinkers from Carrington to Trotsky cannot be so easily erased
Continue reading...To protect itself from destructive flooding, the city has built a park designed to store and recycle rainwater
In Alicante it never rains but it pours. The city in southeast Spain goes without rain for months on end, but when it comes it’s torrential, bringing destructive and sometimes fatal flooding.
Or at least, it used to. In San Juan, a low-lying area of the city, authorities have built a new park with a twist. Called La Marjal, it serves as a typical recreation area and a nature reserve – but its primary purpose is to store, and then recycle, rainwater.
Continue reading...Kindergarten to join other businesses operating inside Staro Sajmište, in Belgrade, Serbia, as long-planned Holocaust memorial remains unbuilt
The greying, box-like building that houses the Savsko Obdanište kindergarten has had many uses over the years.
At one point it was a restaurant; when you step through the front doors you find yourself surrounded by musty, brown 1970s-style dining furniture.
Continue reading...Which city is the most Instagrammed? Where’s the most expensive place to buy trainers? And where’s the smallest park?
Which city has the tallest city hall?
Hong Kong
Tokyo
Dubai
Shanghai
Which city is home to the world's narrowest street?
Toulouse, France
Stockholm, Sweden
Reutlingen, Germany
Beijing, China
Which city has the most bridges?
Hamburg, Germany
Venice, Italy
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Which is the most expensive city to buy trainers?
Singapore
Zurich, Switzerland
Seoul, South Korea
Oslo, Norway
Which is the world's most popular city for tourism?
New York
Bangkok, Thailand
Venice, Italy
London, UK
Which US city has the world's smallest park?
Austin, Texas
San Jose, California
Portland, Oregon
Jackson, Mississippi
Which city was home to the world’s oldest railway station?
Manchester
Birmingham
London
Leeds
Which city has the highest slide on the outside of a building?
Las Vegas
Beijing
Seattle
Los Angeles
Which is the largest gambling city (by revenue)?
Las Vegas
Blackpool
Macau
Atlantic City
Which is the most expensive city to park a car in?
London
Hong Kong
Geneva
Copenhagen
Which city has the most UK No.1s per population?
Manchester
London
Liverpool
Glasgow
Which city is most remote from the sea?
Urumqi
Ulaanbaatar
Moscow
Novosibirsk
Which city is home to the tallest building?
Dubai
Shanghai
Shenzhen
Seoul
Which city has hosted the most Olympic Games (in the modern era)?
Tokyo
Paris
London
Athens
Which is the largest city north of the arctic circle?
Kirovsk
Murmansk
Kandalaksha
Tromsø
Which city has the most cycle rickshaws?
Dhaka
Mumbai
Phnom Penh
Colombo
Which is the largest city to host a winter Olympics?
Sochi
Vancouver
Salt Lake City
Oslo
Which city has the tallest art nouveau church?
Strasbourg
Windhoek
Barcelona
Dresden
Which is the world’s oldest capital city?
Damascus
Rabat
Athens
Mexico City
Which is the most Instagrammed city?
Los Angeles
New York City
Paris
Sao Paolo
17 and above.
You're a city trivia master!
13 and above.
Nice result – bet you're popular at pub quiz nights
8 and above.
Not bad – but maybe a good excuse to take some city breaks?
0 and above.
Oh dear, better luck next time
1 and above.
Oh dear, looks like you need to brush up on your city trivia ... better luck next time
Answers supplied by Guinness World Records
Continue reading...The 14,000m² farm is set to open in the south-west of Paris early next year
It’s a warm afternoon in late spring and before us rows of strawberry plants rustle in the breeze as the scent of fragrant herbs wafts across the air. Nearby, a bee buzzes lazily past. Contrary to appearances, however, we are not in an idyllic corner of the countryside but standing on the top of a six-storey building in the heart of the French capital.
Welcome to the future of farming in Paris – where a whole host of rooftop plantations, such as this one on the edge of the Marais, have been springing up of late. Yet this thriving operation is just a drop in the ocean compared to its new sister site. When that one opens, in the spring of 2020, it will be the largest rooftop farm in the world.
Continue reading...Information commissioner says use of the technology must be ‘necessary and proportionate’
The UK’s privacy regulator said it is studying the use of controversial facial recognition technology by property companies amid concerns that its use in CCTV systems at the King’s Cross development in central London may not be legal.
The Information Commissioner’s Office warned businesses using the surveillance technology that they needed to demonstrate its use was “strictly necessary and proportionate” and had a clear basis in law.
Continue reading...Restaurateurs say ban on top of new regulations on outdoor space threatens their survival – while residents claim the city’s real issues are being ignored
Enjoying a refreshing drink or a cup of coffee on the sunlit terrace of a bar or restaurant is a cherished pastime in Barcelona – and a fundamental feature of Mediterranean life.
“Terraces are part of who we are and how we live,” says Roger Pallarols, president of the Barcelona restaurateurs association. “For many people, the terrace is like their living room, especially as most of us don’t live in large apartments. If France is Europe’s kitchen, Spain is its terrace.”
Continue reading...Guides show Italians the wealth of contributions made to their home cities by migrants
Essediya Magboul leads a group across the open-air market of Porta Palazzo in Turin on a windy Saturday morning. Stopping at a stall, she picks up a bottle of laban, and gives a detailed account of the meticulous mixing needed to prepare the Middle Eastern yoghurt drink. “It’s a Ramadan must,” she adds, smiling, before continuing to an Arab-owned bakery where the owners offer samples of ghoriba cookies and answer questions.
In the space of a few streets, she takes her guests from Eastern Europe to East Asia, via the Middle East. The walkers could easily be mistaken for tourists, but they are in fact locals.
Continue reading...