Urban Update - 26 May 2017
Humans, Health, Society
Air pollution continues to be “News” and it is a serious problem; however, it is by no means the only health problem in the built environment. It is unfortunate that road deaths and serious injuries, and the fear this brings that stops people cycling, and restricts children’s independence, is not taken as seriously. There have been absolutely no calls for action following five deaths on the M6 in a single crash
“38,000 people a year die early because of diesel emissions testing failures”
Air pollution linked to poor sleep, study finds
Poor air quality in cities goes hand in hand with high levels of traffic noise and light pollution, which are known to directly affect sleep
Hedges and Green walls contribute to improving air quality
Terpenes from certain types of tree can contribute to Ozone formation in hot sunny weather
“The results don’t amount to a call to cut down trees, or indeed to halt urban-greening initiatives. Rather, the researchers note that tree-planting campaigns simply need to be accompanied by traffic reduction in order to truly benefit urban dwellers.”
NB – trees can also reduce pollution by holding down the air temperature through evapo-transpiration which acts as a natural air conditioning system
How bad is air pollution in the UK?
- Exactly 40,000 people aren’t killed each year. There is uncertainty: it may be a contributory factor that brings forward the death of in the main, elderly people by a few months or years. It can bring chronic health problems to some people over a far longer period.
- Air pollution has been decreasing nationally
COMEAP report – Mortality effects of long term exposure to particulate air pollution in the UK
TV dinners: The hidden cost of the processed food revolution
Food, until recent decades, was the major factor in the design of towns, with markets, food processing and food shops all being local and providing the basis of the local economy. All this changed with the development of refrigeration, cook-chill technology, and the widespread use of motor vehicles which enabled long distance distribution of food and the development of sophisticated food logistics networks. We have seen, in turn, the dreary pattern of clone housing estates with a single supermarket and an ersatz pub at the centre, set in a lake of car parking spaces.
Dining rooms have become irrelevant, and, as the article argues, the ease with which we can now consume calories has led to an obesity crisis that threatens to cripple the economy.
Brazil declares Zika Crisis Over
Zika infections could be factor in more pregnancies - new University of Wisconsin study
Virus has been found to easily transfer into foetus.
The Zika crisis is yet another example of a global failure to introduce effective biosecurity measures. Instead we are witnessing a spread of species of living organisms and viruses across the planet, limited only by climate.
Facebook Community bigger than China
Built Environment
How a little understood meteorological phenomenon brought destruction to the Dutch city of Utrecht
Belgium’s liberal approach to highway lighting visible from space
What if cities were designed around women, as well as men
As self-driving cars hit the road, real estate development may take new direction
Trees will grow on the balconies of Istanbul’s honeycomb-like apartments
Scientists decide to bury 5,000-year-old lost city in Pakistan
Mohenjo Daro is threatened by the baking temperatures of the Indus Valley and the threat from tourists and terrorists
UN looks to dealing with post conflict reconstruction
Global Alliance for Urban Crises
Sounds of The City: Why Urban Acoustics Matter
MVRDV's SkyGarden opens in Seoul – an elevated expressway turned into a park
Architects from around the world gather in Ottawa for 1st-ever Indigenous design symposium
Terrorism
How an Overlooked Urban-Design Feature Helped Stop the Times Square Driver’s Rampage
London attacks: how do you protect people from terrorism through urban design?
Violent deaths – Global Picture
28,328 - Global Terrorism – 2015 – Global Terrorism Database
180,000 - Global Conflicts – 2014 - Armed Conflict Survey
1,250,000 - Road Vehicle related deaths – 2013 - WHO
In the UK the average of someone killed in a car crash is around 38 years, with over half their life still ahead of them.
Expenditure on road safety by public authorities ranges from around 3 Euros (Latvia) to 40 Euros per head (France), suggesting the expenditure in the EU is around $20 billion per annum.. From this we can estimate the global spend on road safety is in the region of $50 billion per annum.
US expenditure on the war on terror for 2016 was approx. $98 billion
The global spend on defence in 2016 was $1,570 billion.
Movement
Barnes Dance Crossings return to New York City (all green pedestrian phase)
Design an interactive streetscape for Croydon: deadline today
Guerrilla activists introduce cycle and bus lanes to a reluctant Latvian city
Why Elon Musk’s tunnel system can’t solve congestion in Los Angeles
Mathematical modelling by academics concluded that as a general rule, the addition of a new road to a network had roughly 50/50 odds of increasing travel time.
Australia
Murray River frontage revitalisation
Bangladesh
Controversy over imported “Bonsai” street trees
India
Tapi, urban mobility comes under global experts’ focus
UK
Open Close – exhibition to reimaging Edinburgh’s historic closes
Dundee fights poverty with free food courtesy of urban orchard
- Login to post comments
View by Category
View by Region
View by Country
View by Author
View by Date
- September 2018 (1)
- August 2018 (2)
- July 2018 (1)
- June 2018 (6)
- May 2018 (6)
- March 2018 (1)
- February 2018 (2)
- January 2018 (2)
- December 2017 (2)
- November 2017 (2)
- July 2017 (1)
- June 2017 (1)
- May 2017 (2)
- April 2017 (1)
- March 2017 (1)
- February 2017 (5)
- January 2017 (5)
- October 2016 (1)
- May 2016 (6)
- April 2016 (1)
- March 2016 (2)
- February 2016 (1)
- January 2016 (4)
- December 2015 (2)
- November 2015 (2)
- October 2015 (3)
- September 2015 (4)
- August 2015 (3)
- July 2015 (5)
- June 2015 (4)
- May 2015 (2)
- April 2015 (2)
- March 2015 (1)
- January 2015 (2)
- November 2014 (1)
- August 2014 (2)
- June 2014 (2)
- May 2014 (5)
- April 2014 (1)
- March 2014 (1)
- February 2014 (1)
- January 2014 (2)
- November 2013 (4)
- October 2013 (1)
- August 2013 (1)
- July 2013 (1)
- June 2013 (3)
- May 2013 (2)
- March 2013 (4)
- February 2013 (4)
- December 2012 (2)
- November 2012 (1)
- October 2012 (1)
- September 2012 (2)
- August 2012 (1)
- July 2012 (2)
- June 2012 (1)
- May 2012 (23)
- April 2012 (11)
- March 2012 (45)
- February 2012 (48)
- January 2012 (68)
- December 2011 (36)
- November 2011 (47)
- October 2011 (32)
- September 2011 (33)
- August 2011 (21)
- July 2011 (62)
- June 2011 (52)
- May 2011 (44)
- April 2011 (24)
- February 2011 (14)
- January 2011 (9)
- October 2010 (2)
- August 2010 (3)
Urban Design Jobs
Upcoming UDG Events
Unless otherwise stated, all events are held in The Gallery, 70 Cowcross Street, London EC1M 6EJ at 6.30 pm.