Did you know that many of the oldest living organisms on Earth are trees? In fact, the Methuselah Tree, a Great Basin Bristlecone Pine, was thought to be the oldest living tree in the world. What does an ancient living species have to do with today’s city landscapes? For one, Earth’s biosphere and ecology will […]
Read More… from Climate Feature: Cultivating the Right Tree in the Right Place
There is a paradox of housing provision, where many properties stand empty within inaccessible areas while at the same time people are facing a global housing crisis. In urban areas, the urgent need for housing is often met by constructing collective homes—but in the attempt to build faster, many factors such as community and liveability […]
Read More… from Making collective urban housing more liveable
The ocean covers 70 per cent of our planet and represents over 95 per cent of the biosphere. It also produces at least half of the planet’s oxygen while absorbing around 30 per cent of carbon dioxide, making it a key ‘carbon sink’ in buffering the impacts of climate change. Despite humanity’s utter reliance on […]
Read More… from The necessity of safeguarding ocean ecosystems: World Oceans Day 2023
Initially patented as an alternative to tree-based materials, and with the intent to reduce deforestation, plastic bags and other types of single-use plastic has grown to cause problems for the environment due to their widespread use and lack of recycling management in many places. The production of plastic is among the world’s most energy-intensive manufacturing […]
Read More… from World Environment Day 2023: Solutions to Plastic Pollution
Pune used to be a quaint town known for its pleasant weather, shaded streets with overarching trees, and the heritage old city quarters till the 1990s. Unlike the closely situated Mumbai, which is a post-industrial city established by the British during the colonial era, Pune was established in the 8th century, according to archaeological sources. […]
Read More… from Can Pune be a Case Study for Indian Cities to Improve Pedestrian Infrastructure?
With the inauguration of its new 10.6-kilometre cable car route in August 2021, the government of Mexico City hoped to lift the spirits of residents in the large peripheral municipality of Iztapalapa by cutting commute times and exposing them to murals custom-made to be only visible from the sky. The electric-powered cable cars, also known […]
Read More… from Cable Cars as Feasible Urban Transport Option?
Our future modes of travel are poised for disruptive transformation by ideas that may have existed before, but are now beginning to take shape as practical and concrete manifestations. Drones Flying in personalised miniature aircrafts, on-demand, is almost a reality already. While unmanned aerial vehicles, commonly called drones, have been used extensively by industries like […]
Roads occupy a staggering 18 to 30 per cent of the total available land area in cities today.1 While these figures are for American cities, similar, if not higher, percentages could be expected in other countries as well. These numbers represent a significant proportion given that space is a scarce and intensely contested urban commodity. […]
One of the solutions that is being mainstreamed to decarbonise the transportation sector is to electrify vehicles. It is conducted in line with phasing out fossil fuels and using alternative sources of energy for the power grid. Different modes of transportation have been adopting electrification at varying paces.20 Rail has been widely electrified across Asia, […]
A robust public transportation system to reduce climate impact does not stand alone—it is supported by policies and urban forms that encourage people to use and sustain it. These are actions that have been outlined by the SLOCAT Partnership on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport11 to promote the uptake of active urban mobility: 1. Prioritising the […]
Read More… from Six Actions to Enable Walking, Cycling and Public Transport for People and Planet
The next direction Our modern industrial society has been deeply shaped by advances in the transportation sector. Settlements of old that sprouted along ports and waterways have shifted to develop alongside coast-to-coast arterial roads and railway stations; some have developed close to major transport infrastructure such as airports. Asia experienced a globalised industry boom since […]
Read More… from Climate Feature: Climate Targets and the Transportation Sector
For years, Metro Manila has been notorious for its severe traffic congestion. It is as if immense gridlock has been ingrained into the capital’s identity. Based on the latest Traffic Index Report by TomTom, Manila is ranked 18th among 404 cities with the worst traffic in the world. This is surprisingly good news as it […]
