| This Big City

May

Microcities: Five of the World’s ‘Smallest’ Cities

Categories: Asia and the Pacific, Europe, Planning, UK, Urban Scale, USA and Canada

Tags: cc, islands, London, megacities microcities, microcities

by Joe Peach

For the first time ever, the majority of the world's population live in cities. And though Asian megacities get plenty of coverage, what makes a city varies wildly. So rather than thinking BIG, here's five of the world's 'smallest' cities. Read more

May

Megacities: Five of the World’s ‘Biggest’ Cities

Categories: Asia and the Pacific, Latin America, Planning, Urban Scale

Tags: cc, Manila, megacities, megacities microcities, nauru, shanghai, Tokyo

Comments: 4

by Joe Peach

As the world urbanises and our lifestyles evolve, cities are getting bigger. And we're not just talking about population sizes. As This Big City kicks off a fortnight of themed posts on Megacities and Microcities, what better way to start than by taking a look at five of the world's 'biggest' cities? Read more

Apr

A Cycling City is a Sustainable City. So What’s Stopping us?

Categories: Bikes, Europe, Latin America, Transport, UK

Tags: cc, citytalk

Comments: 5

by Joe Peach

Something is stopping the bicycle from becoming a mainstream mode of transport in many cities, and we want to know why. So This Big City and Future Cape Town are devoting this wednesday's #citytalk tweetchat to the topic of cycling and cities. Read more

Apr

Four Ways to Reduce Light Pollution in Cities

Categories: Energy and Services, Planning, UK

Tags: cc, light pollution

Comments: No

by Joe Peach

When you look up at the night sky, what do you see? Thanks to light pollution, probably not very much. Only 10% of the UK enjoys a truly dark sky, and it's a similar situation across the urbanised world. But these four ideas could change that. Read more

Apr

New Data Visualisation Tool Encourages Sustainable Buildings in Sydney

Categories: Asia and the Pacific, Digital, Social Media and Web 2.0

Tags: cc, data, electricity, energy, smart meter, Sydney

Comments: No

by Joe Peach

Managing a large building's energy consumption is no easy task, with little visibility as to where energy is actually going. Enter 'Pulse' - a digital tool which monitors a building's electricity usage and updates straight to the web in near real-time. Read more

Mar

Capturing Rainfall on the Rooftops of Sana’a

Categories: Africa and the Middle East, Buildings, Components

Tags: cc, cities above, cities above and below, water, yemen

Comments: No

by Joe Peach

An often under-utilised resource sits above our cities - the roofs of buildings. But as the world urbanises and cities become more dense, rooftops are beginning to be used more efficiently. This project in Yemen shows how a bit of creative thinking can solve a local challenge. Read more

Capturing Rainfall on the Rooftops of Sana'a