This Big City shifted its focus to the Eastern world last week, with twelve posts covering urbanism on the Asian continent. We visited Indonesia, China, Japan, Vietnam, Kyrgyzstan, South Korea, India, the United Arab Emirates and Thailand, and the response has been great. In fact, it’s been the busiest week ever on the site! So thanks for checking it out. In case you missed any of the 12 posts, here they are once again (and with 48 countries in Asia there’s a lot more to cover, so we’ll be doing it all over again next year!):
Indonesia’s Biggest City Gets its First Bicycle Lane
Despite previously prioritising cars by building inner city roads, the Indonesian capital city of Jakarta recently set a new milestone towards a healthier and more liveable city by opening its first dedicated bicycle lane.
Five Ideas from Asia for Creating Future Cities
Where better to look for ideas on how to handle the challenges associated with urban evolution than Asia – a region (quite rightly) synonymous with rapidly-growing cities. Here’s five of our favourite urban innovations from Asia with global potential.
Tackling Congestion in Vietnam’s Biggest City
Ho Chi Minh City has a major traffic problem, but with the size of population and growing number of personal vehicles, implementing a new system is difficult. So how can congestion be tackled in Vietnam’s biggest city?
Japanese Architecture Takes Green Roofs to a Whole New Level – Literally
If you require a little inspiration of the green roof kind, stop ogling the neighbour’s sedum-topped shed and start Google Earthing the ACROS building in Fukuoka, Japan, instead.
Humanization / Naturalization – A Photo Essay of Bishkek in Ruins
Bishkek is known for two things: blight and tragedy. But is there another way of viewing the city? Christopher Schwartz explores the interaction between aging Soviet architecture, Kyrgyz urbanization and invading nature in this photo-essay.
The Stream that Revitalised Seoul
In the South Korean city of Seoul, an area which was once designed for automobiles has been transformed into a vibrant public space. And whilst it was one of the most expensive urban design projects in the city’s history, it has been wildly successful.
DomestiCity: A Photo Essay on Domestic Activities in Dense Urban Areas
Ho Chi Minh City’s residents have developed some ingenious practicalities to cope with the city’s logistics. This photo essay explores the imaginative ways in which people negotiate the use of their limited living quarters.
Displacing People to Make Space for Cars – Is India Evicting the Wrong Squatters?
More than 1 million of Delhi’s residents have been displaced through demolition of slum neighborhoods over the last 10 years. At the same time, India’s government continues to construct roads instead of transit or pedestrian infrastructure, losing public space in the process.
The Non-Intentional Landscape of Tokyo
Like all organic systems, cities fare better without central planning. Additive, centrifugal, Tokyo starts with individual parts and expands. Proliferates. Undefined. Unclear centers. Looser and ambiguous, freedom is valued over regularity of form and clarity of outline.
A Beautiful, Global City? – Dubai in Pictures
The tale of modern day Dubai probably starts a bit before 1966, the year oil was discovered in the emirate. Forty-five years later the Dubai brand is defined by a series of “city building” projects that aimed to create a beautiful global city.
Three Threats to Asia’s Urban Heritage
Asia’s urban heritage faces unique challenges. Whilst there is a strong will to protect the history of Asian countries, there are also some major threats, including natural disasters, differing concepts of heritage, and pressure from urbanization.
South Korea’s Most Sustainable Home
A show home in South Korea has become the first in East Asia to win the US Green Building Council’s prestigious LEED platinum status. But with building costs double that of the average home, is it financially viable on a commercial scale?
