Sustainable Urban Development
With cities expected to host about 70 percent of the world's population, sustainable urban development is key to making communities worldwide more resilient against the growing threat of climate change. Find out about the latest urban practices from across the world aiming to make our cities more sustainable and inclusive in these good-news stories from The Optimist Daily.
Swedish town to turn former train track into a site for urban experiments
Looking to develop something meaningful out of an abandoned train track running through its center, the small Swedish town of Tibro has decided to turn the abandoned site into an arena for sustainable urban experiments. The Tibro Train Tracks project, undertaken by Stockholm-based architecture Read More...
This sustainable building is home to more than 1,000 trees
What if a building could host more plants than the entire nearby park? This is the vision of designer Koichi Takada Architects who plans to build a beautiful green Urban Forest in Brisbane, Australia. The proposed building would be covered in 1,000 trees and 20,000 plants, including 259 native Read More...
Futuristic city is designed with an eye for sustainability and resilience
If you’re curious about what green urban planning may look like in the future, Barcelona-based architecture firm Guallart Architects has recently unveiled a neighborhood design for a new city in China, called Xiong’an New Area, that’s expected to serve as a model of sustainability - powered Read More...
This company converts old hotels into affordable housing
As the tourists stay home due to the coronavirus, hotels across America are closing down. Fortunately, a company by the name of Repvblik is ensuring some of these hotels get a new lease on life. What the Los Angeles-based company does is convert empty commercial spaces into affordable housing Read More...
A giant virtual power plant is coming to California to avoid blackouts
As energy blackouts become more common in California, a German energy company called Sonnen believes virtual power plants (VPPs) can solve the issue. Rather than rely on utility companies, virtual power plants involve connected sets of solar panels and batteries that produce and store energy Read More...
What life is actually like at NYC’s hotels-turned-temporary shelters
With the coronavirus pandemic leaving hotels without guests, a few hotels in New York City’s Upper West Side have welcomed homeless residents temporarily. It is a great initiative, but it recently attracted negative press after the New York Post reported that “crime and chaos” had overtaken Read More...
Study: Access to green space helps boost a child's IQ
Green open spaces in neighborhoods give children a place to play, but these pockets of nature could do more than just give kids a place to explore. New research shows children living near green spaces have higher IQs than children living in less green areas. The study from Hasselt University in Read More...
GreenPee is a planet-friendly public urination solution
With Covid-19 cases decreasing, the city of Amsterdam was excited to start moving out of lockdown, but more people out and about meant the resurgence of an old problem: public urination. Fortunately, the city found a green way to address this unwanted behavior with GreenPee hemp-filled public Read More...
This university rooftop is home to one of Asia’s largest organic farms
If you’re curious to get a glimpse into the climate-adaptive architectural developments of the future, take a look at the Thammasat University Rooftop Farm (or TURF) project by Bangkok-based architecture firm LANDPROCESS. Repurposing a massive 236,806 sq ft of previously unused space, the new Read More...
Could we 3D-print buildings using local soil instead of concrete?
3D-printed architecture has been getting a lot of press from The Optimist Daily lately. Most recently, we shared a story out of Oakland where a startup called Mighty Buildings is using a 3D printer to create not only the walls and floors of a home but also other elements like the roof and ceiling. Read More...