Category Archives: Urbanscape

Leaner nations bike, walk, use mass transit?

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Or are they leaner because they bike, walk, and use mass transit?

Americans, with the highest rate of obesity, were the least likely to walk, cycle or take mass transit, according to the study in a recent issue of the Journal of Physical Activity and Health. The study relied on each country’s own travel and health data.

Only 12 percent use active transportation in the United States — 9 percent walk, 1 percent ride a bike and 2 percent take a bus or train — while a quarter to a third are obese, the study said.

By comparison, 67 percent of commuters in Latvia, 62 percent in Sweden and 52 percent in the Netherlands either walk, bike or use mass transit. Latvia’s obesity rate is 14 percent, the Netherlands’ is 11 percent and Sweden’s is 9 percent.

Overall, “Europeans walk three times as far and cycle five times as far as Americans” [source].

The headlines of the article undermines the actual findings of the study which in fact highlight the lifestyle choices that are the primary reasons for the differences in addition to Europe’s more dense urbanscape. I’m sure cities like New York, Portland, and San Francisco see significantly higher rates of walking and cycling compared to other cities in the U.S. The United States is more heterogenous than most European countries who have had a longer and continued history of social interaction and more interactive urban living.

Ruins of Detroit

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Residents of Detroit will not appreciate calling their city an urban wasteland. Unfortunately due to the downturn in the manufacturing economy on this side of the pond, the city bears obvious signs of neglect and rising incidence of abandonment. Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre photograph the ‘ruins of Detroit’ through a series of photo essays in contemporary ruins and urban archeology.

Pod Structures of San-Zhr

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Continuing on our theme of abandonment, photographer Craig Ferguson features images of an abandoned hotel/housing development in the small town of San-zhr on the north coast of Taiwan. If you are bemused by the pod-like structures, Craig heightens our interest by narrating the ghost myths that surround these strange-looking structures. I wonder how much does such myths influence abandonment of otherwise perfectly safe and livable structures? Can such settlements be saved in the future?

Living Near the Coast Down Under

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Australia is a continent by itself albeit the smallest one yet

“Eighty percent of Australians live within 80 miles of the sea; 50 percent of the country’s houses sit less than 8 miles from a beach” [source].

Isn’t that amazing? People definitely love living near the sea. The United States coastlines also house the majority of the country’s population; so does India and China. It definitely makes you think of the impact global warming will have on the ensuing rise in sea levels.

No Zoning for Cities?

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Without zoning our cities would be denser, more eco-friendly, cheaper to live in, more able to produce economies of agglomeration, and more immigrants would benefit from American prosperity [source].

Tyler Cowen tries to understand the role of zoning in promoting urban density and makes the above presumption. Except it isn’t always true. Houston, one of the largest cities in the U.S. has no zoning per se (has highly restrictive deed restrictions though) but yet is one of the sprawling cities in the nation. It has no downtown to be proud of and although high-rise condos are springing up inside the beltway, growth outside the ring far outstrips that trend. Also, as some commenters in the above-linked post mention, Houston is unique in the sense that high energy costs means the Houston economy is doing well which leads to more commute times.

On libertarian grounds, it helps to understand more about zoning and it isn’t necessarily one-size-fits-all strategy. As another commenter points out, zoning can vary from being simply designations for land use to micro-managing growth by monitoring every little change in structures. If lack of zoning results in a chaotic urbanscape like Houston, I rather prefer some form of zoning.