Holdout, Nail House, and Spite House are all expressions for a building that obviously shouldn’t be there, when one views its neighbors. But there they are, and they exist in many countries where real estate development is—or was—strong. Take a look at Edith Macefield’s house in Seattle. The owner simply refused to sell, forcing the [more...]
Here are several statistics (2009-2011) about the city of Santiago and Chile. Vehicles (2010) There are 3,375,523 passenger cars in Chile and 1,406,403 (41.7%) circulate in Santiago. There are 33,723 taxis in Chile and 21,117 (62.8%) circulate in Santiago. There are 43,561 buses in Chile. 32.5% (314,156) of them are in Santiago. There are 102,314 [more...]
It may seem very odd to ask how rocks and stones can “flow” across an urban landscape, but I have seen big research grants awarded for much less important topics. I will share the results of my research for free. Every time I leave my house by foot, I pass through the same woodland, urban [more...]
Guerilla gardening is the greening of a blighted urban area by bypassing the official channels and taking direct action. Guerilla gardeners surreptitiously plant and maintain trees, shrubs and floral borders to brighten up local eyesores such as abandoned buildings, industrial units, car parks, and other parts of the concrete jungle. Strictly speaking it's not always [more...]
There are many definitions of what constitutes a “city”. The distinction between a city, a town and a village varies from country to country, and throughout history. Here are just a few of those definitions. In the United Kingdom, the monarch declares that a town has become a city. However, a few cities were grandfathered [more...]
You can find Göd half an hour to the north of Budapest, Hungary. Trains leave frequently from Budapest’s western station, designed by Gustave Eiffel and opened in 1877. There is also a good motorway link to Budapest, and frequent bus services. Göd is a commuter town for workers from Budapest, yet despite having a population [more...]
Bucharest is the capital city of Romania and the largest city in the country. Bucharest was first mentioned in 1459 and became capital of Romania in 1862. Bucharest is on the banks of the Dambovita River, and the city also has several lakes which add to its charm. There is an interesting mix of old [more...]
Brussels is capital city of the European Union and largest city in Belgium. It should not be confused with the much smaller “City of Brussels” within it, which is the capital of Belgium. It is the smaller city we are dealing with here. In a similar way that the ‘City of London’ is different from [more...]