Watch:
The CITIES special issue of Scientific American (September 2011) celebrates the city as a solution to the problems of our age. Smarter Cities is the focus: “The most hopeful impact of city life may be its effect on the mind. Humans are social animals; we draw stimulation from other minds close at hand. Plato and Socrates both lived in fifth-century b.c. Athens, a city-state. Galileo and Michelangelo lived in Renaissance Florence. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak grew up in a western U.S. conurbation that includes Silicon Valley. The young, agile minds at work on the next Big Thing are probably tweeting’”they live, as author William Gibson points out on page 88, in a kind of digital meta city. Chances are, they are living in a physical city, too. Technology is reshaping city life and making it more intellectually productive, but it will not soon replace the easy interchange of ideas that comes from casual proximity, the cornerstone of city life.”
From the Magazine:
Street-Savvy
Meeting the biggest challenges starts with the city
Harnessing Residents’ Electronic Devices Will Yield Truly Smart Cities
The best way to harness a city’s potential for creativity and innovation is to jack people into the network and get out of the way
Cities: Engines of Innovation
Most of humanity now lives in a metropolis. That simple fact helps to fuel our continued success as a species
Bigger Cities Do More with Less
New science reveals why cities become more productive and efficient as they grow
Global Bazaar
Shantytowns, favelas andjhopadpattis turn out to be places of surprising innovation
Better Health for the Uncounted Urban Masses
Brains Over Buildings
To rejuvenate urban centers, look to teachers and entrepreneurs
How Green Is My City
Retrofitting is the best way to clean up urban living
All Climate Is Local
Mayors are often better equipped than presidents to cut greenhouse gases
The Efficient City
Municipalities worldwide are exploiting a host of creative solutions to reduce energy consumption, water use, waste and emissions, while also making it easier for people to get around
Castles in the Air
The attacks of 9/11 supposedly ended the age of the skyscraper. A decade on we’re building more than ever
Street Talk
What innovation’”technological or otherwise’”would make any city a substantially more livable place? We put this question to urban leaders and our own readers. Here’s what they said
Life in the Meta City
We walk a line between the anarchy of choice and Disney-fication, says the author of Neuromancer
Web Exclusives:
The Smartest Cities Will Use People as Their Sensors [Video] By networking individuals and their gadgets, urban apps will tell inhabitants what is happening all around them, in real time
Triumph of the City [Excerpt] A new book describes how living and working in an urban expanse encourages the best humanity has to offer.
Lagos Be Unlimited [Video] The people of cities such as Lagos are forging the world’s urban future’”messily, scrappily, but with do-it-yourself energy and entrepreneurial verve
How City Size Boosts the Economy [Video] Data from hundreds of U.S. cities show that, on average, larger cities produce more wealth and innovation per capita than smaller ones do
A Brief History of the Toilet [Slide Show] Forget about skyscrapers, protected harbors or capital markets. The lowly toilet is key to what makes modern cities possible
Case Studies on Urban Revitalization
Economist Edward Glaeser explains why some U.S. metropolises have bounced back from adversity–and why others will not
Can China House Its Booming Urban Class in an Environmentally Responsible Way?
China has plans for ecofriendly cities that may prove unrealistic. Instead, it could do a lot for the environment simply through sturdier construction
Our Flooded Future Looms [Slide Show] One of the greatest dangers cities face from continuing climate change stems from increasingly severe floods
Bold Solutions Make Real Cities More Efficient [Interactive] Municipalities worldwide are introducing a host of creative solutions to reduce energy consumption, water use, waste and emissions, while also making it easier for people to get around. Choose a feature to learn more, and to find an exemplary city and link about progress
The Skyline of 2016 [Interactive] A tour of the world’s tallest buildings, including those under construction.
Making Cities Better: Answers from The Scientific American Survey
Walkable metropolises and health clubs would improve the experience of living in urban areas.
Cities in Fact and Fiction: An Interview with William Gibson
Author of the cyberpunk novel Neuromancer, William Gibson talks about the relationship between his fiction and the contemporary urban landscape
Source: Scientific American – Cities