Naturally 7 in the Metro

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The New York septet and slightly stiff Parisians






photo courtesy of out-of-sync.com

Cities on the Edge of Chaos

In last Sunday's Observer there was a feature by Deyan Sudjic, director of London's Design Museum, on how cities are taking over the world. Sudjic studied 6 of the world's key cities over a period of two years and his findings are compiled in a new book called Endless City, published by Phaidon.
Here are a few hair-raising, or as the French would say, "décoiffant", statistics:
76% of Mexico's population live in urban areas
16m2 is the average living space in Shanghai
88% of homes in Berlin are rented
$1.3 million is the average cost of an apartment in Manhattan
19% of New Yorkers live below the poverty line
54.7 million people live in Greater Tokyo
1hr24minutes is the average daily commute in London

Clickhereto read the original article.

Lenin on the Danube

Just like the statue of Anubis which floated down the Thames on a barge last fall (see archives for October 2007) parts of a statue of Lenin to be used as a prop in a film floated under the Chain bridge which joins the cities of Buda and Pest.

photo courtesy Imre Foeldi/EPA

Mega wings for Beijing

Completed in just four years, one of the largest buildings in the world was inaugurated in Beijing today without much pomp and circumstance. Terminal 3 at Beijing Capital International Airport is a state-of-the art building designed by British architectural firm Foster + Partners, which seems to be involved in most of the new constructions opening worldwide. The massive terminal, 1.3 million square meters, mostly under one roof, is supremely important for China's 2008 Olympics, and is one of many buildings in the capital signed by Western architects.

By 2020 it is estimated that the terminal will accommodate a frightening 50 million passengers per year. Environmentalists concerned about the increase in pollution in a city where athletes competing in the 2008 Olympics will be gasping for clean air, are not impressed by the engineering firm Arup's claims that Terminal 3 is the one of the world's most environmentally sustainable airports...

photograph courtesy of Fosters + Partners

Christmas in Ipanema

Planted in the middle of the lagoon behind Ipanema, in Rio de Janeiro, this 82-metre high Christmas extravaganza arouses both delight and frustration each year. Traffic jams are inevitable as people stop to admire this tree of trees...


Photo courtesy of marginalrevolution.com 2006

Banksy goes to Bethlehem

The city of Bethlehem in the West Bank has commissioned Banksy, the elusive British graffiti artist, to paint over a dozen images on the 8m-high (26ft) concrete wall that surrounds the town.
The city's economy is highly dependent on tourists, especially during the Christmas season, but few visitors are now willing to take the time to cross the Israeli checkpoint at the security barrier.
Read about it in the Timesonline by clickinghere
photo courtesy of the Timesonline

What have politicians done for the Paris suburbs since 2005?

That's the title of an in-depth article provided by Rue89, a newish and very dynamic Parisian blog created by a group of Libération old timers among others. Clickhere for the article in French.
La Courneuve in all its glory, photo courtesy of Rue89