South Africa certainly has a history of overcoming adversity, and redeveloping its waterfront into a regional and diverse destination was no exception.

It will never happen, its critics insisted. No financial institution would finance the project. As apartheid was winding down, South Africa was still politically very isolated from the world and in a general economic recession. There were no government subsidies available and many simply didn’t believe it was possible given the country’s

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First of all, I don’t presume to have all the answers to this question, so please provide your individual one below. However, some common collective responses include:

- It means people come before cars.  Paris is not only pedestrian-oriented, but it has several pedestrian-only districts and streets, and distributed throughout the city as well.  The Marais, Montmartre, Saint Michel, Saint Germain, Bastille, Les Halles… just about every neighborhood in central Paris, home to 2 million …

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One of Switzerland’s best-kept secrets, Fribourg is a town of 33,000 on a forested peninsula bordered by the River Sarine, characterized by its pedestrian-only streets, cobblestone roads, quaint bridges, flowers everywhere and its innate human scale. Yet it’s a very modern, even cosmopolitan town as far as its shops, businesses and residents, aided by hosting one of the country’s most prestigious universities.

Not surprisingly because of its prevailing picturesque, human-scaled character,

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In the historic city center of Lausanne, Switzerland, an hour away from Geneva, the Place de la Palud seems to represent the heart of the town.  With a ‘Fountain of Justice’ dating to 1557 and home to the present Town Hall, it’s literally been a center for centuries.

On Wednesday and Saturday mornings, a public market is held on its surrounding pedestrian streets, and there are a lot of pedestrian only streets, all filled during the day. In fact, the area represents the main shopping district

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Cleveland, Ohio’s Historic Warehouse District is a model example of shifting from the declining industrial, manufacturing economy to the high-growth, economically sustainable knowledge economy.

The district is Cleveland’s first neighborhood and downtown’s oldest commercial center, an industrial center from the late 1800s through the middle of the 1900s until manufacturing declined across the country and businesses left. As is common, artists began inhabiting the buildings in the early 1980s,

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What is the American Dream?

From the Declaration of Independence (in a more religious time): “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness,“ and from from Wikipedia: “The American Dream is belief in the freedom that allows all citizens and residents of the United States to pursue their goals in life through hard work and free

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Quite often, a movement will have a starting point and a champion. If one had to at least nominate some credit in regard to the pedestrianization of streets, then Copenhagen, Denmark and resident architect Jan Gehl deserve some of the spotlight, especially in a city known for rainy cold weather where the common mantra was ‘this is the wrong city for this’.

Jan was a principal figure in transforming Copenhagen’s main downtown street, the Stroget, into a pedestrian zone. The traffic congested

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In surveys about where young people want to live, Shimokitazawa, a rare natural cultural district on the western side of Tokyo, is always a top choice, and known as a trendsetting place for creatives. Why? Here’s a description from a Japanese magazine, 10+1:

“The urbanism of Shimokitazawa characterized by narrow pedestrian streets (no cars) and dense commercial activity, gives the area a deep Tokyo feel. Attracted by the relaxed character and communal atmosphere of Shimokitazawa, newcomers

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Today’s entry is part of my favorite series on this site, ‘Reader Experiences‘. Profiling Vancouver in this story is Luke Graven from Portland, Oregon.

“There has been much written about Vancouver, Canada being a great city.  This British Columbian city has been ranked the number one city in a row by the Economist magazine survey. Here are 5 reasons why it ranks high from a CoolTown perspective:

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With the rise of creatives and design in ‘BAires’ (the edgy name for Buenos Aires), especially in the neighborhood of Palermo, as described in the previous post, it would seem fitting that good design would inspire a central, identifiable gathering place to inspire creative discussion. That would be Serrano Square (pictured).

Surrounding the rather intimate square are no less than twenty restaurants, bars and clubs, all with outdoor seating. In the center of the square, local merchants

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