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Wenchuan as Eco-City
Emanuel Pastreich and John Feffer, Foreign Policy In Focus
A devastating earthquake leveled the Chinese town of Wenchuan, leaving in its wake over 60,000 dead and five million homeless throughout Sichuan Province. It will take years to heal the damage of this tragedy. Nevertheless, even as aid organizations and local government scramble to erect temporary housing and supply drinking water, it's important to step back and consider how the international community can properly contribute long after the last rescue crew has left.

... One way for China to prove that it is a new kind of superpower is to do something that goes beyond simply rebuilding Wenchuan. It can make a virtue out of necessity.

... With international help, it can rebuild Wenchuan as an eco-city of energy efficiency and Green common sense that can inspire the world - a Gaviotas for the 21st century. Such an eco-city can be a model of sustainable development that points beyond the contradictions of economic growth based on energy consumption. Wenchuan could draw admirers just as Curitiba in Brazil does for its excellent public transportation and environmental urban planning. Such a tribute to the earthquake's victims, by implementing solutions that can save the planet, would be more fitting than any plaque or monument.

China has already shown itself to be open to the establishment of eco-cities.
(30 May 2008)

Contractors Are Kept Busy Maintaining Abandoned Homes
Vikas Bajaj, New York Times
... Local and state governments have become concerned about the upkeep of foreclosed homes, which can drag down real estate values in neighborhoods and provide havens for drug users and gangs. Over the last year, localities have stepped up code enforcement by levying fines on mortgage companies for the degradation of homes they are repossessing.

The problem of vacant homes is all the more striking when considered against predictions by economists that a couple of million more homes will enter foreclosure in the next two years, said Cheryl Lang, president of Integrated Mortgage Solutions, a company based in Houston that contracts with Mr. McCallister and Mr. Law on behalf of mortgage companies.

“We still have two million more people that need to go through this process,” she said. “That’s like the entire town of Tampa going through foreclosure.”

Nearly 3 percent of homes that were once occupied by their owners in the country were vacant in March. That is up from less than 2 percent three years ago and is the highest since the Census Bureau began publishing the number in 1956.

For people like Mr. McCallister and Mr. Law, the surge in foreclosure has been good for business. Tim Doehner, executive director of the National Association of Mortgage Field Services, a trade association based in Ohio, estimates that most of his members have doubled their revenue in the last year. Individual contractors can bill as much as $5,000 every two weeks, said Jimmy Lyons, one of the partners in the firm, Landwise Inspection Services of Lake City, Fla., that Mr. McCallister and Mr. Law work for.

But the rising price of diesel fuel, wood and other supplies cuts sharply into their earnings.
(27 May 2008)
Contributor Scott Chisholm Lamont writes:
Ah, the suburbs, where even the contractors managing foreclosed homes find the fuel expenses prohibitive.

Sorry, Out of Gas 1973
Architecture's response to the energy crisis
Canadian Centre for Architecture
The Canadian Centre for Architecture presents a microsite related to 1973: Sorry, Out of Gas, a major exhibition exploring architecture's response to the 1973 oil crisis. The exhibition is on view at the CCA in Montréal until 20 April 2008.

Program guide for the show
Animation for the show (YouTube)
Contributor Bill Henderson recommended this site that his daughter found:
What I enjoyed most was the children's book that appears on the top right hand corner - if you click on it you'll see that it gives you an online "magnifying glass" so that you can zoom in and see the small text. click on the arrows to the right to flip pages. It's such a well-written and illustrated story.

The architecture stories at bottom are interesting and I'm guessing readers will like the overall site.

Germany Looks to Boost Biking as Europe Pedals Past
Trinity Hartman, Deutsche Welle
Germany wants to double its bicycle traffic by 2012. While breaking Germany's car addiction has proved a major challenge, other European cities have shown it's possible to make the switch.
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In most German city centers, biking beats out driving as the fastest way to get around. During the morning rush hour, it's not uncommon to see cars creeping forward while cyclists zip past.

The incentives for Germans to bike have never been better, with a medium-sized car sucking away at least 70 euros ($109) per tank of gasoline.

...Say you want a revolution?

It's not only the climate change debate and rising gas prices that make Europe poised for a cycling revolution. Most European city dwellers already have lifestyles conducive to cycling, said Fabian Kuester of the Brussels-based European Cyclists' Federation (ECF), an advocacy group which promotes cycling across the continent.

Half of all trips Europeans make on a daily basis are under 5 kilometers (3 miles).

“That is the perfect cycling distance,” Kuester said.

Yet getting cities to change to accommodate bikes is often painfully slow.

“It's difficult because you have to make choices,” Kuester said. “You have to reallocate space. You have to take space away from a car and give it to cyclists or pedestrians.”

And making a city bike-friendly goes far beyond adding bike lanes, said Ralph Herbertz, a biking enthusiast who pedals around the industrial German city of Cologne.

Bicyclists don't like to be constantly stopped by long red lights. They don't like to be shut out of one-way residential streets. They want parking that is both plentiful and secure. They need to be able to easily take a bike on a bus or a train.

Despite all these challenges, Herbertz -- a long-time ADFC member who works as a bike consultant for the city of Cologne -- said he's noticed many positive changes in recent years. The city, which is regarded as one of Germany's least bicycle-friendly, is riding a “new wave” of interest.

“That's what's really exciting,” Herbertz said.
(30 May 2008)