Chicago Timelapse ~ Wilson's Windy City Nights!

Thanks to Kuriositas for spotting Max Wilson's lovely Chicago timelapse Windy City Nights!

Urban Plans ~ Ideas Shaping Great Cities...

Burnham's Chicago... Cerdà's Barcelona... Haussmann's Paris...

Chicago's Skyline ~ CNN on Architectural Legacy

CNN Future Cities spotlights Chicago!

Chicago Forward ~ Gabe Klein on Friendly Cities

I'm now sitting at Media Lab listening to DUSP guest speaker Gabe Klein, the Chicago DOT Commissioner speak on Chicago Forward: Building a User-Friendly City. The soft-start to the talk is this lovely Cities for Cycling Streetfilm... Chicago's an amazing transit hub with four Class One railroads, a dual-hub airport, bike net -- but it's also "bottleneck city" with congestion, safety issues, and lots of fat people and kids. Klein was previously a bike business manager, then with Zipcar, then food truck business, and then DC's transport guy (including helping roll out Capital Bikeshare). Very interesting transitions!  In DC, he helped steer bikelanes down the center of Pennsylvania Avenue!

Among the compelling trends he spotlights are the share economy, digital public ways, robust multimodal hubs, far more public/private combinations, and more. Chicago Forward is his city's action agenda embracing Safe Transit (including the issue of automatic traffic enforcement, safety zones, and the unbelievable "freedom-to-kill" drivers currently have today over pedestrians and bicyclists), Rebuilding & Renewing, Layers of Options, Complete Streets, and more.

Tasty Penthouses ~ Fine Dining & Views Up Top!

Tasty penthouse and rooftop restaurants, clubs and bars!

Rail Freight Density ~ Mapping American Traffic

NYTimes piece on Chicago's rail congestion maps America's freight density!

Gardens of Eden ~ DailyMail Spots Greenroofs...

Emma Reynolds in the DailyMail spotlights Gardens of Eden: The heavenly horticulture blossoming on roofs high above the city...

"High above the dreary grey streets of the world's cities, gorgeous gardens blossom in a wilderness of rooftops. These unexpectedly colourful spots provide an oasis of calm away from the bustle of urban streets across the U.S., Europe and as far away as Japan. The elevated scenery ranges from a wildflower meadow on top of a house in London to a neat lawn tended on top of a New York office block. Married couple Diane Cook and Len Jenshel travelled the world capturing their photographs of these stunning sights. It is their latest project after 25 years spent producing images that show how human's influence their environment. The eye-catching plants and flowers not only transform the top of dull office buildings but create habitats for birds and insects and are good for the environment. They reduce noise pollution and release oxygen into the atmosphere.[...] 'It was great to do a story on green roofs, where human impact is actually having a positive influence on the planet. 'The first green roof we visited was the Cook and Fox Architects building in Manhattan. We were blown away. 'It was this beautiful green planted area in the middle of Manhattan in a sea of grey rooftops. We both gasped, we couldn't believe this beautiful garden was on the roof in the middle of the city. 'We were so impressed in Switzerland and Germany, where it is now mandatory for any new building with a flat roof to install a green roof."

New Chicago Riverfront ~ Studio Gang's Green...

Inhabitat's Amanda Coen writes how Invasive Species Threat Inspires Jeanne Gang to Reimagine Chicago’s South Side...

"...a solution that would create a barrier between the Mississippi River and Lake Michigan, restoring the natural flow of the Chicago River while also helping to introduce green infrastructure and revitalize a neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side. [...] a hydrological barrier would create a second waterfront in the form of an inland lagoon. Not only would it drastically change the landscape of Chicago’s South Side and deter the invasive carp species, but it would also force the city to re-think its wastewater treatment system so that cleaned water could be returned to Lake Michigan rather than flowing downstream."

Greenroofs Movement ~ Towards Vital Cities...

There's a growing greenroofs movement, with cities such as Copenhagen mandating greenery on new flatroofs... And with Chicago showing the way right from the top at City Hall... They help us imagine better futures... We can even dream of Greening Gotham... And here envisioning greenroofs over Boston... This means, of course, building more real structures, just like these...