One of the best blogs on local economic development and politics continues to be Smart City Memphis, written by good friend and colleague Tom Jones.  Today he's written another incisive post on the Aerotropolis strategy being pursued by a number of cities.

In the past week, I've been in South Africa and Canada, as well as the U.S., speaking and exchanging ideas with leaders.  It occurred to me that in all three nations, there is a romanticized notion of the role rural areas still play in their success. 

In the U.S., we've… more

Waterfront Toronto is likely the largest public infrastructure project in North America.  How large?  Imagine the reclamation and redevelopment of 20 km of shoreline and 800 hectares in the heart of the city. 

Yesterday I toured the project with Waterfront Toronto officials and speak to the organization's annual meeting. … more

The front page of yesterday's recently redesigned Chicago Tribune had no news stories -- just huge headlines and big graphics.  It's the first time I've seen that happen on the front page of a daily newspaper.  Faced with declining readership of the print product, daily newspapers are trying all… more

Well, travelers favorite cities.  Ranking the 25 top U.S. cities in 45 categories, 155,000 travelers (or readers of Travel and Leisure) cast their votes and here's a sampling of what they said:

While Charleston and Austin have the friendliest people, Seattle and Minneapolis/St. Paul have the brainiest.  Unfortunately, LA… more

Like all South African cities, Cape Town is a city with a complicated history.  But the city’s natural setting is breathtaking.  Its central district declined along with most other cities, but, under the leadership of Andrew Boraine, Chief Executive of the Cape Town Partnership and former city manager, it… more

Traditional wind farms require constant wind speed and direction - they also tend to be big, rural, expensive and controversial.

The Chicago company, Aerotecture, has taken a different if not opposite approach.  Their turbine is designed to not only work in swirling urban wind, but… more

Wendy Waters asks, Are City Halls too isolated?  As she writes, "In most cities I’m familiar with, City Hall is a distinct, self-contained building separated from most of the key residential, business and entertainment areas of the city.  The staff that work in the City Hall building typically don’t… more

The University of England, concerned that their campus was soon to be overrun by surface parking lots, has started a free bike program.  Beyond reduction of the number of parking spaces, the program has highlighted a host of advantages from student health (i.e. eliminating… more

After getting only limited exposure to Constitution Hill in Johannesburg Saturday, I decided to return on my own today for a longer visit.  It is the site of South Africa's most important public building, Constitutional Court where the still-new constitution is interpreted and adjudicated.  It is also the site… more

Did anyone else notice?  Good for Colin Powell.  See it here.

Also, Powell comes out strongly -- strongly -- for religious freedom by telling a very poignant story of an American soldier who died in service who was also a Muslim. 

If we can't get along across faiths,… more

In preparation for the World Cup in 2010, Johannesburg is building its first metro line that will run approximately 60 km (with stops to include the airport).  In the central city, the line is underground, again.  The city is also building bus rapid transit in the city center, based on… more

Just heard on CNN Worldwide that Shanghai is trying to make the wait for its metro more entertaining.  On one line with 12 minute headways, Shanghai has installed a system to lend magazines to waiting riders.  Problem is, only 10 days into the program, riders haven't quite figured out how… more

A NYT slide show.

I couldn’t find a guidebook before I arrived in Johannesburg.  In fact, I couldn’t find one after I arrived either.  And the attractions listed in the (very good) hotel directory had only five listings, including a Lion Park and the Zoo. Not exactly what this urbanist had in mind.
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As college basketball fans know, Midnight Madness is when fans get to cheer their team's first practice. My team is the University of Memphis, and one of the many reasons is its coach, John Calipari. John was sounding downright presidential in his invitation to fans to attend.

As my favorite… more

This is an exciting idea - using GPS enabled devices to calculate the carbon footprint of employee travel.  By the sound of it, no manual input is required and the system can be configured in various ways - target goals, comparison, etc.  By using individual devices, the system is lightweight… more

“That word creativity is a slippery thing,” according to John Howkins, author of The Creative Economy.  I agree, and that’s one reason it was such an extraordinary opportunity for me to moderate a conversation this afternoon at the Detroit Creative Cities Summit with John, Charles Landry, author… more

Business Week says in a recession you are safer in a city that relies on government (including universities and contracting) and health care.  Number one recession-proof city?  Arlington, VA.  Number two?  Washington, DC. 

Some quick lines from today's conversations...

"Creativity is the only inextinguishable resource we have."

There are 3 principles of the creative ecology from John Howkins: 

1.  Everyone is creative.
2.  Creativity needs freedom.
3.  Freedom needs markets.

Creativity does not equal the arts. Creativity is not the same as innovation.

Austin's plans to participate in Thrill the World got a boost when Mayor Will Wynn showed his own Michael Jackson moves. What a trouper.

What a difference 17,000 Target employees have made to downtown Minneapolis.  On a perfect day, I had an opportunity to visit Target's headquarters on Nicollet Mall.  There was a busy flow of casually dressed people (average age looked to be maybe 26?  28?  young), giving these corporate headquarters an unmistakeable… more

Our colleague Joe Cortright sent us the photo below from an above the fold story in the Living section of the Oregonian about different kinds of bike accesories for hauling kids and cargo. 

Photo by Torsten Kjellstrand/The Oregonian

Read the… more

I've been in San Jose, capitol of Silicon Valley, since Tuesday night.  This morning I spoke to a big group of downtown developers and tonight I'll be speaking to the Great Cities Speakers Series for 1st ACT Silicon Valley.  Last night, I had dinner with Connie Martinez, founder of… more

Take a look at Pittsburgh's Citiwiki that invites citizens to offer their own ideas to develop an intelligent, easy-to-use transportation system that works for people of every stripe?

The goal of the Wiki is to harness the considerable intellectual firepower of the Pittsburgh region's thoughtful citizenry to help transform… more

This morning I flew through Chicago's O'Hare airport on my way from Portland, Maine to San Jose, California.  My chances of seeing anyone I know in one of the world's busiest airports are next to none.  But the surroundings are familiar, and some of the service people are familiar.  And… more

With creative cities strategies increasingly gaining the attention of city leaders around the world, the Creative Cities Summit being hosted in Detroit October 12 – 15 will engage leaders with ideas on how to “rethink and redesign our cities for this age of innovation, knowledge and creativity”. 

By… more

Ok, so Home Depot isn't suddenly swapping out inventory for locally produced products, but it would seem that their centralized purchasing model isn't cutting it.  WSJ article here.  A glut of mowers in the desert and a shortage of power tools where they are needed most was enough to… more

Design Management Institute is meeting this week in Maine.  Yesterday I had an opportunity to tell a roomful of designers how they can be pivotal to making cities places people love.  Right now, I am listening to Oliver King, director and co-founder of Engine, one of the world's foremost… more

Alinea chef and impresario Grant Achatz demonstrated last night at Wired's NextFest why he, and not just his food, is so special.  He peppered a seemingly casual cooking demonstration and tasting with stories of how he evolved his one-taste preparations onto specially-made, sculptural serving utensils that hold heat, cold… more

Can't let Tina Turner's tour launch in Kansas City last night go without notice.  The woman is 68.  68.  Two years short of 70.  Is Tina amazing?  Or is Tina the new normal?  And if Tina is the new normal, are workplaces prepared to consider that their 68 year-olds may… more