All, Around the World, Cities

The Cities This Week: Edition 21

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NEW YORK

Seven months after Hurricane Sandy devastated the Northeast, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg released two reports, one calling for major changes to the city’s building codes and the other laying out a $20 billion plan to protect the region from the effects of climate change. Download the reports here

BEIJING

China is pushing ahead with a sweeping plan to move 250 million rural residents into newly constructed towns and cities over the next dozen years — a transformative event that could set off a new wave of growth or saddle the country with problems for generations to come.

TEHRAN

Thousands of Iranians have taken to the streets of Tehran, shouting pro-reform slogans and hailing Hassan Rouhani’s election as president. The reformist-backed cleric won just over 50% of the vote and so avoided the need for a run-off. Mr Rouhani said his win was a “victory of moderation over extremism”.

CHICAGO

The newest piece of Chicago’s vast transit puzzle will not rumble between skyscrapers on its 100-year-old elevated rail lines or utilize its fleet of hybrid buses. The city is turning to thousands of shared bicycles to send commuters and visitors zipping on their way. Chicago joins New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco this year in catapulting what was once just an eco-friendly option for smaller cities into the transportation mainstream of the largest urban expanses.

BRASILIA

About 1,000 protesters complaining about the high cost of staging the World Cup demonstrated in front of the National Stadium in Brasilia just hours before Brazil played Japan in the opening match of the Confederations Cup on Saturday. Riot and mounted police were called up to keep demonstrators from getting too close to the stadium as thousands of fans arrived for the inaugural match in the nation’s capital. The protesters started chanting and marching about a mile away from the venue.

 

Image Credit: Felipe Canova

 

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