CYCLING AND WALKING PREVAIL: The New York Times have a very interesting video on hurricane Sandy’s effects on New York City’s transport and how citizens have been forced to seek alternative transport modes. Since the MTA underground rail system is shut down and the bus system is over capacity, commuters have had to consider cycling and walking. Interestingly, New York City has a grid-based road system, so citizens are easily able to find their way home, unlike people living in London back in the devastating 2005 underground bombings. People struggled to find their way through the city as they have never actually walked home.
A MESSAGE ON RESILIENCE: A message from the President of of the Municipal Art Society of New York, on the importance of building a resilient city – one with social and economic resilience, and one of comprehensive environmental resilience.
CAN MEGA-CITIES BE RESILIENT?: Can Mega-Cities be resilient? Leah Cohen, New York City’s climate resilience advisor; Steven Koonin, inaugural director of NYU’s new Center for Urban Science and Progress; and David Biello, energy and environment editor at Scientific American had a wide-ranging discussion on how cities will cope with a century of accelerating change.
LEARNING FROM THE SUPERSTORM: In Learning from the Superstorm, an opinion piece in the New York Times, a New-Yorker sheds light on the rapid and urgent action that is needed in cities across the world who are vulnerable to climate change. It highlights the “soft infrastructure” of co-ordination and planning which are often more important than the “hard infrastructure” which provide physical protection and barriers.
MAKING OUR COASTAL CITIES RESILIENT : Of the world’s 40 largest mega-regions — many of them located along coastline — and account for roughly two-thirds of global economic output and nine in 10 of the world’s innovations. A rethink is needed on our economic assets and infrastructure, which needs a greater focus on designing for resilience, rather than just repeating old methods.
Image courtesy of MichaelTapp at flickr.com