[URBAN NOTE] Five notes on change: Richard Florida, Sidewalk & Quayside, Hong Kong, Seattle, Iceland

[rfmcdonald]

• Noah Smith of Bloomberg interviews RIchard Florida on the downsides of the urban renaissance, considering the possibility of countries fragmenting into booming city-states and declining hinterlands, over at Bloomberg.


• Christopher Hume considers how the Google Sidewalk dream for Toronto's Quayside could fall apart, over at the Toronto Star.


• VICE reports on how Hong Kong is making massive investments in land reclamation, in response to shortages of territory.


• Global News reports that Chinese homebuying investors have turned from Vancouver towards Seattle, in search of lower prices.


• Iceland is in the middle of massive housing price increases, though this is apparently growth driven by demand not by a bubble. Bloomberg reports.