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- A statue of Queen Victoria has been vandalized in Montréal, the act claimed by an anti-colonialist coalition. Global News reports.
- Guardian Cities profiled an Instagram account, thedoorsofnyc, concentrating on the unique doors of New York City.
- Billionaire urbanism is identified by this article at The Stranger as the downfall of the waterfront of Seattle.
- CityLab notes that the government of Amsterdam is now requiring owners of new homes to live in their property, limiting the ability to rent them out.
- The Atlantic notes the criticisms of many urbanists in Istanbul that restorations of the city's ancient heritage are actually destroying them, at least as survivals from the past.
- After years of renovations, the Kingston Frontenac Public Library is set to reopen to the public this weekend. Global News reports.
- McGill is taking care of the tens of thousands of ants in a colony displaced from the Insectarium in Montréal during renovations there. CBC reports.
- Russell Arben Fox writes about the politics and economics of funding a new baseball stadium in the Kansas city of Wichita.
- Where will the 4/20 marijuana celebration be held in Vancouver in 2020? Global News reports.
- This article at Slate explains how lower Manhattan can only be protected from rising sea levels by land reclamation.
- Montréal may yet get a new park to commemorate victims of the Irish famine of the 1840s. CTV reports.
- CityLab reports on the new spectacular Hudson Yards development in Manhattan.
- The nightclubs of Atlanta in the 1990s played a critical role in that decade's hip-hop. VICE reports.
- CityLab reports that, dealing with a housing crisis, city authorities in Barcelona have taken to finding the owners of empty buildings.
- Guardian Cities reports on how civic authorities in Copenhagen hope to create an offshore archipelago, a sort of floating Silicon Valley.
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- CityLab looks at the sheer density of the Marvel universe in New York City.
- CityLab reports on how the Portuguese capital of Lisbon is suffering a rash of thefts of its iconic tiles.
- A series of private movie screenings in Lagos are explored in CityLab, as a way of building community.
- Open Democracy takes a look at how the cities of Donetsk and Luhansk, in the occupied Donbas, are now being run.
- Guardian Cities reports on how urban explorers and photographers in Hong Kong are trying to archive images of their changing city.
- CBC Ottawa reports on the impressive scope of the new light rail mass transit planned for the wider city of Ottawa.
- Richard Florida, writing at CityLab, notes a study tracing the second of two clusters of skyscrapers in Manhattan, in Midtown, to a late 19th century specialty in shopping.
- The Tyee notes how activist Yuly Chan helped mobilize people to protect Chinatown in Vancouver from gentrification.
- JSTOR Daily looks at the history of the free people of colour of New Orleans, a group established under the French period but who faced increasing pressures following Americanization.
- At Open Democracy, Christophe Solioz considers what is to be done to help protect the peace in Derry, second city of Northern Ireland, in the era of Brexit.
- CBC Montreal looks at how the city of Montréal deals with snow disposal in winter.
- NOW Toronto reviews The World Before Your Feet, a documentary examining the life of one Matt Green, who aims to walk all the thousands of kilometres of streets of New York City.
- VICE reports on how the mass shooting of Dunblane still affects survivors and townspeople even two decades later.
- CityLab looks at the unique Schwebebahn mass transit system in the Ruhr town of Wuppertal, and what it says about transit culture in Germany.
- CityLab takes a look at Cape Town, where a foodie culture is not reflected in ready access of all to food, and how some people are trying to fix this.
- The Conversation considers what Star Trek has to say about sustainable urban development.
- This New York Times article looks at how, in the United States, it is the cities of the West that are leading the country in developing effective mass transit now.
- CityLab looks at the retreat of California from its full vision of a high-speed rail connection.
- CityLab considers what a Green new Deal could do to help suburbia.
- The Atlantic thinks that the rejection of Amazon HQ2 by New York City is good if it leads to an end in competitive subsidies by different jurisdictions to attract businesses.
- CityLab shares newly unearthed photos of the destroyed Detroit neighbourhood of Black Bottom.
- The National Post reports that apparently the latest iteration of the Winter Carnival in Québec City has not met with popular approval.
- CityLab explored for Valentine's Day the notable history of Boston as a centre for the manufacture of candy.
- CityLab notes how the nascent condo boom in Queens' Long Island City, set to capitalize on the Amazon HQ2 there, has been undermined abruptly by Amazon's withdrawal.
- Ozy looks at the historic Uruguay town of Colonia del Sacramento.
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- Fast Company reports on NVIDIA's StyleGAN AI, an engine that cannot generate convincing images of cats.
- PsyPost reports on a PLOS One study suggesting that the cats of owners experiencing psychological stress are influenced negatively by this.
- In the new Captain Marvel movie, the titular character's pet cat Goose is played by a team of four cats.
- David Anderson looks at the representation of the cat in the art of ancient Egypt, in scenes both divine and domestic.
- The Guardian reports on a new book by Peggy Gavan, looking at evidence of how the men of New York City in the late 19th and early 20th centuries loved their cats.
I have another round-up post of links at Demography Matters, this one concentrating heavily on migration as it affects cities. An essay will come tomorrow, I promise!
- JSTOR Daily considers the extent to which the Great Migration of African-Americans was a forced migration, driven not just by poverty but by systemic anti-black violence.
- Even as the overall population of Japan continues to decline, the population of Tokyo continues to grow through net migration, Mainichi reports.
- This CityLab article takes look at the potential, actual and lost and potential, of immigration to save the declining Ohio city of Youngstown. Will it, and other cities in the American Rust Belt, be able to take advantage of entrepreneurial and professional immigrants?
- Window on Eurasia notes a somewhat alarmist take on Central Asian immigrant neighbourhoods in Moscow. That immigrant neighbourhoods can become largely self-contained can surprise no one.
- Guardian Cities notes how tensions between police and locals in the Bairro do Jamaico in Lisbon reveal problems of integration for African immigrants and their descendants.
- Carmen Arroyo at Inter Press Service writes about Pedro, a migrant from Oaxaca in Mexico who has lived in New York City for a dozen years without papers.
- CBC Prince Edward Island notes that immigration retention rates on PEI, while low, are rising, perhaps showing the formation of durable immigrant communities. Substantial international migration to Prince Edward Island is only just starting, after all.
- The industrial northern Ontario city of Sault Sainte-Marie, in the wake of the closure of the General Motors plant in the Toronto-area industrial city of Oshawa, was reported by Global News to have hopes to recruit former GM workers from Oshawa to live in that less expensive city.
- Atlas Obscura examines the communities being knitted together across the world by North American immigrants from the Caribbean of at least partial Hakka descent. The complex history of this diaspora fascinates me.
Tags:
- africa,
- african-americans,
- atlantic canada,
- canada,
- caribbean,
- central asia,
- china,
- crime,
- demographics,
- demography matters,
- diaspora,
- economics,
- history,
- japan,
- links,
- mexico,
- migration,
- moscow,
- neighbourhoods,
- new york,
- new york city,
- ontario,
- portugal,
- prince edward island,
- racism,
- russia,
- united states
- The Conversation notes the concerns of Canadians about the potential privacy concerns regarding smart cities.
- This CityMetric article examines the particular role of the chain coffeeshop in the contemporary city.
- Will the tragic death of young mother Malaysia Goodson, killed trying to access public transit, lead to the spread of accessible infrastructure? Guardian Cities considers.
- A forced amalgamation of the different regional municipalities of Toronto could easily come into conflict with locals' identities, the Toronto Star noted.
- National Geographic considers Silicon Valley-type boomtowns around the world. (Toronto is on that list.)
- This Bloomberg article makes the point that, in same cases, merging cities with prosperous suburbs might be a godsends for the wider conurbations.
- This Curbed article by novelist Jami Attenberg looks at what has changed for her--what she has gained--since moving from large metropolis New York City to the smaller centre of New Orleans.
- Curbed looks at what is happening with the proposed new streetcar route connecting Brooklyn and Queens.
- Urban farm Grow Calgary has found a new home in the southeast of that city. Global News reports.
- The claim of Donald Trump that Texas border city El Paso was a criminalized disaster spinning out of control is, of course, provably wrong. VICE has it.
- This Guardian feature shares the responses of readers to an article looking at the decline of the high street of the English city of Sheffield.
- CityLab looks at the impact of terrorism on Nairobi, at the growing presence of elements of security theatre on the street and at the targeting of ethnic Somalis in Eastleigh.
[BLOG] Some Thursday links
Feb. 7th, 2019 01:40 pm- Bad Astronomer Phil Plait shares a lovely photo of the Earth peeking out from behind the far side of the Moon.
- At the Broadside Blog, Caitlin Kelly shares lovely photos of delicate ice and water taken on a winter's walk.
- Centauri Dreams looks</> at the study by Chinese astronomers who, looking at the distribution of Cepheids, figured out that our galaxy's disk is an S-shaped warp.
- D-Brief notes new evidence that melting of the Greenland ice sheet will disrupt the Gulf Stream.
- L.M. Sacasas at The Frailest Thing takes issue with the uncritical idealization of the present, as opposed to the critical examination of whatever time period we are engaging with.
- Gizmodo notes that an intensive series of brain scans is coming closer to highlighting the areas of the human brain responsible for consciousness.
- Mark Graham links to new work of his, done in collaboration, looking at ways to make the sharing economy work more fairly in low- and middle-income countries.
- JSTOR Daily notes how the mystic Catholicism of the African kingdom of Kongo may have gone on to inspire slave-led revolutions in 18th century North America and Haiti.
- Lawyers, Guns and Money looks at an exhibition examining the ambitious architecture of Yugoslavia.
- The Map Room Blog links to a cartographer's argument about the continuing importance of paper maps.
- Marginal Revolution shares one commenter's perception of causes or the real estate boom in New Zealand.
- Neuroskeptic considers the role of the mysterious silent neurons in the human brain.
- At NYR Daily, Guadeloupe writer Maryse Condé talks about her career as a writer and the challenges of identity for her native island.
- Roads and Kingdoms shares a list of ten dishes reflecting the history of the city of Lisbon.
- Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel takes a look at the promise of likely mini-Neptune Barnard's Star b as a target for observation, perhaps even life.
- Window on Eurasia shares the perfectly plausible argument that, just as the shift of the Irish to the English language did not end Irish identity and nationalism, so might a shift to Russian among Tatars not end Tatar identity.
Tags:
- astronomy,
- blogs,
- caribbean,
- central africa,
- christianity,
- earth,
- english language,
- environment,
- france,
- global warming,
- greenland,
- haiti,
- history,
- human beings,
- ireland,
- islands,
- links,
- moon,
- national identity,
- new york,
- new zealand,
- oceans,
- photos,
- psychology,
- religion,
- roman catholic church,
- russia,
- russian language,
- science,
- separatism,
- slavery,
- space science,
- tatarstan,
- united states
- CBC Hamilton recently reported on a new Facebook group intended to help Torontonians find their footing in neighbouring Hamilton.
- Will the new designs of the Montreal Alouettes be enough to reverse the CFL team's dwindling fanbase? Global News considers.
- CityLab points to the overlooked architectural heritage of Queens, in New York City.
- Guardian Cities reports on plans to rehabilitate roadside grandstands in Berlin abandoned for nearly a century.
- Georgia Straight reports on a proposal for supposedly affordable rental housing in Vancouver that is no such thing. Below-market rates are not enough when prices are so high already.
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- Them looks at issues with queer representation in the STEM professions.
- Them reports on a new exhibition at the Museum of Sex in New York City, looking at the queer history of punk.
- Towleroad examines the new book by Hugh Ryan, When Brooklyn Was Queer, looking at the LGBTQ history of Brooklyn from the 1850s to the present day.
- VICE takes a look at the latest stage of the development of the Babadook into a queer cultural icon.
- Rachel Levy-McLaughlin writes at Daily Xtra about Ron and Lloyd Cameron-Lewis, a couple whose relationship 50 years long has been recognized by the Canadian government, relatively recent advent of marriage equality notwithstanding.
- Huffington Post Québec notes that the iconic Silo no 5 on the Montréal waterfront is now the subject of a redevelopment bid.
- Emily Raboteau writes in the NYR Daily about life in the metropolis of New York City as it faces the threats of climate change.
- CityLab remembers Lightning, the African-American neighbourhood of Atlanta displaced by the construction of the stadium where the Superbowl is now playing.
- CityLab looks at the reasons behind a surge of petty crime in Barcelona.
- Claudia Torrisi writes< at Open Democracy about the growing strength of the neo-traditionalist right in the northern Italian city of Verona.
- Gilbert Ngabo writes about how Niagara Falls, New York, would love the GO Train to cross the border into his city, his article featuring in the Niagara Falls Review.
- Michelle Da Silva writes at NOW Toronto about how the Montréal Igloofest is such a great idea.
- The tax on empty homes in Vancouver may yet be increased, to discourage speculation. Global News reports.
- Guardian Cities notes how tensions between police and locals in the Bairro do Jamaico in Lisbon reveal problems of integration for African immigrants and their descendants.
- CityLab notes how the popular novels of Elena Ferrante may drive gentrification in the Naples neighbourhood of Rione Luzzatti.
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- The Conversation notes the dangers facing LGBTQ students and staff in Catholic schools in Canada.
- Deutsche Welle shares the story of how the Soviet Union in the 1970s hosted a delegation of visiting gay activists from Berlin.
- The Guardian reports on how LGBTQ people in Australia have found it difficult, even unsafe, to enjoy that country's beach culture.
- VICE shares photos from New York City's Paradise Garage, taken in the 1970s.
- Hornet Stories takes an extended look at the reasons, good and bad, for the decline of gay bars.
- CBC reports on the new book of unofficial Montréal mascot Ponto.
- This CityLab article looks at Co-op City, an affordable housing complex in the Bronx, and what it has to offer.
- This proposal from Vancouver to give kids free transit and subsidies to low-income adults makes perfect sense to me.
- Scientific American notes how many refugees from Fukushima, facing economic pressures, have been forced to return to communities they feel unsafe in.
- This SCMP feature looks at how Asian immigrant shopkeepers in Palermo have been successfully resisting the mafia.
- The Hamilton Spectator reports that landlord applications for above-guideline increases in rent have been growing sharply in number, driven by growing demand and by the aging of the housing stock.
- CBC Ottawa shares seven maps of Ottawa and its area which trace the city's development over the previous century and a half and look towards the future.
- The Sun Life Building of Montréal recently celebrated its 100th anniversary. Global News reports.
- VICE shares photos taken by Jacob Fuglsang MIkkelsen in the early 1990s of the contemporary New York City nightclub scene.
- Guardian Cities reports on how the Greek capital of Athens is conducting a survey of its populations of ring-necked parakeets, to see how many of this newly-arrived species are present.
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