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Why aren't we mining landfills for valuable materials like metals and soil?

Ucilia Wang

October 16, 2018 |

Ensia |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Cantonment, Florida

Across the country, projects that mine landfills for reusable metals and soils are underway. Can such mining prove profitable enough to spur similar efforts on a grand scale? So far, some projects have seen profits while others have not. But as society increasingly values pollution and greenhouse gas reduction, incentives for refuse mining can only grow.

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How to Turn a Car Town into a Cycling City

Melissa Bruntlett Chris Bruntlett

October 15, 2018 |

Next City |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: Netherlands, Eindhoven

The Dutch city of Eindhoven was built around the car, even into the 1970s, but as part of remaking itself after its main industries declined or moved away, it has made a dramatic shift to emphasizing cycling. City officials took steps to improve infrastructure as a way to elevate the city’s image internationally and also meet the needs of locals through high-profile projects that proved so popular the city was emboldened to revamp a major motorway into a public greenspace.

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How a Booming City Can Be More Equitable

Barry Yeoman

October 15, 2018 |

Bloomberg CityLab |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Durham, North Carolina

Durham, North Carolina works to maintain diversity of communities and perspectives by evaluating the inequities built into their current housing laws and economic opportunities. In redevelopment planning, the city also incorporates artists and activists into planning to ensure the city doesn't lose diversity of culture in its renewal plans.

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Beyond Hot Wings: How Architecture Is Helping Buffalo Make Its Comeback

Joseph Darius Jaafari

October 13, 2018 |

NationSwell |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Buffalo, New York

Buffalo uses its historic architecture to attract international visitors. The city offers tax credits to developers who remodel and renovate old buildings. The effort also helps attract young people back to the city.

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As Milwaukee embraces bikes and pedestrians with 'Complete Streets,' commercial development gets boost

Tom Daykin

October 12, 2018 |

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Milwaukee is poised to pass a complete streets policy that would advance current efforts to make the city more bike- and pedestrian-friendly. But even without this policy in place, projects to widen sidewalk and improve bike infrastructure are paying off with more business openings and plans by developers who chose the city because of those efforts. The city council is supporting complete streets but it will need cooperation from state highway officials for some of those thoroughfares.

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Why Public Transportation Works Better Outside the U.S.

Jonathan English

October 10, 2018 |

Bloomberg CityLab |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States

American cities can find solutions to low transit use by looking to other cities in Europe and Canada where the focus is on robust service and getting people to major transit hubs. These transportation systems use existing infrastructure and space with strategy so that transit is efficient and affordable. This in turn means more people are likely to use it because service is better.

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Underneath This 'Pop-Up Forest' Is an Abandoned Highway

Alan Greenblatt

October 01, 2018 |

Governing |

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Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Akron, Ohio

When the Innerbelt, a freeway in Ohio, was discontinued, a designer named Hunter Frank threw a party to liven up the space. From there, he pushed to transform it to a permanent greenspace. “There’s value in simply letting people use a space and allowing their behavior to inform a more permanent plan,” reporter Alan Greenblatt writes. While local governments often focus on planning and details, the success of the “Innerbelt National Forest” can be attributed to experimentation: kids playing alongside live music and trees may be what allows the “forest” to stay.

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Fight for Cleaner Air in the Bronx

Cecelia Paladino

October 01, 2018 |

The Innovator |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

The New York-based organization, Sustainable South Bronx, is working to reverse the public health effects, namely asthma, that poor air quality has caused. The initiative works to educate residents about the environmental hazards they face while also working to reverse those hazards with projects like reflective roof coatings. With pollution disproportionately affecting low-income communities, the city too is taking steps toward reducing emissions in these areas.

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Students explore nature in densely built Los Angeles

Ruxandra Guidi

September 24, 2018 |

High Country News |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Los Angeles, California

A principal in one of the most park-poor and low-income areas of LA is imploring students to "find nature in the unlikeliest of places." By setting up a community garden, sharing a passion for birdwatching, and sparking interest in the schoolyard's habitat, Brad Rumble is instilling in future stewards the key principles of urban conservation.

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Citizen Engagement 101

Gillian McGoldrick

September 19, 2018 |

The Philadelphia Citizen |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The Citizens Planning Institute has equipped 500 residents with the relationships and the know-how to make a difference at the local level in their communities. The institute is a seven-week course supported by a city’s Planning Commission, and these institutes now exist across the U.S. and even are spreading as far as Australia. By engaging with local civic leaders, ordinary citizens have a chance to learn and then make improvements that are meaningful to themselves and their neighborhoods.

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