Each week we will be focusing on blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We’ll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues. • Canadian transit stations are pretty, but we just can't compete with the likes of the Stockholm metro station pictured above which features pixel-art inspired by classic games. (BoingBoing) •“Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century”, the US federal transportation authorization bill is up for debate in the Senate. Complete streets advocates were pleased to see that the draft bill makes bicycling and walking projects eligible under the core funding program and defines ‘road users’ as including people who walk and bicycle and use public transportation, as well as people with disabilities and older adults. (CompleteStreets.org)

Each week we will be focusing on blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We’ll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues. • Three Southern California cities are taking dramatic steps to improve the health and well-being of residents. Using a program designed by Dan Buettner, the cities are attempting to make the healthy choice the easy choice for local residents. Measures include walking schools buses for children, improving access to healthy food, enhancing bike infrastructure and pedestrian access and encouraging personal interactions. (CNN) • Edmonton moved one step closer to a new home for the Oilers this week when council voted in favour of a new arena cost-sharing arrangement with team owner Daryl Katz. The new rink is the centrepiece of a slate of revitalized commercial-residential downtown development. But with the deal $100 million short and both the provincial and federal governments refusing to pony up tax dollars to fund private enterprise, the way forward for the new rink is somewhat unclear. (Globe and Mail) • Meanwhile in L.A., plans to build a downtown football stadium as a way to boost the city's bruised economy are being met with scorn by Joel Kotkin at New Geography. Kotkin says "urban vanity projects like sports teams and convention centers add little to permanent employment or overall regional economic well-being... Certainly mega-stadiums have done little to boost sad-sack, depopulating cities such as St. Louis, Baltimore or Cleveland."

Each week we will be focusing on blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We’ll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues. • Transportation for America reports that communities across the U.S. are demanding repairs to aging and unsafe bridges. A staggering 9.8% of bridges in the Chicago metropolitan area are considered structurally deficient. • The UBC School of Public Affairs profiles a recent report on the impact of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. The study used 126 IOC-mandated indicators to assess the social, economic and environmental impacts of the Games. While the reported findings are somewhat vague, researchers note that the Games  helped with the creation of new jobs and businesses and increases in visitor spending. • At Next American City, Michael Hooper examines the role of public participation in infrastructure projects. While some prominent urbanists question the value of what they term 'excessive participatory requirements' - citing slower construction times, Hooper identifies other positive spillovers from public participation including user satisfaction, long-term economic and social sustainability and the development of social capital.

Each week we will be focusing on blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We’ll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues. • Harrisburg, PA filed for bankruptcy protection last week after failing to make debt servicing payments on its trash-to-energy incinerator. Bloomberg reports that Harrisburg is the second and largest American city to file for protection this year. • In Chicago, Mayor Rahm Emanuel will require city employees to take transit when travelling on official business. The new policy is expected to save $1 million (in expense claims for car washes and parking tickets). (Grist) • UK-based researchers are exploring the potential of synthetic protocells to capture atmospheric CO2. While scalability and commercial production remain concerns, the team suggests that such materials may one day improve the carbon footprint of the buildings they coat. (CNN)

Each week we will be focusing on blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We’ll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues. • At FastCompany, urban designer Ryan Gravel speaks to power of catalyst projects to revitalize urban communities. He cites the example of the Atlanta BeltLine, a 22-mile rail route turned linear park, as a possible model. • At The Atlantic Cities, Allison Arieff reflects on the industrial re-design of NYC's Times Square. Architect Craig Dykers muses, “There’s that film noir quality that some people have about Times Square… and the grittiness of the street is a part of it... It’s not taking its cues from pretty little things in Europe or something. It’s kind of like the heart of New York City. It’s a heavy, muscular thing.” • Thieves in North Beaver Township, Pennsylvania, raised the (re-)bar this past week when they stole a 50 by 20 foot bridge for scrap metal. The bridge dated back to the early 1900s and was primarily used for rail traffic. (CNN)  

Each week we will be focusing on blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We’ll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues. • The first of a series of participatory budgeting assemblies begins this week in four New York City districts. During the assemblies, members of the public will be free to propose community improvement priorities. In March, votes will be held to decide which projects will be funded by the $1 million in discretionary capital funds available for allocation in each district (PBNYC). • You've heard of the High Line, but are you up on the Low Line? A team in New York City is proposing an underground park be fashioned out of the former Delancey trolley terminal. Initial reaction in the public space-hungry city has been positive. (WebUrbanist)

Each week we will be focusing on blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We’ll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues. • The growing field of road ecology brings together experts from diverse academic backgrounds to investigate interactions between roads and the natural environment. An article on Design Observer examines some of the unique and affordable infrastructure solutions proposed by road ecologists to facilitate the movement of plants, animals, water and soils around highway infrastructure. • NPR reporter David Greene speaks to Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett about the needs of cities in an era of federal budget cuts.

Each week we will be focusing on blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We’ll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues. • Infrastructurist asks: "what is shovel ready and why does it matter?" In a classic case of  buzzword overuse,  "shovel ready" projects have lost meaning for the public and politicians looking for instant job creation from infrastructure projects. • On Design Observer, MoMA's Chief Curator of Architecture and Design, Barry Bergdoll, explores the advocacy and laboratory functions of museums. He writes: "we have an important opportunity to foster new research and fresh thinking ... about the collaborative prospects for architects and landscape designers, and about the fact that design can be a forum for imagining new solutions rather than a means of decorating solutions found by others." • A Chicago transit rail car has been turned into a mobile public garden. The native garden car will have regular service around Chicago for a month, pending financial support. (Colossal)