Sad but true: cities are becoming more and more expensive for families and young adults. A typical millennial can't afford a 1,000 square-foot home (about 92 square meters) in the majority of the biggest US cities, and tends to share his flat to reduce…
You think the cold winters of Scandinavian countries are depressing? It seems to be the opposite, as they top the ranking of the World Happiness Report 2016.Denmark is considered the world's happiest country, followed by Iceland, Norway and Finland. Most…
Although cities are full of people, loneliness is a growing concern. In our over-connected society, it is quite ironical to observe that we have never felt so alone : in the United States, 40% of people say they are lonely, a figure that has doubled in 30…
Because people are happier when their environment is green, the start-up Walkonomics developed a smart app which indicates the greenest route to go from point A to point B. Thanks to a slider, you can choose whether you want to take the quickest road or…
Nowadays, cities are evolving in order to respond to the needs of every part of its population, including children: green spaces to minimize the effects of air pollution, playgrounds,... This trend is visible in both urban planning and mobility, as well…
Willing to encourage social interactions and fight against isolation in public transportation, the Brazilian city of Pelotas and marketing agency Mark+ are conducting an experiment in the bus called the "Feeding friendship campaign".Several seats marked…
As part of the recent evolutions in the field of urban mobility, the daily commute is not considered anymore as just a wasted period of time. Numerous initiatives try to make it more useful or just more pleasant. Train and subway stations play a central…
The Economist intelligence unit recently published its latest “Global Liveability Ranking”, which covers 140 cities worldwide.It is based on several criteria: population density, availability of goods and services and quality of infrastructure.Mid-sized…
A team of researchers at Yahoo Labs Barcelona created a GPS mapping algorithm able to automatically determine not the shortest, but the "most pleasant" route between two points, according to its beauty, quietness and "happiness" score. In order to measure…
Ikea recently released a study examining morning habits of 8,000 people in 8 major cities around the world (Berlin, London, Moscow, Mumbai, New York, Paris, Shanghai and Stockholm). The "Life at Home" report provides plenty of interesting figures about…
Since its earliest uses, street lighting has traditionally aimed at protecting pedestrians from potential obstacles or bad encounters. Besides convenience and security purposes, new uses of light in urban environments are emerging, giving birth to…
Just like some other basic human activities, eating is impacted by big cities evolutions and by the growing mobility of urban dwellers. New behaviors are emerging in this area, echoing the development of new services and technologies. These innovations…
There might be a new way to relieve stressed urban dwellers suffering from noise in big cities...Stereopublic is a crowdsourcing mobile app and online platform created by Australian composer Jason Sweeneyand and sound experts Emma Quayle and Julian…
Mobility&Trends is experimenting a new approach in this section by focusing on a specific city and highlighting its latest trends and innovations in the fields of mobility and use of public space. And what better city than New York to start with?…
To promote its new range of LED lights, IKEA partnered with JCDecaux Austria to showcase its product in a billboard in Vienna.The billboard's fluorescent tubes used to light posters were replaced on that occasion by IKEA LED lights.The scrolling mechanism…
Cities have long been presented as the exact opposite of nature. However, this dichotomy tends to disappear as environmental concerns grow and the aspiration for more sustainable and livable cities develops. Nowadays, the integration of nature in the city…
The Northern Dutch city of Groningen is famous in Holland for its student nightlife and its numerous bars and clubs located in a few downtown blocks. After observing that forgetting clothes or bags was quite frequent in this area at night, three students…
With 15 of the top 25 slots, European cities still dominate Mercer’s “Quality of living” annual ranking.Vienna ranks first, followed by Zurich and Auckland. Germany and Switzerland are the most represented countries in this ranking, with three cities each…
While the number of city dwellers keeps rising, so does the diversity of this urban population. Considering demographic evolutions, cities will have to adapt to more elderly, young and disabled people needing to move.Besides, as urban territories extend,…
Improving the daily life of city-dwellers is an everyday challenge. Imagined by Formula-D, Ibali is an urban furniture designed for Cape Town, South Africa, where people can sit, take a rest and listen to music.With the help of high technology (audio…