Look around and you will surely get an eye full of some of these urban space attractions:
• Water Wall – interactive fountain system with digitally controlled streams of water
• Digital Bus Stops – provides information to commuters on routes and maps equipped with a digital touch screen
• Memory Paving – digital recording of pedestrian movements
• LED Lighting – known as Urban Pixels installed on buildings and temporary structures
• Digital Displays ad Facades – adds theatrical effects to emitted light
• Digital Awnings – movable mounted screens
• Smart Parking – digital search for parking space

The first English translation of Lefebvre’s groundbreaking work on the urban experience.

Originally published in 1970, The Urban Revolution marked Henri Lefebvre’s first sustained critique of urban society, a work in which he pioneered the use of semiotic, structuralist, and poststructuralist methodologies in analyzing the development of the urban environment. Although it is widely considered a foundational book in contemporary thinking about the city, The Urban Revolution has never been translated into English—until now. This first English edition, deftly translated by Robert Bononno, makes available to a broad audience Lefebvre’s sophisticated insights into the urban dimensions of modern life.

Lefebvre begins with the premise that the total urbanization of society is an inevitable process that demands of its critics new interpretive and perceptual approaches that recognize the urban as a complex field of inquiry. Dismissive of cold, modernist visions of the city, particularly those embodied by rationalist architects and urban planners like Le Corbusier, Lefebvre instead articulates the lived experiences of individual inhabitants of the city. In contrast to the ideology of urbanism and its reliance on commodification and bureaucratization—the capitalist logic of market and state—Lefebvre conceives of an urban utopia characterized by self-determination, individual creativity, and authentic social relationships.

A brilliantly conceived and theoretically rigorous investigation into the realities and possibilities of urban space, The Urban Revolution remains an essential analysis of and guide to the nature of the city.

“Pioneering, ambitious, frustrating. The first English translation of Henri Lefebvre’s critique of urban life simmers with the student revolts of 1968 Paris and with the genuine conviction that the forces behind that unrest could still change cities as we now them. The author provides us with admonitions that are valuable even today.” —Architecture

“Widely considered a foundational book in contemporary thinking about the city. This first English edition, deftly translated by Robert Bononno, makes available to a broad audience Lefebvre’s insights. A well-conceived and theoretically rigorous investigation into the realities and possibilities of urban space.” —Bulletin of Science, Technology and Society

“Henri Lefebvre’s The Urban Revolution, one of his most obviously important works for geographers, has, 33 years after its initial publication, at last appeared in an English translation.” —Antipode

“This book contains some wonderfully thought-provoking passages and it is clear why it had such an impact at the time of its original publication. Lefebvre’s fascination with with the urban is contagious, and for that reason, this book is an invigorating and rewarding read.” —Journal of Regional Science

Henri Lefebvre (d. 1991) was one of the most significant European thinkers of the twentieth century. His many books include The Production of Space (1991), Everyday Life in the Modern World (1994), Introduction to Modernity (1995), and Writings on Cities (1995).

Source:  upress.umn.edu

The latest addition to the digital urban reader contributed book on the Worlds Worst Urban Places and Spaces comes from Dawid Gorny who has recently moved to Cheltenham Spa.

Wikipedia describes Cheltenham as a large spa town and borough in Gloucestershire, England, near Gloucester and Cirencester. The town has a population of 110,013 (2001 census) and the people of the town are known as “Cheltonians“. The town motto is: Salubritas et Eruditio (“Health and Education”).The town is located on the edge of the Cotswolds and has an image of being respectable and wealthy. Cheltenham has been a health and holiday spa town resort since the discovery of mineral springs there in 1716. The town is famous for its Regency architecture and is said to be “the most complete regency town in England”. The small River Chelt flows under and through the town.

To quote Dawid:

‘I took this photo in Cheltenham on a bridge on Tewkesbury Road. Depicting a subway path under this bridge of note is the sign telling you that it is open to public but it isn’t and has been closed since I live in Cheltenham. I think it’s such a waste of space when it’s not open and there is no zebra crossing on the bridge instead so you have to pass all the way to cross a road’

It is these small overlooked parts of our urban environments that add up to create a grim and to be honest slightly down heartening scene. The photograph is well worth viewing at full size via Flickr as you can start to appreciate why Dawid sent it in.

Learn more: digitalurban.blogspot.com

Rural homes are less affordable than urban ones, with average prices more than seven times the typical local wage, a bank has reported. House price inflation has pushed the average rural property value up to �246,104, which is �30,000 above that of a town house, Halifax said.

Carrick, Cornwall, was deemed the least affordable rural area.

The survey found the average house price in the district was �269,241, over 10 times the average local salary.

Chiltern in Buckinghamshire was identified as the most expensive rural location was an average price tag of �474,850.

Property ladder

Martin Ellis, chief economist at Halifax, said people in rural areas faced “particularly tough” housing market conditions.

“In general, higher average property prices, together with lower earnings, mean that housing is less affordable than in urban areas,” he said.

“Many young people in particular are therefore finding it tough to find a foot on the property ladder.

“This difficult situation is compounded by lower levels of provision of social housing in rural areas.”

The research found that the average property price was 7.1 times average annual earnings in rural areas.

Social housing

As a result there were fewer first-time buyers in the countryside where they made up just 17% of home-buyers, compared to 33% in urban locations.

The survey by Halifax and its sister company Bank of Scotland concluded that only 13% of property was designated social housing in the countryside, compared to a fifth of homes in urban areas.

In Scotland the report suggested that rural house prices had risen by 112% in the last five years – compared with a 107% increase in urban areas.

It put an average Scottish rural home at �177,007 – 12% more than the �157,519 paid in the city.
Source:� news.bbc.co.uk

I tried living in the country for a while and I have to admit; I take my hats off to those that can do it year in and year out because it isn’t for everyone. I had always been to the country, special trips for school, holidays and vacationing with family, but had never really considered living there.

What is so great about living in the city? People think that city living means that you are all outgoing and stuff, loud, fast and quick on your feet, and just all around slick, but that isn’t the case at all. Some are like that, but many are just focused on keeping everything okay and well with their own little corner of the metro and go to work and home, and then back to work, and just like what the city has to offer.

What does it have to offer? Thousands of shops, hundreds of schools, and tens of thousands of traffic signals and intersections. High-rise buildings and small buildings not much bigger than a single family home that serve as “hole in the wall” mom and pop establishments. Mega projects that take up acres and attract thousands, on acres of land and smaller, more intimate settings. A variety and contradictory fusion of conflicting ideas about life, race and culture that it is difficult to find anywhere else.In the city you’ll find everything from those whose heart is in the middle of nowhere to those that feel that the city is never big enough, overcrowded enough, or fast enough for them. You’ll find God in places with huge billboards for the work of the enemy across the street from each other; churches with strip clubs 100 feet away and hospitals with gun shops and liquor stores within walking distance. You’ll find streets that are elevated that overlap other streets that are elevated that overlap a street that actually is “on the ground, on the street” and bridges whose sole purpose isn’t to take you across a body of water, but to ease traffic flow and take you across another street.

Source: associatedcontent.com

New York – Every time it rained, Majora Carter cringed. “I lived in mortal terror whenever I thought it was going to rain,” Dr. Carter says, remembering how the rainwater seeped from the street into her Bronx brownstone.

Then she and her husband, James Burling Chase, realized that the source of the problem wasn’t on the ground, but on the roof. The stormwater system in their neighborhood backed up so quickly that the water rushed straight from their roof to the street – and into their home.

They decided to try a new strategy to fix an old problem: a green roof.

Now, after a substantial renovation, their flat roof has come alive – literally. Flowers and baby sedum are anchored in a thin bed of soil and gravel covering the roof. Golf-ball-sized stones frame this rooftop oasis.

Now their roof will retain about half the rainwater that falls on it, once the sedum matures in about two years. But besides finding a practical solution to a recurrent problem, Carter and Chase wanted a tangible way to show they were “walking the walk” when it came to their environmentalism.

By: Caitlin Carpenter

Learn more:  csmonitor.com

If you are planning to buy a condominium for yourself or a gift for your future spouse then here are some tips you should consider before purchasing one:

1.) Ask the developer a copy of the floor plan before you check on the actual unit, so that you can choose the design and decide what fits your taste.

2.) Once you’re decided what designs you wanted to see then don’t forget to include in your list of things to inspect the bedroom, hallway, closet space and might as well the garage space.

3.) Check also the vicinity where the condominium is located is it near the mall, supermarket, hospital or even the police station. Check for convenience.

4.) Lastly, check the amount. Is it within your budget or too much for you to splurge?

Once everything is in place, and you’re satisfied with what you saw then go ahead and buy that dream condo of yours. Enjoy!