All articles by barbara speed
barbara speed
A strain of tumbleweed named “hairy panic” is swallowing an Australian town
An Australian town is being consumed by hairy panic. This doesn’t mean a sudden allergy to beards, or the kind…
Street art is great, but don't try it on crosswalks
Pedestrian crossings – crosswalks – are the latest prey of those eager to brighten up neglected city streets. Last year, CityLab ran…
Cab drivers: blocking London roads won't drum up our sympathy
London’s black cab drivers are, too put it politely, annoyed. In their eyes, the rise of car hire firms, and…
Could driverless cars really cut road accidents by 95%?
A new report from the Institute of Mechanical Engineers (IoME) is leading on a striking statistic. It claims that the introduction…
Could new “right to rent” immigration checks put domestic violence victims at risk?
The latest group to find themselves co-opted as gatekeepers in the government’s attempt to clamp down on migrants are… landlords. New…
What does the Tube map look like if you're in a wheelchair?
London’s public transport is great. It lets you go pretty much anywhere via a seamless combination of buses, trains and…
You (yes, you) can find Roman roads using data collected by lasers
The Romans built a whole load of roads during their 350 year occupation of Britain: over 3,000 km’ worth, in fact.…
The places that maps forgot
As anyone mistakenly left off a birthday invite list knows, it’s horrible to be forgotten. And as it turns out, states and…
2015: The year we built more skyscrapers than ever before
As you’d expect, 2015 was another bumper year of skyscraper-building. Turns out the men who build buildings (and the handful…
This map lets you identify any 3x3m spot in the world with just three words
Maps, as I’m sure we can all agree, are great – but they do have their limitations. They’re pretty shoddy…