All articles by barbara speed
barbara speed
This app lets New Yorkers donate to the homeless with a single tap – but not with their own money
It’s not something we talk about much, but the likelihood that we’ll donate to a particular charity often has a…
"London is apparently littered with bottles of discarded Uber piss." So why are cab drivers peeing in bottles?
Uber drivers have their fair share of logistical difficulties. Momentum, the magazine launched last year by the company to provide its drivers with…
Are there really dogs commuting on Moscow's metro system?
Run your eye down the Wikipedia entry for “Moscow Street Dogs” (bear with us here), and you’ll come across an…
This site lets you review your landlord
If you’re a landlord, you’re likely to have the pick of hundreds of tenants replying to your property listing. Once you’ve picked someone,…
Hackney is planning to tackle rough sleepers by, er, fining them
Rough sleeping is a big problem in London. The last set of government statistics, which reflect a single night “snapshot” of the…
Berlin has introduced rent caps to prevent a London-style renting crisis
Yesterday, a subtle but groundbreaking change swept through Berlin’s housing sector. From now on, Berlin landlords will only be able to…
A deceptively simple way to clean up the world's oceans
A year or so ago, a campaigner from the World Wildlife Federation told me that the Next Big Thing in…
This is why we should be farming in skyscrapers
If you follow architecture or design at all, you may have come across aggressively futuristic renderings of skyscrapers topped with…
What happens when wild animals turn up in cities?
If you’ve ever had the pleasure of finding a fox on your doorstep, you’ll know all too well how jarring…
The great “solar freakin’ roadways” debate
Back in 2006, a couple from Idaho formed a small company named “Solar Roadways Incorporated”. Scott and Julie Brusaw had…