All articles by The Conversation
The Conversation
‘Beauty’ in architecture can’t be enforced – but design competitions could help architects strive for it
The UK government aims to enforce beauty through the planning system’s design codes. But intangible qualities like beauty are best achieved by challenging architects – not constraining them.
Young men in violent parts of Philadelphia and Chicago die from guns at a higher rate than US troops in the heat of battle
Mass shootings account for only about 3% of gun homicides in the US.
Can converting office space into homes solve the housing crisis?
Will removing authorities’ ability to oversee how the built environment changes solve the housing crisis ormake inequality worse?
Day of the Dead is taking on Halloween traditions, but the sacred holiday is far more than a ‘Mexican Halloween’
Halloween’s influence is transforming popular festivities around Día de los Muertos and its ceremonial customs in rural and urban areas of Mexico in some fascinating ways.
Sleepless cities: How urban noise and light keep us up at night
Too much light and noise at night in cities makes us sleep less and, as a consequence, worsens our health. Here are some of the measures that local authorities should take to remedy this problem.
Philadelphia bans supervised injection sites – evidence suggests keeping drug users on the street could do more harm than good
A group of academics look at the global evidence to examine the potential impact of supervised injection sites in Philadelphia and the US.
Climate change is a fiscal disaster for local governments − one study shows how it’s testing communities in Florida
A new study of Florida’s fiscal vulnerability to climate change finds that flooding directly threatens many local tax bases.
Expanding London’s ULEZ has sparked fractious debate – psychologists explain how it can be de-escalated
The psychology of disagreement offers insight into why there is such a strong polarisation in opinions surrounding London’s expanded ULEZ.
What Rishi Sunak scrapping HS2 – and promising a new ‘Network North’ – means for the north of England
Infrastructure development in northern England has been increasingly muddled in recent years. Few will be convinced by Sunak’s new pledge to fix this.
Traditional downtowns are dead or dying in many US cities − what’s next for these zones?
Developers have overbuilt office and commercial space in US cities for decades. Now, in the wake of pandemic shutdowns, many downtowns face hard choices about the future.