Each week we will be focusing on blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We'll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues.

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• Should private corporations be allowed to purchase the naming rights of public subway stations? The Transit Politic Blog muses on the answer as the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) considers selling Philadelphia's Pattison Avenue subway station to At&T (a decision that has since been voted through by the SEPTA board). Yonah Freemark makes a compelling argument for why "removing [a station's] geography-based name and replacing it with a corporate name" not only diminishes a station's character but is also needlessly disorienting.

• A fascinating post on the Human Transit Blog applies scientific studies on how our brains navigate space to how we understand the urban environment. Differentiating between spatial navigators at one extreme, and narrative navigators on the other, Jarrett Walker looks at how these different navigational strategies effect everything from our ability to understand transit maps, to how we give …

Each week we will be focusing on blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We'll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues.

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• In Hong Kong they drive on the left side of the road, in mainland China on the right. This simple difference creates an complicated engineering dilemma. How do you design a bridge between the two without creating chaos and confusion on the road? How do you get drivers to switch from one side of the road to the other without a head-on collision? Dutch design firm NL Architects, have come up with an answer -- build a figure eight bridge. As explained by Fast Company (who also host a video model of the bridge) the proposed "Flip Bridge" works by "separating the two sides of traffic, using a figure-eight shape. One side of the road dips under the other, funneling cars that were traveling on the left to the right (and vice versa), without forcing them to encounter head-on traffic …

Each week we will be focusing on blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We'll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues.

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• The BP oil spill, which continues to wreak havoc on the United States' Gulf Coast, is just one more reminder of the perils of oil dependence and the dangers of offshore drilling. An article from Grist Magazine looks at the role cities can (and should) play in moving towards a more sustainable future.

• The first of model of the 380A, the fastest train in the world, was officially completed last week. Designed by China's Changchun Railway Vehicles Co., Ltd, and funded by the Chinese government, the new train can go up to 380 kph (236 mph), and will be in use in the country by 2011.

• A new gadget allows cyclists to charge their cell phones as they bike. Released by Nokia, the Bicycle Charger Kit starts converting peddle power into energy at speeds as low as 6 …

Each week we will be focusing on blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We'll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues.

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• Though still incomplete, New Delhi's subway system is already being hailed as "a runaway success". According to the The New York Times not only is the Delhi Metro "scrupulously clean, impeccably maintained and almost unfailingly punctual" it also boasts cheap fares, and, even more incredibly, manages to turn an operating profit.

• London's Routemasters, the red doubledecker buses the city is famous for, are getting replaced. While still the iconic red, the new fleet, designed by Thomas Heatherwick and Wrightbus, will be significantly more sustainable and sleeker than the older models. The Architects Newspaper hosts a video on the design features of the new bus, scheduled to hit the road by 2012.

• Bangkok's city street continue to be the site of escalating violence between the Thai military and Red Shirt political protesters. A series of poignant photographs on Boston.com shows …

Each week we will be focusing on blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We'll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues.

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• What would a socially equitable city look like? The Polis Blog sheds some light on this complex question in a fascinating series entitled "The Just Metropolis". In the Polis Blog's second group post, 9 contributors write of their vision for a just city. They tackle the issues from multiple perspective, from the role of art in cities to social housing to the rule of the law.

• The LA Times looks at Medellín, Colombia's architectural renaissance. Home to 3.5 million, Medellín has been ambitiously investing in large-scale civic architecture for the last 10 years. Thanks to this public infrastructure initiative, libraries, schools and parks now dot some of Medellín's roughest neighbourhoods. According to the Times, "these projects are the capstones of a broader civic rebirth that has seen murder rates tumble nearly 90% from their highs of the early 1990s."…

Each week we will be focusing on blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We'll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues.

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• The National Council of Research in Rome is generating innovative ideas on city building by looking at the urban environment through the eyes of children. As explained on The Polis Blog, the City of Children project works with cities across Italy, Spain and Argentina to change the way municipal policy is created by "engaging children as parameters and as guarantors of the needs of all citizens."

• Why does a 1-mile long greenway in the middle of Boston remain "a placeless desert" on the nicest days of the year?  The Boston Globe's Architecture critic unpacks why the city's Kennedy Greenway fails to attract visitors and muses on what can be done to improve its future.

• Moving from an example of poor public space design to some of the world's best--the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) has announced the …

Each week we will be focusing on blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We'll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues.

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• Good Magazine has devoted its newest issue entirely to neighbourhoods. Check it out online for tips on starting a community garden and strategies for throwing an amazing block party.

• By this time next month the most expensive world fair in history will be in full swing in China's largest city. Shanghai continues to build intensely in preparation for the lavish event having already constructed massive pavilions, new subway lines and an additional airport terminal. The Washington Post reports on how China is preparing for the World Expo and what lessons the country learned from the equally extravagant Beijing Olympics.

• Bad manners on New York subways have spurred guerrilla activists into action. Graphic designer jayshells has distributed 400 "public service" posters across the city's subway trains outlining some of the most obnoxious public transit behaviour. Animal New York has photos …

Each week we will be focusing on blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We'll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues.

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• Luud Schimmelpinnink--one of the activists behind the 1965 White Bicycle Plan in Amsterdam--has envisioned the bike city of the future. Schimmelpinnink's design incorporates electric bikes, iphone apps, smart cards, and puncture-proof tires to create a fully integrated, easy to use, and theft-protected program. Tree Hugger looks at the plan's details and shows renderings of some its most innovative design features.

• The CityFix recently ran a feature on the reasons behind the cable car's increasing popularity as a means of mass transit across the developing world.

• In light of the recent park building trend in the United Sates, The Infrastrucutrist has compiled a list of the country's 6 best new urban parks. Highlights of the series include Chicago’s $475 million, 24.5-acre Millennium Park featuring a Frank Gehry designed pavilion, and downtown Dallas' 10-acre Sammons Park known for its reflecting pool, …

Each week we will be focusing on blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We'll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues.

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• According to a CNN report the American urban landscape is undergoing a transformation--sprawling suburbs are on their way out and sustainable, urban-centric development is on its way in. The article looks a five American cities exemplary of the 'new urban century' that will usher in improved transit, more green space and vibrant downtown districts.

• The CNN report claims are being echoed by a recent U.S. EPA study that suggests redevelopment of urban centers is taking place at a significantly higher level then development on the periphery. As reported by the New York Times the study--titled "Residential Construction Trends in America's Metropolitan Regions"--suggests a "fundamental shift has begun in the [American] real estate market".

• But over on New Geography blog these kinds of claims are being questioned and refuted. Aaron M. Renn argues that "triumphalist rhetoric" that smart growth …

Spacing Saturday is a new feature that highlights posts from across Spacing's blog network in Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and the Atlantic region. Spacing Saturday replaces the weekly features Montreal Monday and Toronto Tuesday.

• Carol Coletta, CEO of CEOs for Cities, recently spoke at a sold-out Halifax luncheon on "cities as engines of economic prosperity". Responding to Ms. Colett's emphasis on the importance of developing a Halifax brand, Emily Richardson asks what that brand might be and muses on why it's so difficult to find a satisfactory answer.

• The City of Halifax recently voted in favour of a proposal to add 5-stories of residential space to City Centre Atlantic. Spacing's Rachel Caroline Derrah attended the two-hour public hearing, gaining as much insight on the public consultation process as on the development itself.

• In light of the upcoming municipal election, public space and transit advocate, Dave Meslin writes on two topical Toronto campaigns--Better Ballots and Let's Talk--that will be holding town hall forums in the week to come. Let's Talk, a Toronto Transit Union initiative, gives TTC riders the opportunity to address concerns directly to transit workers. While Better Ballots, a Toronto campaign to revamp …