England's compulsory purchase fight is about hope value
Planning permission can lift farmland's price 275 times. In 2023 the government planned to let a minister drop that hope value from an order, case by case.
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Germany's allotments began as play space for poor children
Germany has about a million Kleingarten allotments, 70,000 of them in Berlin. They started as fresh air for factory children. Now builders want the land.
Migrant workers built Brasília, Brazil's capital, in three years
A capital promised by Brazil's new republic in 1889 waited 67 years. Then Kubitschek, Costa, Niemeyer and 30,000 workers built Brasília in three.
City of London approves twin towers to replace Fountain House
The City of London Corporation approved two new towers on Fenchurch Street, joining a pipeline of new skyscrapers due by 2030.
New York traded taller towers for public plazas
Since 1961, New York has let developers add floor space in return for plazas open to all, but a 2000 study found 41% of them had no real public use.
Office conversions crowd the UK's 2026 reuse awards shortlist
So many office conversions entered the AJ Retrofit & Reuse Awards 2026 that the category split in two. The V&A East Storehouse leads the mixed-use list.
A V&A exhibition shows what accessible design means
The V&A shows a vibrating harness for deaf gig-goers and a font from protest placards. A US advocate says cities should consult disabled people early.
Nigeria built Abuja to escape the politics of Lagos
Nigeria moved its capital from Lagos to Abuja, chosen as neutral ground. About 300,000 people lived there, and many evicted families still await compensation.
Amsterdam's white bicycles, and the idea that outlived them
In 1965 Dutch activists left free white bikes on Amsterdam's streets. Hundreds of cities now run bike-share schemes, but Amsterdam never took one up.