Urban-Planning

When Disaster Strikes 1 Part 1: Disasters Don't Create Inequality-They Reveal It 2 Part 2: Why Some Cities Burn (And Others Don't) 3 Part 3: The Sacrifice Calculus 4 Part 4: Elite Disaster Strategies 5 Part 5: Famine and Political Power 6 Part 6: Earthquakes and Governance 7 Part 7: Pandemic Politics 8 Part 8: Why We Forget ← Series Home Key Takeaways Cities choose to burn: Fire-resistant construction exists in every era. Whether it's mandated is a political choice. Codes follow catastrophe: Building codes are typically written after major fires, not before—and they're only enforced where political power demands it. The pattern of destruction: Poor neighborhoods burn more frequently because fire prevention requires investment that requires political voice. Reconstruction as opportunity: After great fires, some cities transform; most rebuild the same vulnerabilities that made them burn. The Fire That Rebuilt London On September 2, 1666, a fire started in Thomas Farriner’s bakery on Pudding Lane. By the time it burned out four days later, the Great Fire of London had destroyed 13,200 houses, 87 churches, and most of the buildings of the City of London. Miraculously, only six deaths were officially recorded—though the actual toll was certainly higher. ...

The Secret Life of Ordinary Objects ← Series Home Cities, those immense, crowded artifacts of human civilization, are often hailed as triumphs of permanence and order. Yet, viewed across the sweep of history, they are profoundly fragile constructs, perpetually vulnerable to the chaos of nature and, more often, to the failures of human governance. The most immediate and brutal threat to any urban center, short of warfare, is fire. A city that burns repeatedly does so not primarily for technical reasons, but for political and economic ones. Fire policy, in its enforcement and its neglect, serves as a ruthless barometer, revealing precisely which lives, which properties, and which segments of the population matter—and which can be sacrificed to the flames. ...

The Secret Life of Ordinary Objects ← Series Home The Cycle of Revelation and Resistance: Why Societies Consistently Squander the Window for Reform The catastrophic failure of a city or an industry—be it through flood, fire, or earthquake—serves as a powerful, agonizing moment of collective revelation. It strips away the comforting illusions of equity and competence, exposing the deep-seated political and economic choices that predetermine who lives, who dies, and who ultimately benefits from the disaster’s aftermath. ...

The Secret Life of Ordinary Objects ← Series Home The Invisible Architects: How Skyscrapers, Floor Plans, and Humble Hardware Define Our Expectations of Shelter The structures we inhabit are more than assemblies of wood, brick, and glass; they are testaments to centuries of human ingenuity, defining our expectations of comfort, privacy, and social standing. From the vast complexity of a skyscraper to the quiet simplicity of a doorknob, architecture reflects triumphs over environmental challenges and encodes messages about wealth, power, and aspiration. ...

Beyond the Tailpipe: Unmasking the EV Revolution 1 Beyond the Tailpipe: Unmasking the EV Revolution - Part 1: The Electric Lie? Unpacking the Hidden Carbon Cost of Manufacturing Your EV Battery 2 Beyond the Tailpipe: Unmasking the EV Revolution - Part 2: From Congo to Charger: Who Really Pays the Price for Clean Driving? 3 Beyond the Tailpipe: Unmasking the EV Revolution - Part 3: Subsidies, Sprawl, and $7.5 Billion: The True Cost of Electric Adoption 4 Beyond the Tailpipe: Unmasking the EV Revolution - Part 4: The Real Climate Fix: Why Better Buses Beat Buying a New Electric Car 5 Beyond the Tailpipe: Unmasking the EV Revolution - Part 5: The Road Ahead: How Better Batteries and Smarter Grids Can Deliver the EV Promise ← Series Home The push for electric vehicle (EV) adoption often positions electrification as the primary solution for transportation decarbonization. This perspective assumes that replacing every internal combustion engine vehicle (ICEV) with an electric equivalent is the optimal economic and environmental strategy. However, this “replacement fallacy” risks ignoring the fundamental causes of transportation unsustainability. Genuine sustainability requires addressing systemic issues like overconsumption and inefficient urban design. A comprehensive strategy must prioritize modal shift and demand reduction, meaning better public transportation and walkable cities offer a stronger climate fix than mass private EV ownership. ...