Color

#3EBCD2

Hero Carousel

Spotlight

Financing the UK’s infrastructure: private and public gains

YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQDMOSbJtqrtNzif5rS22OQ

Slideshare

http://www.slideshare.net/economistintelligenceunit

Pinterest

https://www.pinterest.com/theeiu/

A bus that looks like a subway

 

Inspired by the bus lanes implemented in Curitiba in the 1970s, other cities in Latin America have built BRTs (Bus Rapid Transit), including Bogotá, Mexico City and Santiago. Bogotá’s TransMilenio has become a global reference point. It demonstrates that high-volume transport infrastructure need not be expensive or time-consuming to build and that a bus system can be as high-quality as a subway.

Banking on bikes

Since July 2010, certain corners of London have become home to a new form of public transport—bicycles for hire. Along with the Transport for London roundel logo in the bikes' livery is the bright blue logo of Barclays, the bank that has sponsored the scheme.

Shrinking cities

Many cities seem to work under an unofficial mantra of "bigger is better". But that's not the case in the Sachsen-Anhalt region of eastern Germany, where the motto of an urban regeneration scheme, International Building Exhibition (IBA), is "Less Is Future".

FedEx in Memphis

With around 30,000 employees in the Memphis area, FedEx is the city's largest private sector employer, while the cargo shipped by the company from Memphis International airport makes a big contribution to the airport's economic impact on the local economy (an estimated US$28.6bn in goods and services and US$8bn in total wages earned in 2007).

The aerotropolis

As transport and logistics companies gather around the world's biggest airports and their related transport corridors, a new urban form is emerging: the airport city. Professor John Kasarda of the University of North Carolina's Kenan-Flagler Business School argues that airports are set to shape urban development in the decades to come. "Show me the busiest airports today and I'll show you the great urban centres of tomorrow," he says.

Infosys in Bangalore

In Bangalore&;s extraordinary transition from a dusty town to a thriving IT hub that is home to more than 600,000 IT executives, Infosys has played a leading role.

Charter Cities in developing economies

Poor governance and corruption are often cited as barriers to growth in developing countries, which are also home to some of the world's fastest-growing cities. But, as any policy expert or development specialist will tell you, retrofitting for good governance is extremely difficult to do. Corruption is hard to weed out once it is embedded in urban institutions, business models and cultures.

What would you do?

We asked respondents to our survey to outline one specific scheme they would implement to improve quality of life in their city, if they were in charge. Of the many hundreds of responses, at least two-thirds named a transport-related initiative, but almost every aspect of city liveability was considered. Here is a selection.

Emerging market cities: Social ventures fill the gap

In developing cities, cash-strapped governments are often unable to create even the most basic infrastructure—such as sanitation, housing and clean water—required by their citizens. In response, a new generation of social entrepreneurs is stepping in to meet these needs.

London's new vernacular

With the aim of inspiring better housing design and more liveable neighbourhoods, London Development Agency (LDA) has published a London Housing Design Guide. The standards will apply to any new developments on LDA land or for those applying for funding from London Homes and Communities Agency. The idea behind this is to introduce minimum standards for things such as floor space, private outdoor space, availability of natural light and ceiling heights, creating what the agency calls a "new vernacular" for London.

Enjoy in-depth insights and expert analysis - subscribe to our Perspectives newsletter, delivered every week