In May, we have reported on a competition by A Vision of Europe called The European prize 2008 for the best urban neighbourhood in Europe.

Now, we got a comment which advised us of the results of the competition (thanks to Bertille Amaudric from Fondation pour l’Architecture).

The International jury of the 2008 Philippe Rotthier European announced the TOP-10 urban neighbourhoods. The 88 selected neighbourhoods come from 30 European countries and from big cities such as Lisbon, Bilbao, Paris, London, Glasgow, Brussels, Berlin, Dresden, Bologna, Palermo, Tirana, Istanbul, etc., as well as from beautiful medium-size cities such as Santiago de Compostela, Hammamet, Gladbeck, Alessandria, Hoje Tarstrup, Knokke, Dorchester, Brandevoort, etc. Among the 88 entries selected, these are the best New Urban Neighbourhood built in Europe in the last 25 years:

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It has pretty much become universally accepted that global warming is having an effect on global ocean levels. With sea levels rapidly rising, millions of coastal and island inhabitants are threatened to loose their homes. Major cities including London, New York and Tokyo are seen as being at huge risk from oceans which could rise by as much as 3ft by the end of this century. To be prepared for this, new solutions must be found.

The ultimate solution to rapidly rising sea levels are so called “Lilypad Islands” by the award-winning Belgian architect Vincent Callebaut. Based on the design of a lilypad, they could be used as a permanent refuge and a new place to live for those whose homes have been covered in water.

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FDi magazine, a news and foreign direct investment publication owned by The Financial Times Business Group, has a interesting section called “Locations of the future”. In this section they published future predictions for almost every region across the world.

The magazine’s "Cities, Regions and Countries of the Future" competition has been running for five years. Using a process similar to that used by the decision makers who decide the location of large-scale corporate investment projects, fDi magazine has created its own short list of the locations most suited for inward investment. These cities, regions and countries have the basics in place to flourish in the next few years by attracting high levels of inward investment. The magazine creates its short list by asking locations to provide key data and qualitative information in much the same way an investor might approach locations during the screening process used to decide which locations are suitable for new capital investment projects. fDi’s Locations of the Future competition covers each region once every two years.

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Regarding our PerfectCity Charter it is time for a new issue. Therefore, a new poll is online focussing on social services. Please vote for the most important facets and aspects of this issue shaping the city of the future. We are interested in the following question: Which factors define the social services for you the most? What do you think is most important about social services in the City of The Future?

You can cast your votes in the sidebar by distributing 100 points between the following factors which are listed in a random order:

• Health care
• Education
• Security service
• Road and building maintenance
• Refuse management
• Gardening and landscaping
• Social security

This poll will be online until the end of August. Please take a few seconds to cast your votes. If you have any questions concerning these factors, please do not hesitate to ask in the comments.

We look forward to your votes!

Today it is popular to create city ranking corning very different aspects. We appreciate the interest into this topic very much. Now, Monocle magazine will publish the 2008 edition of the 20 Most Livable Cities index in their July/August issue. Monocle’s unique ranking goes beyond the usual metrics that only look at housing costs and schools to include the possibility of getting a good glass of wine at one in the morning, the quality of new architecture, the ease of setting up a business and even the number of cinema screens. They write “Months of good-natured, frequently late-night and jetlagged debate have produced Monocle’s definitive (and just a little subjective) guide to the world’s most liveable cities. Correspondents were dispatched worldwide to assess the cities. The entire issue is devoted to the concerns, forces, people and policies that make our cities work.”

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C40 Cities (originally C20 Cities), also known as the Large Cities Climate Leadership Group, is a group of cities committed to the reduction of urban carbon emissions and adapting to climate change. The group believes it has an important rule to play as cities contain around 50% of the world’s population, consume three quarters of the world’s energy, and produce 80% per cent of its greenhouse gas emissions.

In October 2005, representatives of 18 leading world cities met in London to discuss joining forces to tackle global warming and climate change. The representatives saw the need for action and cooperation on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and pledged to work together towards achieving that goal. At the end of the conference, a communiqué was signed which recognised the need for cities to take action and to cooperate on reducing climate emissions. The cities also promised a number of action points, including most notably the creation of procurement policies and alliances to accelerate the uptake of climate-friendly technologies and influence the market place.

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According to the MasterCard Worldwide Centers of Commerce Index™, an annual research initiative designed to evaluate and rank how major cities compare in performing critical functions that connect markets and commerce around the world, London remains the global economy’s most influential city. The future, however, appears to belong to Asia and Eastern Europe, whose cities represent the fastest rising regions within the Index.

In overall rank, Shanghai had the largest jump – moving eight spots from 2007 to 2008 - bringing it into the top 25 of this year’s Index and demonstrating the growing importance of Asian cities to a progressively urbanized global economy. Moscow, a gateway for the fast-growing Eastern European region, showed the greatest improvement in actual Index score and had the most significant gain on London year-over-year. Further confirming the importance of Asia and Europe in the global economy, this year’s study also marks the displacement of Los Angeles from the top 10, making New York and Chicago the sole North American cities in the top grouping. The decline of Los Angeles in rank is due, in part, to factors around its role in the global financial services network, as well as the rise of European cities in the area of knowledge creation.

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Arup, a professional services firm providing engineering, design, planning, project management and consulting services for all aspects of the built environment, and Shanghai Industrial Investment Corporate, as a client, have planned the world’s first purpose-built eco-city. Dongtan, located on the island of Chongming, near Shanghai, China, is designed not only to be environmentally sustainable, but also socially, economically and culturally sustainable.

Its goal is to be as close to carbon neutral as possible, with city vehicles that produce no carbon or particulate emissions and highly efficient water and energy systems. Dongtan will generate all of its energy needs from renewable sources including bio-fuels, wind farms and photovoltaic panels. A majority of Dongtan’s waste will be reused as biofuel for additional energy production and organic waste will be composted. Even human sewage will be composted and processed for energy and composting, greatly reducing or entirely eliminating landfill waste sites.

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When it comes to our PerfectCity Charter we would like to look into a new issue. This time the aim is to find out which factors are most important when it come to social services. The term “social services” has a wide ranging meaning. We want to focus on the general services provided by a city council to its citizens. Thus, social services are defined as benefits such as education, security or health care and the facilities providing and supporting them.

To see what is important for a city of the future in terms of the social services we composed a list of different factors. Please help us to evaluate these factors before we put them in the new poll and let our reader vote for them.

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