NPR's Series On Urban Life In The 21st Century

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A flooded street in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. In the summer of 2008, the city ordered evacuations as Cedar River rose.

Scott Olson/Getty Images

The Two-Way

MAP: FEMA Is Buying Out Flood-Prone Homes, But Not Where You Might Expect

An NPR analysis of more than 7,000 buyouts shows most states receiving federal money are not on the coasts.

The broadcast tower at Alexanderplatz looms over the city center. A crossing point of tourists, commuters, shoppers, lovers, artists and bums, Alexanderplatz was rebuilt by the communist authorities of former East Germany in the 1960s. Today, it's a popular gathering place in the reunified city.

Sean Gallup/Getty Images

In Berlin, Remaking The City Can Rekindle Old Frictions

Listen 6:44

Ghosts Of The Past Still Echo In Beirut's Fragmented Neighborhoods

Listen 7:32

Berlin Wears The Scars Of Its Past All Over

October 9, 2014 • Peter Schneider, author of the new book, "Berlin Now," tells Robert Siegel it will take another generation to unify in spirit what was divided by east and west for so long.

Listen 7:28

Artists' renderings of New Meadowland show how the wetland would be designed for human recreational use as well as flood control. The berm shown would be a path through the park when water was low (left). When storms came in, the wetlands would flood, and the berm would protect local development.

Courtesy of New Meadowlands

N.J. Braces For Future Disasters By Fleeing, And Fortifying, The Coast

September 26, 2014 • Federal funds are supporting two different disaster-prevention approaches — coastal retreat, or people leaving flood zones, and coastal defense, or building infrastructure to protect at-risk areas.

Listen 5:46

After Hurricane Sandy, N.J. Cities Rethink Proximity To The Water

September 26, 2014 • Melissa Block talks to Monique Coleman of Woodbridge, N.J., about why her family is leaving their home. After three huge floods in three consecutive years, they've taken a buyout from the state.

Listen 3:44

A view of Seattle from the Bullitt Center.

Brad Kahn/Flickr

13.7: Cosmos And Culture

Is Civilization Natural?

September 26, 2014 • Commentator Adam Frank says if we're building cities that affect the entire planet, maybe it's time to start thinking about how nature and cities can evolve together.

Listen 5:20

This tree ate a No Parking sign at Fellsmere Pond in Malden, Mass.

Courtesy of katedoo/Instagram

When Nature Fights Back

September 23, 2014 • The Cities Project is back with stories about nature reclaiming space in our urban environments. We asked you to submit photos of it happening in your communities.

New York state is buying homes like this one in Staten Island's Fox Beach neighborhood as part of a Hurricane Sandy recovery project in the hopes that demolishing them will help nature return and provide a barrier to future storm surges.

Matthew Schuerman/WNYC

Some On Staten Island Opt For Buyout Of 'Houses That Don't Belong' WNYC

September 19, 2014 • As part of the ongoing recovery from Hurricane Sandy, New York's plan is to buy and demolish hundreds of homes on Staten and Long islands and let nature return as a barrier to future storm surges.

Listen 4:42

Some neighborhoods in this "Mayberry by the Sea" could be underwater within a few decades, according to some projections.

Jon Hamilton/NPR

A Coastal Paradise Confronts Its Watery Future

September 18, 2014 • With rising seas, cities like Satellite Beach, Fla., are debating options: defend the shoreline to avoid destruction, or retreat, withdrawing homes and businesses from the water's edge.

Listen 7:59

Andrew Bannecker

Critics' Lists: Summer 2013

City Slickers: 5 Books About The Urban Experience

July 30, 2013 • Millions of people worldwide are leaving rural areas for urban ones. NPR Cities Project editor Franklyn Cater highlights five books that examine and celebrate 21st century life in the metropolis.

The Mathare Valley, shown here in an aerial map, is one of the largest and oldest slums in Nairobi, Kenya. Residents are using hand-held GPS devices to map the area, which comprises 13 villages and is home to nearly 200,000 people.

Courtesy of Muungano Support Trust and Jason Corburn, UC Berkeley

Parallels

In Kenya, Using Tech To Put An 'Invisible' Slum On The Map

July 17, 2013 • A billion people worldwide live in slums, largely invisible to city services and governments — but not to satellites. A global movement is putting mapping technology in the hands of slum dwellers to persuade governments and the residents themselves to see these shadow cities in a whole new light. NPR's Gregory Warner visits one slum in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.

Listen 7:33

Use #nprcities to join a Twitter conversation about smart cities and urban innovation.

NPR

Join The Twitter Roundtable: What Makes A City 'Smart'?

July 11, 2013 • Can technology help cities become more efficient and sustainable? Or does the drive toward a new kind of "technopolis" raise concerns about privacy, equity and cost? Please join the NPR Cities Project for a Twitter conversation about technology and urban innovation.

Cable cars move commuters over a complex of shantytowns in Rio de Janeiro, one of many cities taking part in the smart city boom around the world.

Felipe Dana/AP

All Tech Considered

Tech-Savvy Cities May Be 'Smart,' But Are They Wise?

July 11, 2013 • Around the world, cities like Rio de Janeiro are using new technologies to solve their problems. And while there's great promise in many of these "smart" city programs, urban planner Anthony Townsend is wary of putting so much power in the hands of tech companies.

Listen 4:44

Little By Little, 911 Centers Receive Emergency Texts

July 1, 2013 • In some parts of the country, you can text 911 if you have an emergency. But that technology is taking a long time to roll out. It's among the difficulties of adapting old systems to new technologies. Renee Montagne talks with Trey Forgety of the National Emergency Numbering Association about the challenges and opportunities for texting to 911.

Listen 4:36

Miami Public Service Aide Tatayana Harris enters information into her laptop after clearing an accident in Miami's Little Havana community. Harris has been a Miami Police PSA for five years and hopes to become a police officer.

Marsha Halper for NPR

Police Take Different Approaches To 'The Tyranny Of 911'

June 28, 2013 • Most people know to phone 911 in an emergency, but police departments are often overwhelmed by the sheer volume of calls. Some cities use 311 lines to help divert non-emergency requests, while Miami dispatches a group of unarmed public servants to tackle many non-urgent situations.

Listen 10:33

Pullman Rail Journeys is bringing restored, historic luxury Pullman train cars back in service between Chicago and New Orleans.

Courtesy of Louisa Chu/WBEZ

City Life Snapshot: Pullman Rail Car

June 28, 2013 • In this City Life Snapshot from Chicago, we board a Pullman Rail Car that regularly makes the trip to New Orleans and back. Head Steward Rick Hansen gives us a tour.

Listen 2:05

Micaela Torres and 2-year-old Jakai Johnson swing underneath a surveillance camera at Miwok Park in Elk Grove, Calif. The city's police department collects more than 100 video feeds from across the city.

Steve Henn/NPR

All Tech Considered

In More Cities, A Camera On Every Corner, Park And Sidewalk

June 20, 2013 • A growing number of cities are using surveillance cameras in the hope of fighting crime, but all that video is almost useless without powerful search tools to sort the material. The municipal camera trend is proving to be big business for companies that design video analytics software.

Listen 5:19

City Life Snapshot: Dayton's 5th Street Brew Pub Co-Op

June 12, 2013 • In this City Life Snapshot from Dayton, Ohio, we meet Brian Young and Maureen Barry in a story of urban re-invention.

Listen 2:07

Residents of the Estonian capital of Tallinn can use public transportation for free after purchasing a special card for 2 euros.

Raigo Pajula/AFP/Getty Images

Parallels

Tallinn: The Former Soviet City That Gave Birth To Skype

June 12, 2013 • The Estonian capital is dotted with medieval towers and Soviet architecture that belie its status as one of the world's most technologically advanced cities. Residents use a smart card to ride the bus, and mail packages and pay for parking with their phones.

Listen 6:53

The Spanish city of Santander is using a network of sensors to help improve services and save money. Incidents reported to Santander's command-and-control center, where the city manages data from sensors and smartphone reports made by citizens, are plotted on a map of the city.

Courtesy of the University of Cantabria

Parallels

High-Tech Sensors Help Old Port City Leap Into Smart Future

June 4, 2013 • On Spain's Atlantic coast, the city of Santander has installed 12,000 sensors that measure everything from when streetlights need to be dimmed to when trash dumpsters are full — saving millions for cash-strapped public coffers. It's becoming a model for cities worldwide.

Listen 5:27

Rio's Operations Center brings together more than 30 agencies and allows them to coordinate on daily issues such as traffic, as well as on emergencies such as the frequent flash floods in hillside slums.

Raphael Lima/Courtesy of the Operations Center, City of Rio De Janeiro

Parallels

Rio Goes High-Tech, With An Eye Toward Olympics, World Cup

May 31, 2013 • New technology is changing the way cities are run, with cutting-edge urban innovations around the globe. Sprawling, chaotic Rio de Janeiro has built a state-of-the-art operations center as it gears up for two major events.

Listen 6:34

Information, like light, flows through cities in interesting, often beautiful, patterns.

Valery Hache/AFP/Getty Images

13.7: Cosmos And Culture

What Big Data Means For Big Cities

May 30, 2013 • Big Data promises a future where our Big Cities become more flexible and responsive to human needs, argues commentator Adam Frank. While danger may lurk in the data sets, the fact is that we may need to mine Big Data for solutions to our everyday problems.

Listen 5:56

Sound Of Your City: Construction, Food Truck, Parks

October 9, 2012 • Over the past few months the NPR Cities Project has asked for pictures and sound from the "Heart of your City." Featured in the final edition are sounds of construction, a food truck, parks and more.

Listen 2:53

13.7: Cosmos And Culture

The City As Infestation

October 9, 2012 • The vast web of geometries traced out in light shows you cities as a kind of infestation. They're like living networks spreading across the planet.

Listen 4:56

Bernard Goutier, 25, has served time in prison twice. He's now learning construction skills with Emerge Connecticut, which offers paid on-the-job training, literacy classes and support groups to ex-offenders.

Uma Ramiah for NPR

'Million-Dollar Blocks' Map Incarceration's Costs WNPR

October 2, 2012 • Many cities spend millions on prisons annually, and often those moving in and out of jail come from the same neighborhoods. The Justice Mapping Center maps those costs, block by block, to help policymakers visualize where those public dollars are going — and determine if they could be better spent.

Listen 13:00

Families in a predominantly Latino youth soccer league gather for matches in Aurora. Hispanics make up nearly a third of the city's population, according to the 2010 Census.

Megan Verlee for NPR

Aurora, Colo., Tries To Capitalize On Its Ethnic Riches CPR

September 27, 2012 • The city is surprisingly diverse, with more than 90 languages spoken in its public schools. Local officials and residents are working to turn that diversity into an economic advantage — but creating a sense of community among such diverse groups is no small challenge.

Listen 12:31

Senegalese vendor Cheikh Fall prepares his stall in front of Brooks Brothers on 51st Street, just off the Avenue of the Americas in New York City. Fall runs an association of Senegalese vendors that deals with the city over licensing and regulations.

Art Silverman/NPR

With Hats And Umbrellas, Senegalese Fill A City Niche

September 18, 2012 • In many cities around the world, certain ethnic groups are often associated with particular occupations. Cheikh Fall, like many other Senegalese immigrants in New York, makes his living as a street vendor. He lives by the motto, "Work like you're never gonna die, and worship like you will die tomorrow."

Listen 9:15

Part of the wall that was built in 1940 has since been painted over with a mural.

Detroit1701.org/Collection maintained at the Univ. of Michigan by Ren Farley and Judy Mullin

Racial, Regional Divide Still Haunt Detroit's Progress

September 11, 2012 • In Detroit, the predominantly black city and predominantly white suburbs have feuded for decades over finances and control of assets. A recent suburban vote to help a city institution offers hope for better cooperation. But old tensions are still roiling over a proposal to put a beloved city park under state oversight.

Listen 7:33

City Life Snapshot: Music In Austin, Texas

September 11, 2012 • In Austin, Texas, Baldomero Frank Alvarez Cuellar of Rancho Alegre Radio, is working to bring Conjunto music back to the life of the city. He held a three-day Conjunto festival at the Moose Lodge. Conjunto has roots in German Polka as well as Mexican folk music. This City Life Snapshot comes from the <a href="http://austinmusicmap.com/">Austin Music Map</a> project at member station KUT in Austin. It's part of the <a href="http://airmediaworks.org/localore">Localore</a> project, a nationwide effort from the <a href="http://www.airmedia.org/">Association of Independents in Radio</a>.

Listen 2:54

An illustration for a park proposed for Washington's old 11th Street Bridge. If realized, the park would span the Anacostia River, linking the Capitol Hill neighborhood with lower-income Anacostia.

Ed Estes/Courtesy of D.C. Office of Planning

Bridging The Gap Between Two Neighborhoods

September 4, 2012 • In the nation's capital, park planners have drawn up an ambitious plan to transform an old bridge into an active recreation space. If realized, the park would offer a physical and symbolic link between two very different communities.

Listen 7:51

'Pocket Parks' Start Popping Up Over All Over L.A.

September 4, 2012 • Pocket Parks are little green spaces embedded in an otherwise built-up neighborhood. Urban theorists say it's beneficial to have small spaces like these that are less than 20,000 square feet and can serve people within a tenth of a mile of the park. Los Angeles has plans for 50 new parks like this and they're bulldozing foreclosed homes to make way for some of them. In this City Life Snapshot — we get a before and after picture of a new park on 49th Street in South L.A.

Listen 3:05

Two overlapping speech bubles with birds interacting.

iStockphoto.com

A Twitter Conversation: #NPRCities Roundtable 2

August 28, 2012 • As Hurricane Isaac bears down on New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, some urban thinkers joined us on Twitter to explore what cities can do to prepare for disasters.

The skyline of the northern Brickell neighborhood in downtown Miami. Its residential population has more than doubled in the past decade.

Marc Averette/Wikimedia Commons

Parks Vie For Space In Miami's Forest Of Condos WLRN

August 28, 2012 • Miami may bring to mind images of the sea and palm trees, but according to park advocates, it also suffers from a lack of green space. That can make it difficult for downtown residents to find places to enjoy the outdoors. Advocates are trying to remedy that — in the face of ongoing downtown development.

Listen 8:55

Some scientists predict that by 2050, climate change and an accompanying rise in sea level will lead to frequent flooding in Boston.

jeffgun/Flickr

Boston Plans For 'Near-Term Risk' Of Rising Tides WBUR

August 21, 2012 • In Boston, scientists are predicting that climate change will lead to dramatic sea level rise, and more frequent flooding, around the city. Officials are studying the potential impact on roads and sewers and are asking waterfront developers to plan for increased flooding.

Listen 7:11

Adam Frank stands atop of the Wilder Building in Rochester, N.Y.

Carlet Cleare /WXXI

13.7: Cosmos And Culture

The City As Engine: Energy, Entropy And The Triumph Of Disorder

August 21, 2012 • The second law of thermodynamics is a kind of warning to cities and civilization. No matter how clever we are, disorder, waste and pollution will always follow from our work organizing societies into cities.

Listen 4:59

A Metro Light Rail train rolls by the Devine Legacy apartment building along Central Avenue in Phoenix. The energy-efficient complex includes 65 "urban style" apartments.

Courtesy of Mica Thomas Mulloy

Scorching Phoenix Plans For An Even Hotter Future KJZZ-FM

August 14, 2012 • The Arizona city already logs more days over 100 degrees than any U.S. city, and climate researchers predict Phoenix will grow hotter still in the coming decades. Planners are taking the projections seriously, and are looking for ways to adapt the city and its residents to a hotter, drier reality.

Listen 7:15

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Monday, November 24, 2014

npr Cities Project

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