Category: Ecosystems

It’s no fun, it fell right over

12 February, 2010 (11:09) | Building Codes, China, Construction, Ecosystems, Global news, Municipal Government, Theory, Water | No comments

By: David A. Smith
 
[Editor's note: As the memory of Haiti's devastating earthquake fades, we are able to see that much of the tragedy was preventable – not the quake itself, but the toll in human lives.  And we can therefore see this cautionary tale from Shanghai as not merely comic but tragicomic. – Ed.]
 

A building [...]

The ultimate future city: Trantor

2 December, 2009 (11:57) | Asimov, Cities, Ecosystems, Housing, Science fiction, Speculation | No comments

By: David A. Smith

 

Continuing our occasional series on the Ultimate Future City:
The Caves of Steel, by Isaac Asimov, 11/07
The Naked Sun, by Isaac Asimov, 11/07
The World Inside, by Robert Silverberg, 12/07
Diaspar, The City and the Stars, by Arthur C. Clarke, 3/08
 

Displaying our technology for the universe to see
 
The half-century in which we are living, which [...]

AHI’s World Habitat Day Event: Essential Actors in Affordable Housing Delivery

28 September, 2009 (10:24) | Ecosystems, MEEs, Markets, Research, Theory, UN Habitat, World Habitat Day | No comments

By: David A. Smith
 
As part of the multi-day World Habitat Day activities, AHI, along with the National Housing Conference and the Housing Partnership Network, will be sponsoring a presentation and panel discussion on a topic that we think has great relevance, both in the Global South and back home in America.
 

Being hosted in Washington for [...]

Three key questions to give your ecosystem a physical: Part 3, follow the money

22 September, 2009 (10:02) | Ecosystems, Essential posts, Finance, Primer Posts, Theory, Titling | No comments

By: David Smith

 

[Continued from yesterday's Part 2 and the preceding Part 1.]
 
So far, in tracing the housing finance ecosystem by examining three value chain (connections by which transactions occur), we covered housing providers finding housing consumers (Part 1), and the baton pass of recognized ownership/ occupancy rights (Part 2).
 
Now for the third key question.
 

We [...]

Three key questions to give your ecosystem a physical: Part 2, follow the ownership

21 September, 2009 (10:34) | Ecosystems, Essential posts, Finance, Primer Posts, Theory, Titling | No comments

By: David A. Smith
 

[Continued from yesterday's Part 1.]
 
In yesterday’s exploration, we suggested that if you want to understand a housing finance ecosystem and lack the statistics or reference resources to compile a proper survey, you can do well by conducting a simpler ‘physical exam.’
 

Is that all I am to you, just a pretty johnny?
 
Any [...]