Antes de verano ya publiqué un post sobre la sorprendente cantidad de artículos de opinión que los medios convencionales de prensa escrita en Estado Unidos están dedicando al fenómeno urbano. En algunos casos, periódicos de diferentes capitales estatales y, también en algunos casos, en diariso de tirada nacional. Mi impresión es que el debate sobre el cambio climático y los precios del petróleo ha puesto de relevancia la dimensión urbana en una nueva forma de comprender la necesidad de cambiar de modelo energético empezando por el diseño de las ciudades y todas sus derivadas (construcción, movilidad, etc.). Y es destacable también, como recogen algunos artículos de actualidad, la presencia relevante de la agenda urbana en el programa electoral de Barack Obama, auqnue sea simplemente porque el candidato republicano John McCain no hace mención alguna a las ciudades en un discursos centrado, como nos podemos imaginar, en los temas de seguridad nacional y exterior.

Ofrezco aquí una selección de los artículos de mayor interés que se han publicado en las últimas semanas:

The New York Times. What is the future of suburbia? A freaknomics quorum.
Sin duda, una interesante recopilación y revisión de las posiciones de los analistas urbanos en los últimos meses. Altamente recomendable.

USA Today. Like suburbs, large cities are rethinking growth patterns.
Outlying suburbs aren't the only places rethinking growth and development patterns amid mushrooming costs of gasoline and other energy sources. Building on a movement in the 1990s that invigorated many downtowns, urban centers and adjoining communities are forging ahead with redevelopment projects to attract residents.

The Wall Street Journal. Obama promotes plan por urban development
Barack Obama's campaign plans to relaunch his "urban agenda" Monday in what people close to the strategy say is an effort to assure urban leaders and voters of the Democratic nominee's commitment to cities and minorities without alienating skeptical white voters. The plan features an increase in the minimum hourly wage, a new White House office focused on metropolitan areas and $60 billion to establish a national bank to finance public-works projects.

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Chicago Tribune. Who calls the shots in your backyard? Not you
In an unprecedented investigation, the Tribune analyzed a decade of zoning changes to detail how real estate interests have funneled millions of dollars to the aldermen who dictate what can be built. The series has examined how aldermen ignore city planners and frustrated residents as they frequently permit new and bigger buildings that leave neighbors in their shadows.

Florida Trend. Tale of two neighborhoods
Two Florida communities -unlike demographicalluy and geographically- followed similar paths as they declined, then rose again over the past 50 years. Today, they face the same challenges going forward.

Forbes Magazine. America´s fastest-dying cities
The turmoil of the mortgage market granted a temporary reprieve from hearing about the woes of America's Rust Belt. That doesn't mean things are better. Despite a decade of national prosperity, the former manufacturing backbone of the U.S. is in rougher shape than ever, still searching for some way to replace its long-stilled smokestacks.

Toronto Star. City needs to put its foot down
Architecture is important, but planning is crucial. Though Toronto's known for second-rate design, our real problem is poor planning. Throughout the city there are examples, painful examples, of the lack of intelligent planning. The result is not just visual chaos, but a clear feeling that nothing adds up, that nothing makes sense, that the city consists of a growing number of disjointed projects.