An App for Ejecting the Homeless
Amazon’s hometown has one of the nation’s worst homelessness problems. But instead of using its technology and its wealth to fix it, the city is making the problem worse.
Metropolis Now
METROPOLIS NOW
Technology is transforming city life, for better and worse
Who Gets to Live in Silicon Valley?
Google and San Jose hope to make the city more affordable for working- and middle-class families, but they make matters worse.
Brexit Could Cripple Britain’s Ports
Technology has streamlined Dover, the busiest port in the United Kingdom. But nothing has prepared it for the Brexit transition.
Shops Aren’t for Shopping Anymore
Retail stores used to be places to buy things. Smartphones changed that, and retailers are struggling to invent new reasons, and methods, for shopping.
The Cities That Never Existed
What if the urban visions of famous architects and planners had actually been built?
The Unbearable Awkwardness of Automation
The machine age is changing the nature of work. In the process, it is also transforming buildings, and making them less hospitable for human use.
Apple's Airpods Are an Omen
The company’s slick, wireless earbuds work great, but they foreshadow startling changes to the social fabric.
‘Cargo-Bike Moms’ Are Gentrifying the Netherlands
In Rotterdam, the bakfiets utility bike has become a symbol—and a tool—of urban displacement.
Drone Cops Take Flight in Los Angeles
The L.A. County Sheriff has deployed a quadcopter drone for rescue and reconnaissance. But will the public accept that these aerial officers come in peace?
A Defense of the Suburbs
An architect immerses himself in residential production housing to learn why people like it—and what it can teach Americans about the future of urban design.