City Comebacks: Case Studies of Successful Urban Transformations

Selected theme: Case Studies of Successful Urban Transformations. Explore how courageous decisions, community energy, and design excellence turned struggling places into vibrant districts. Read, reflect, and join our community to share your city’s transformation story.

Cheonggyecheon: From Elevated Highway to Living River

Demolishing the highway defied conventional wisdom and political caution. Yet the payoff was immediate: safer streets, reconnecting neighborhoods, and renewed pride. Share how your community might reclaim space from aging infrastructure for people, nature, and culture.

Cheonggyecheon: From Elevated Highway to Living River

The restored stream cools surrounding air, supports biodiversity, and hosts festivals that draw residents and visitors together. This case study shows climate adaptation and cultural vitality can reinforce each other when design prioritizes human experience.

The High Line: Community-Led Adaptive Reuse in New York

Local advocates organized, fundraised, and partnered with designers to preserve the structure and open it to all. Their persistence shows how communities can shape city assets. Where might citizen imagination reclaim obsolete infrastructure near you?

Curitiba: Transit Shapes the City

BRT as a growth framework

Dedicated lanes, off-board payment, and tube stations boosted speed and capacity. Zoning aligned housing and jobs along corridors, shortening trips. Which corridors in your city could anchor a transit-first, walkable pattern over the next generation?

Taming traffic, amplifying life

Reduced through-traffic slows speeds and cuts noise, unlocking safer crossings and cleaner air. Pocket plazas and trees invite conversation. Could your neighborhood trial a weekend superblock to test quieter, greener, more connected streets?

Neighborhood commerce and play

With calmer streets, local shops see more foot traffic while children reclaim corners for games. Social trust grows block by block. Tell us which everyday spaces near you could become micro-plazas with paint, planters, and benches.

Scaling with care and feedback

Barcelona refines designs based on resident input and maintenance realities. Pilots evolve into permanent changes when trust builds. How might your city structure pilots, surveys, and stewardship to scale street transformations responsibly?

Bilbao and Melbourne: Culture and Laneways as Catalysts

Bilbao paired environmental cleanup and transit improvements with bold architecture, welcoming global attention and local pride. The lesson: culture thrives when infrastructure and ecology improve together, not as isolated spectacle.

Bilbao and Melbourne: Culture and Laneways as Catalysts

Melbourne’s laneways turned into tapestries of cafés, murals, and music, inviting discovery at a pedestrian pace. Incremental, low-cost changes created a citywide identity. Where could fine-grained alleys near you become public stages?

Copenhagen: Designing a Cycling Nation

Copenhagen’s success rests on uninterrupted routes, clear priority at crossings, and safe junctions. Wayfinding and lighting matter as much as paint. Which gaps in your cycling network, if fixed, would convert hesitant riders into daily riders?

Copenhagen: Designing a Cycling Nation

Snow plows clear bikeways first, parents pedal with cargo bikes, and design calms turning vehicles. The message: comfort is policy. Tell us what small upgrades would make year-round riding delightful, predictable, and family-friendly where you live.