Urban Design
186 episodes · Page 3 of 8
#4282: Beyond the Tourist Trail: Finding Cities Worth the Trip
How to find well-connected cities that aren't overrun with tourists — Bilbao, Gdańsk, Turin, and Plovdiv.
#4272: Why Are Light Switches Banished to Industrial Wastelands?
How a 1926 Supreme Court case about a "pig in the parlor" still determines where you can buy a pipe fitting.
#4263: When the Knesset Appears in Your Window
What happens when your apartment view includes the Israeli parliament every day?
#4237: How to Build Community in a Vertical Building
Why most high-rises isolate residents—and the architectural fixes that actually work.
#4165: Living in the Gap: High-Rise Satire as Social Experiment
One man weaponizes luxury marketing by treating his apartment tower as an actual sanctuary above the city.
#4126: The Hotel Three Miles Away
Why a hotel in your own neighborhood can beat a trip abroad for real recovery.
#4116: What an Earthquake Actually Feels Like
The ground doesn't open up. Here's what survivors actually describe in those first seconds.
#4103: Tall vs Short: Which Floor Survives an Earthquake?
Why your intuition about building height during a quake is probably wrong — and what Israeli seismic codes actually require.
#4082: How Heat, Noise, and Smog Make Us Angrier
Three environmental stressors that measurably increase human aggression — and what happens when they hit at once.
#4037: Finding Home in a City You Didn't Choose
How to build happiness in a city you dislike, using research on third places, cognitive mapping, and micro-mobility.
#4032: Venice's Secret: Cargo Lanes for Hand Trucks
Can cities learn from Venice's car-free logistics to create dedicated lanes for hand trucks and deliveries?
#4018: Vertical Cities: The Hidden Science of Skyscraper Neighborhoods
How architects, sociologists, and urban planners are reimagining tall buildings as livable neighborhoods in the sky.
#4017: When Your City Becomes a Construction Site
Why a 30-minute bus ride became a 2-hour maze of blocked sidewalks, and what cities can learn from it.
#4016: What's Really Inside That Jerusalem Trench
Those concrete pipes and giant cable spools? It's not what you think. Here's what's actually happening underground.
#4011: What Intermittent Jackhammer Noise Does to Your Brain
Unpredictable construction noise isn't just annoying—it triggers your threat-detection system in ways your brain can't adapt to.
#3997: Do People Actually Like Living in Jerusalem's Towers?
New data shows high-rise residents report 12% lower life satisfaction. The real story is who suffers most—and why.
#3987: When the Street Opens Up: Underground Collapse in Israeli Cities
Why do streets suddenly collapse? Aging pipes, not construction, are the real culprit.
#3981: Can a City Designed From Scratch Actually Work?
Brasília, Chandigarh, Canberra — why expert-designed cities often feel lifeless compared to organic ones like Jerusalem.
#3980: Sewers from Scratch vs. Victorian Patchwork
Do brand-new sewer systems outperform 150-year-old networks? The surprising answer has an expiration date.
#3979: Why Rain Hits Different in Cork vs Jerusalem
Why moderate rain knocks out power in Jerusalem but not Cork — and what "design return periods" reveal about infrastructure.
#3970: What Does "Bedrock" Actually Mean Under Jerusalem?
Why "hitting bedrock" means different things depending on your building's height and where in Jerusalem you're standing.
#3964: Why Your Building Won't Collapse During Nearby Construction
How engineers keep buildings safe during excavation — it's not luck, it's physics with paperwork.
#3961: The Trolley Test: How Cities Fail Accessibility
A loaded platform trolley reveals what building codes miss about accessibility. What happens when the ramp is technically compliant but functionall...
#3928: How to Park a Moving Van Without Getting Ticketed
Loading zone loopholes, permit traps, and the art of curb negotiation for urban moves.