About
Sustainability, collaboration and creativity are at the basis of the changes currently being experienced by our society. Since 2008, Defiant Imagination has been looking at how these concepts are being applied to different areas of our daily life: urbanism, food, the economy, social media, and more.
Its author, Flavie Halais, is a Vancouver-based freelance journalist.-
Recent Posts
Categories
Archives
Category Archives: Urbanism
Charter cities: using urbanization to boost development
Economist Paul Romer has an interesting take on getting third-world countries out of poverty. His idea: to build “charter cities” operated under an independent jurisdiction, just like Hong Kong used to be. Think Canada taking over Guantánamo Bay for a while to oversee its development. Romer’s plan might be ambitious and extravagant, but it has [...]
Also posted in Business and Economics Leave a comment
From red light to green living
Pittsburgh is currently in the spotlight for hosting the G20 summit, and the changes it has undergone in the past years are finally getting some visibility. The steel city has abandoned its industrial past and embraced a diversified economy. But what drew my attention was a mention about its urban redevelopment in The Economist.
The David [...]
Posted in Urbanism Leave a comment
Backyard chickens approved in Vancouver
Vancouver just made chickens legal in the city, according to an article published in the Globe and Mail today. This will allow urban residents to keep a coop in their backyard, just like in other north American cities such as Portland, Ore. and Seattle. But this is not good news to certain experts who say [...]
Also posted in Urban agriculture Leave a comment
A visit at one of Toronto’s most innovative greenhouses
Last week I was in Toronto to do some interviews for a project I’m doing on urban agriculture, and my interviewees referred me to a new innovative project called Artscape Wychwood Barns. I had a bit of time so I decided to go check it out.
The project is located in a residential district not very [...]
Also posted in Urban agriculture Leave a comment
The future of cars as seen by Al Gore and Mitchell Joachim
The New York Times published an op-ed piece written by Al Gore yesterday, in which he proposes a five-point plan that will allow the United States to produce 100 per cent of its electricity from energy-efficient sources within 10 years:
The government should offer incentive for the construction of renewable energy plants.
A new grid should be [...]
Also posted in Environment Leave a comment
An eco-town for Afghanistan
The Afghan government wants to build an eco-town that will be home to three million people in the north of Kabul. The city, already baptized Deh Sabz, is being designed by the French firm Architecture Studio and will be financed by the Afghan government as well as independent developers. The project was born in response [...]
Prince Charles loves new urbanism
Prince Charles loves traditional towns where you can walk to the supermarket and wander around little streets. He’s spreading that idea through his Foundation for the Built Environment, which works with residents to apply the principles of new urbanism in British communities and in third-world countries. The projects also aim at developing renewable energies in [...]
Posted in Urbanism Leave a comment
Get out of Mysteria Lane and walk!
How walkable is your neighbourhood? Check it out at Walk Score. The website compiled a list of the best North American walkable neighbourhoods, by looking at their density, the proximity of its amenities and how easy it is to get from one point to the other. Why walk? Because it’s healthy and cheap. And the [...]
There is a farmer in each and everyone of us
The next big thing for urban dwellers is… gardening. We already knew about community and rooftop gardens, but recently, journalist and New York Times blogger Allison Arieff wrote about her experiment with vegetables in her own home. “It is truly growing into something that is wholly about collaboration, community and connection to food, to neighbors, [...]
Posted in Urbanism Leave a comment
Urban revitalization: when retail giants lead the way