Cities are in the thick of the current pandemic – but also places where millions want to live, work and visit. We’re skipping ahead, with optimism, that we’ll see better times, with ideas for innovations in cities on several continents.

Santa Justa Lift, Lisbon. Courtesy of Wikipedia

• The design-it-yourself kit from Thomas Jefferson University to create parks among the 40,000+ vacant lots in Philadelphia.
• Lisbon is named the European Green Capital for 2020 for its sustainability efforts during hard times.

Amsterdam cityscape (Roberta Faul-Zeitler CC:3.0)

• Amsterdam’s stunning architecture is a legacy of slavery a continent away in Suriname. Are the Dutch ready to apologize?

A Calder stabile on temporary view at the Rijksmuseum 2014 (Roberta Faul-Zeitler CC:3.0)

• Baltimore will be getting a Matisse Center; Philadelphia, an Alexander Calder “sanctuary”; and the Chicago suburbs a Frank Lloyd Wright Visitor Center.
• Meanwhile the Pompidou will curate exhibitions in Shanghai—the largest ever cultural exchange between France and China.

A file picture taken on March 14, 2014 shows a partial view of the theater at the ancient oasis city of Palmyra. Islamic State group fighters advanced to the gates of the city on May 14, 2015, raising fears the Syrian world heritage site would face destruction. It did!  NYTCREDIT: Joseph Eid/Agence France-Presse, Getty Images

• Ancient cities of Mosul, Aleppo, Leptis Magna, and Palmyra have all been martyred by war. Cutting edge technology recreates missing landmarks and vistas in a virtual journey you won’t want to miss

Rotating skyscraper Dubai by the Dynamic Group

• Dubai gets a rotating skyscraper, a TWA terminal at JFK Airport is transformed into a hotel.
• Will post-pandemic urban centers lose their populations to quieter places ?

Come back to learn more about the today and tomorrow of world cities.