news

Knowledge about building with bricks did not travel directly from Italy to Denmark. That is the surprising conclusion of a team of researchers who analyzed bricks from medieval churches in Italy and Denmark. For more than a century, building archaeologists have believed that the art of brick building in Denmark was imported directly from Lombardy in northern Italy in the mid-12th century.

Since 2017, the Centre de Recherche en Archéologie et Patrimoine (CReA-Patrimoine) has been exploring Brussels' Grand-Place and its surroundings. The aim: to understand how this central location of the city was built and transformed between the second Middle Ages and the end of the modern era. Here's a look back at these unusual excavations in one of the world's most beautiful squares.

High temperatures and more frequent heatwaves are causing many people to doubt whether high-density urban planning is still sustainable.

Local authorities must do more to prepare communities in British Columbia for the dangers of extreme heat, according to a new research paper from Simon Fraser University. Four years after the infamous 2021 heat dome, which killed more than 600 people in B.C. alone, the ground-breaking study found significant differences in how municipalities within the Metro Vancouver and Fraser Valley regional districts are preparing for heat events.

In both ancient Roman and modern cities, population size and the wealth of the elites are related The more people live in a city, the greater the wealth of the urban elite and the greater the social inequality. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Geoanthropology have identified this correlation in both ancient Roman and modern cities, suggesting that such disparities are inherent to urban environments, regardless of historical period or culture.

To achieve net zero, we need to reduce our CO2 emissions quickly and efficiently. An EU project involving Empa has selected Zurich as one of three pilot cities in Europe to accurately measure and model their carbon dioxide emissions. The findings will help cities to achieve their climate targets. Cities are the largest source of greenhouse gases in the world.

Plants and water can mitigate heat in cities. Using Zurich as a case study, researchers tested a climate model which indicates how large the effect of green and blue spaces is. The model supports urban planning and shows where improvements would be particularly effective. As a result of climate change, heatwaves are becoming more frequent - with particularly harmful effects on human health, livelihoods and infrastructure in cities.

University of Waterloo researchers have developed an innovative double-skin building façade that contains microalgae and uses machine learning to generate energy. Operating a building is often costly given the price of heating and energy usage, accounting for 37 per cent of global CO2 emissions.

A new study has found that architects often take shortcuts by copying previous designs, and by relying too much on others to handle complex tasks without double-checking. The recent Grenfell Tower Inquiry found that a similar approach was taken at the London tower block which tragically caught fire in 2017, resulting in 70 deaths.

Thousands of students across Scotland are at risk of homelessness and unable to access the right housing in the country's biggest cities, according to a new report co-authored by the University of Glasgow. The report for the Cross Party Group on Housing says there is a severe student housing crisis in cities including Edinburgh, Glasgow and Dundee and calls on the Scottish Government to take immediate action to tackle the issue.

This megalithic construction, located in Antequera and built 6000 years ago, shows signs of advanced techniques that suggest the great precocity of the technical and scientific developments existing i

A temporary, pandemic-era expansion of the Child Tax Credit improved housing affordability for families with low incomes, according to University of Michigan research. The study by Natasha Pilkauskas and Katherine Michelmore , associate professors of public policy, and Nicole Kovski, a former U-M postdoctoral fellow now at the University of Wisconsin, found that parents who got the monthly credit were less likely to owe past-due rent or mortgage payments and they were less likely to need to move because they couldn't afford their housing.

Research shows far-reaching costs of eviction filings to tenants-regardless of the outcome in court Study: Record Costs: Collateral Consequences of Eviction Court Filings in Pennsylvania A new study from the University of Michigan documents the far-reaching costs of eviction filings for Pennsylvania tenants who had eviction cases filed against them but experienced a "best-case scenario- in court, meaning they had legal representation and their cases were dismissed, withdrawn, or won.

Heat stress and air pollution ravages cities more and more. In a new Horizon Europe project, researchers will develop a digital twin that supports decision makers to design resilient urban areas that can cope with the changing climate. Researchers from TU Delft and 18 other partners receive the Horizon Europe grant for their project called UrbanAIR.

Painting roofs white or covering them with a reflective coating would be more effective at cooling cities like London than vegetation-covered "green roofs," street-level vegetation or solar panels, finds a new study led by UCL researchers. Conversely, extensive use of air conditioning would warm the outside environment by as much as 1 degree C in London's dense city centre, the researchers found.

A team from the Global Change Unit-IPL of the University of Valencia has just published the first high-resolution local climate zone (LCZ) map of Valencia in the International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation, based on satellite data. The study aims to analyse the effects of the 'heat island' and 'heat wave' phenomena in major Mediterranean cities and to provide mitigation measures to improve the environment and public health.

New study from Waterloo researchers creating climate change-proof buildings with deep learning-powered inspections    University of Waterloo researchers have developed a new method that can lead to significant energy savings in buildings. The team identified 28 major heat loss regions in a multi-unit residential building with the most severe ones being at wall intersections and around windows.

The UdeM Chair in Landscape and Environment publishes a practical guide to landscape planning, the result of an action-research project conducted with the City of Saint-Constant and the Roussillon RCM. The Chaire en paysage et environnement de l'Université de Montréal (CPEUM) announces the publication of a brand new guide for elected officials and municipal professionals, as well as anyone interested in the future of landscapes and the quality of living environments.

Swiss cities are more likely to accept densification when densification projects provide affordable housing and green spaces compared to densification that is implemented through reduced regulations for housing construction. By prioritizing a socio-ecological densification, extensive planning procedures and delays might be minimized.

In order to recycle construction materials, keep them close to home, a new study of Amsterdam suggests. Building construction accounts for a huge chunk of greenhouse gas emissions: About 36 percent of carbon dioxide emissions and 40 percent of energy consumption in Europe, for instance. That's why the European Union has developed regulations about the reuse of building materials.