Summary: Why do urban crime rates soar in some wealthy countries while dropping in others? This program analyzes that question using data-mapping to find telltale patterns in Japan and the United States. With the Japanese crime rate increasing in 90 percent of the nation, a data map based on locations and peak times of criminal activity sheds light on deteriorating conditions in city outskirts. Opposite...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
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Summary: In 1950, only two of the world's urban centers boasted populations of eight million or more. Today, dozens of cities contain at least that many people, with dozens more pushing to join the list. This program surveys the emergence and development of the megacity-both as an intellectual concept and as a physical phenomenon that is altering the face of the planet. The film examines present-day...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
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Summary: The fictional locale known as Eagle Bay is breathtakingly beautiful. First home to a handful of modest houses, over the decades it has transitioned into a neighborhood of stately mansions-except for one 50-acre parcel, whose owners now want to sell it for subdivision. This Fred Friendly Seminar moderated by Harvard Law School's Arthur Miller explores the complexities that arise when a family's...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Tokyo is one of the most technologically advanced cities on the planet, but Japan's low birth rate and the diversifying interests of its young people are causing Tokyo to rely increasingly on skilled immigrant labor. This program examines the implications of that change, gathering insightful commentary from a wide range of Japanese society about multiculturalism, racism, and interracial...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Are humans genetically disposed to live in large, dense groups-or are we actually unfit as a species to do so? In this program, psychologist John Marsden dissects the behavior of city dwellers, analyzing why some people are capable of living shoulder-to-shoulder with thousands or even millions of their fellow humans-while others clearly are not. Dr. Marsden inquires into the dangers of city...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: City planning that puts people before cars, sculptural museums that are as artistic as the masterpieces they contain, commercial spaces that redefine retail—these are some of the paradigm-shaking ideas of today’s architects at work. This compilation of recent NewsHour segments introduces viewers to Frank Gehry, Rem Koolhaas, Daniel Libeskind, Vincent Scully, and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk,...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
View online at AVOD
Summary: This program features data-mapping techniques that shed light on inner-city conditions in America and England. With an overview of manufacturing declines that took place during the 20th century and their effect on densely populated urban centers, the video compares and contrasts situations in Philadelphia and Birmingham, England. Studying these cities from a human angle, the program delves into...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: As the 21st century unfolds, how are Americans adapting to urgent issues involving sustainable growth, quality of life, and community planning? Segment one of this NewsHour program examines the effect of urban sprawl on Atlanta's population, job and housing markets, the environment, and commuters. Segment two addresses the need for affordable housing in Burlington, Vermont, where the disparity...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Through her groundbreaking books, Jane Jacobs has influenced the planning and understanding of cities and economies with what she calls a "web way of thinking." In this program, Jacobs shares her insights into urban planning by tracing the progression of ideas in her books, including The Death and Life of Great American Cities; The Economy of Cities; Cities and the Wealth of Nations; Systems of...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: This program defines Mexico City's globalization in terms of winners and losers, examining how, in the world's largest metropolis, immigration challenges are linked to poverty and population influx from surrounding rural areas. Contrasting the city's high-tech facilities and fashionable neighborhoods with its sprawling slums and their struggling inhabitants, the program outlines the...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: On the surface, New York and Los Angeles are quintessentially American cities, and although each is recognizable by its media image, both are little understood. This program transcends that superficial imagery through the fascinating story of how both cities responded to, and were reshaped by, the pervasive forces of economic and social change that characterized late-20th-century America. The...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: Each week, in countries around the globe, nearly a million people say goodbye to their homes in impoverished rural regions-and move to even worse conditions in cities. This program explores the tragic results: illegal slums filled with some of the poorest people in the world, lacking water, sanitation, and other resources needed to support exploding populations. Viewers are shown the lives and...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: According to the UN, more than three-quarters of the world's population will live in cities by the year 2050, and the dimensions of urban development will be staggering: towns and cities will merge to form urban complexes with populations of 20 to 30 million. This program travels through Holland, the Ruhr area, and Berlin to observe the ways technology and the wealth of ideas from architects,...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Year by year the tourist trade has dwindled in fictional Pingwah Falls, leaving the town practically bankrupt. When a plan was unveiled for a modern resort, everyone's hopes rose.until they learned the land is home to a threatened species of bird. In this Fred Friendly Seminar moderated by Harvard Law School's Arthur Miller, panelists including former county supervisor Tom Mullen; Christopher...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: Defining the typical New Yorker has always been impossible; today, the definition of a Londoner is nearly as elusive. This program travels London's increasingly cosmopolitan neighborhoods, sorting through perspectives on immigration and resistance to it. Interviews with leaders and everyday citizens reveal distrust in several quarters; Lord Nazir Ahmed and East London Muslims cite examples of...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: This program focuses on three facets of the urban ecosystem: the underground infrastructure that enables a city to function; traffic and the increasingly complex technologies required to manage it; and the trees in the city and the ongoing effort to protect city trees from the effects of urban pollution.
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: An emerging high-tech focal point, Frankfurt has the largest foreign and immigrant population in continental Europe. This program studies the effects of that diversity, for Frankfurt specifically and within the larger context of German culture as it struggles with right-wing extremism. Rosi Wolf-Almanasreh of the Frankfurt Department for Multicultural Affairs focuses on the nation's...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: High-density population centers of enormous size are springing up in China with dizzying speed, and with them comes an increased demand for migrant workers in construction, manufacturing, and mining. Through still images by Andreas Seibert and documentary footage by Villi Hermann, this program travels throughout China to vividly capture the experiences of these mingong, tens of millions on the...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2010
View online at AVOD
Summary: As land in urban environments becomes scarcer and more expensive, buildings and areas previously overlooked are being rediscovered. This program looks at some unusual inner-city spaces that have been turned into housing, including a unique loft in London; the Europa housing project in Montreal; and the Brewery Creek project in Vancouver, an industrial site converted into original living spaces....
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: To at least one resident of the fictional city of Metropolis, a new outer suburb being planned for some pristine farmland sounds like the American Dream come true. His brother, also a Metropolite but an advocate of smart growth, sees it as a nightmare. Moderated by Harvard Law School's Arthur Miller, this Fred Friendly Seminar seeks to understand the housing situation facing the U.S.-a...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: What sets researcher Hans Rosling apart isn’t just his apt observations of broad social and economic trends, but the stunning way he presents them. In this TEDTalk, Rosling uses his cool data tools to illustrate how countries are pulling themselves out of poverty. “Rosling believes that making information more accessible has the potential to change the quality of the information itself,” says...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: He has taught at Yale for over 50 years, his students are a who's who of American architecture, and he has even had an award named after him. In this program, NewsHour correspondent Ray Suarez interviews architectural historian Vincent Scully, a passionate proponent of the New Urbanism. Together they discuss the need to stop designing towns and cities around the automobile. In support of his...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Since World War II, suburbia has taken over broad sections of America, squeezing out Main Street USA in favor of cookie-cutter subdivisions, shopping centers, and business parks. Is the New Urbanism-in which the needs of people, not cars, come first-the antidote for suburban sprawl? In this program, ABC News anchor Forrest Sawyer and correspondent Michel McQueen report on the housing paradigm...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: With the rise of industry came the rise of the cities. In this program, host Dan Cruickshank scours London to examine how the mechanisms of industrialization generated urban life as people know it today. Mass production enabled a growing swathe of society to enjoy high-quality products and created a new and instantly recognizable world: the modern home. Chemistry also stoked the fires of...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006