Tag: development

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Society

Condo Development Threatens Historic Malaysian Village

Kampung Chetti, a World Heritage Site in danger
Kampung Chetti, a World Heritage Site in danger malaysiakini screenchot/Worldcrunch

KAMPUNG CHETTI — The Malaysian states of Penang and Malacca are home to UNESCO World Heritage Sites, but now a 600-year-old village in Malacca is under threat from a high-rise development and highway project. About 300 people live here in Kampung Chetti, the heart of the Chettis community whose heritage can be traced back to South India. Their ancestors came here 600 years ago as traders, and since then they have intermarried with the locals and have created a strong bond with the other Malaysian races, says resident SK Pillay. “We can mix very well with the Chinese, we can […]

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Smarter Cities Society

Where Poetry Meets City Planning: The French Art Of Urban Renewal

YA+K's "Trans 305" construction site
YA+K's "Trans 305" construction site Official website

IVRY-SUR-SEINE — The Plateau special planning district in this small town south of Paris could almost be mistaken for a regular construction site. Since 2007 the multidisciplinary artist Stefan Shankland has guided the construction of some 1,000 apartments according to an “action research” program launched by the city government and developed over the course of […]

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Smarter Cities

11 Smart Cities Around The World

11 Smart Cities Around The World

There is a long and healthy tradition of “sister cities,” where municipal leaders from different countries build ongoing relationships and exchange ideas. The same spirit drives this Smarter Cities series, the second installment of our Worldcrunch Impact solutions journalism initiative. For experts in the field, a “smart city” may refer to those using the latest […]

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Ideas Society

Rise Of A “Divergent” Middle Class As The Agent Of Change In Latin America

Buenos Aires' Florida Street
Buenos Aires' Florida Street Filipe Fortes

– Op-Ed – SANTIAGO — Recent findings from the World Bank and the Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo (BID) confirm that the middle class is now the majority in South America — and it will continue to grow. Without wading into the quagmire of defining “middle class,” a dicey topic with many nuances and interpretations, it […]

Categories
Future

Zuckerberg’s Next Big Thing: Internet For All

Worldcrunch MENLO PARK – Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is spearheading a new initiative to bring Internet access to “the next five billion people,” those too poor or disconnected to be able to get online. The new global partnership, Internet.org, launches Wednesday, and also includes several major mobile phone companies. Here’s an introduction video: “Everything Facebook […]

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In The News

The Only Way To End China’s Pollution Disaster Is To Slow Down The Economy

Clearly something must change
Clearly something must change Jonathan Kos-Read

Look at the numbers, both environmental and economic, and the solution is clear: slower growth.

Categories
Society

Top Italian Universities Close Doors To Students Who Don’t Speak English

LA STAMPA (Italy) Worldcrunch VENICE– You no speeka the English? Well then, signori, you will not be welcome at Italy’s prestigious Ca’ Foscari and Bocconi universities. La Stampa reports that Ca” Foscari, a 145-year-old public university in Venice, and Bocconi, the private Milan business and economics university, are requiring that all students enrolling for the […]

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Economy

How To Make Poland A Truly Modern Nation

First-rate car for second-rate roads in Warsaw, Poland
First-rate car for second-rate roads in Warsaw, Poland Kuba Bożanowski

-Essay- WARSAW – Poland has always lacked capital for important investments. The roads have always been bad, muddy, full of ruts and potholes. We have great universities, but they are woefully underfunded. In Poland there have always been “islands of modernity in a sea of backwardness,” according to economic historian Witold Kula. In this sense, […]

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Economy

Making Pizza In Africa To Break Endless Cycles Of Foreign Aid

Signs for a pizzeria, a few miles from Burkina Faso's capital, Ouagadougou
Signs for a pizzeria, a few miles from Burkina Faso's capital, Ouagadougou Jeff Attaway

Italians teach locals in Burkina Faso both the recipe for pizza, and the formula for a successful small business. Is this how foreign aid is transformed into sustainable development?

Categories
Economy

Investment Or Imperialism? Tracking China’s Big Ambitions In Cambodia

Poverty and commerce in Cambodia
Poverty and commerce in Cambodia Marion Girault-Rime

PHNOM PENH – A few years ago this scene would have played out in China. More specifically, it would have played out in a Chinese coastal region to which millions of rural folks had arrived looking for work. A huge hangar, piles of fabrics of all colors at both ends, and some 200 heads lowered […]

Categories
Society

What’s Driving China’s New Push To Move Millions Of Rural Families Into Cities

There are currently 130 million migrant workers in China
There are currently 130 million migrant workers in China Saad.Akhtar

BEIJING – The official announcement came from Zhang Ping, head of China’s top economic planning agency, the National Development and Reform Commission: the government would “speed up household registration reform” as part of its drive for urbanization of the rural population. Dubbed hukou, the household registration system dates back to the Mao era, and prevents […]

Categories
Economy

Looking Beyond: Egypt’s Big Plans For The Suez Canal

A cargo ship on the Suez Canal.
A cargo ship on the Suez Canal. jgmorard

CAIRO – As Egypt struggles to emerge from a period of deep financial uncertainty; government officials are looking towards the country’s vital shipping artery — the Suez Canal — as a major source of revenue and jobs. Officials from several government ministries have announced massive public-private partnerships aimed at developing the region. The hope, they […]

Categories
Ideas

Is Africa’s Economic Miracle Just A Mirage?

A stretch to keep growing in Ghana?
A stretch to keep growing in Ghana? Stig Nygaard

-Analysis- In the financial press, Africa is now hailed as the “go-to” continent. It seems to be at the cusp of a golden age: its growth and direct foreign investment rates recall those of China at the beginning of the 2000s; South Africa has become one of the booming BRICS (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa). The continent also […]

Categories
Economy

Report: Brazil Is Most Expensive Developing Nation For Doing Business

Report: Brazil Is Most Expensive Developing Nation For Doing Business
Lucas Lucas

SÃO PAULO – Brazil is the most expensive developing nation for doing business and has costs similar to developed countries, according to a study by consulting firm KPMG. “Competitive Alternatives” is a regular KPMG report that compares the structure of costs for companies in different countries and localities, taking into account taxes, labor, rent, cost […]

Categories
Geopolitics

India’s Rapidly Shrinking Coastline

Pondicherry
Pondicherry Melanie-m

PONDICHERRY – India’s coastline is in danger, not because of extraordinary monsoons or devastating tidal waves, but because of erosion, which day upon day, centimeter by centimeter, eats away at the coast. Every year, 75,000 hectares of cultivated earth and almost 35,000 buildings are gnawed or swallowed up by the sea. If erosion is a […]

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