Collections
Curated thematic groupings of our essays. Dive deep into specific urban planning topics through multiple perspectives.
Featured Collections
Under Other Suns: The Flaneur Beyond Paris
Four essays tracing the flaneur tradition beyond its Parisian origins -- into Madrid's rhetorical streets, Lisbon's vertiginous hills, the archival cities of Buenos Aires and Mexico City, and the acoustic corridors of New Orleans.
Highway Removal
How cities are tearing down urban highways to reconnect neighborhoods, restore ecological corridors, and reimagine what these corridors can become.
The Liveable City Index 2026
UrbanStories' own take on rating living quality—23 cities scored across six lived-experience criteria (shelter, human scale, civic voice, nature, mobility, conviviality), weighted for the people who live there rather than those who fly in.
The Living City Review 2026
A human-scale ranking of the world's great cities. Not the best, happiest or most powerful city—but the one where a full life is possible. Thirty-six cities scored on ten criteria of daily life, then adjusted for the shadows: housing extraction, car-dependence, inequality, climate negligence.
Water & Cities
The evolving relationship between cities and water—from flood control to drought resilience, from buried streams to daylit rivers.
All Collections
Under Other Suns: The Flaneur Beyond Paris
FeaturedFour essays tracing the flaneur tradition beyond its Parisian origins -- into Madrid's rhetorical streets, Lisbon's vertiginous hills, the archival cities of Buenos Aires and Mexico City, and the acoustic corridors of New Orleans.
Highway Removal
FeaturedHow cities are tearing down urban highways to reconnect neighborhoods, restore ecological corridors, and reimagine what these corridors can become.
The Liveable City Index 2026
FeaturedUrbanStories' own take on rating living quality—23 cities scored across six lived-experience criteria (shelter, human scale, civic voice, nature, mobility, conviviality), weighted for the people who live there rather than those who fly in.
The Living City Review 2026
FeaturedA human-scale ranking of the world's great cities. Not the best, happiest or most powerful city—but the one where a full life is possible. Thirty-six cities scored on ten criteria of daily life, then adjusted for the shadows: housing extraction, car-dependence, inequality, climate negligence.
Building the Right Height
Exploring the sweet spot of urban density—mid-rise buildings, gentle intensification, and housing forms that balance livability with sustainability.
Water & Cities
FeaturedThe evolving relationship between cities and water—from flood control to drought resilience, from buried streams to daylit rivers.
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