The Morning Briefing: Urban living
"The Morning Briefing" is SmartPlanet's daily roundup of must-reads from the web. This morning we're reading about urban living.
1.) Urban voters seek more campaign talk of gun crime. Residents of inner-city neighborhoods plagued by gun violence say they feel neglected and ignored even in a presidential election year marked by highly publicized shootings at a Colorado movie theater, a Sikh temple in Wisconsin and outside the Empire State Building — a year in which Republicans have launched a full-throated defense of gun ownership while Democrats have largely kept quiet about an issue they used to put front and center. 
2.) Urban real estate may not be such a safe haven. Urban real estate may prove a deceptive safe haven. Investors seeking refuge from economic turmoil in the euro zone and mainland China are snapping up prime houses and apartments in the likes of London and Hong Kong. That risks crowding out locals. If the onslaught continues, cities may start to raise defences.
3.) As temps rise, cities combat 'Heat Island' effect. More than 20,000 high-temperature records have been broken so far this year in the United States. And the heat is especially bad in cities, which are heating up about twice as fast as the rest of the planet.
4.) An urban farm helps immigrants from East Africa settle in Seattle. Daily chores at the Rainier Beach Urban Farm and Wetlands Preserve, and the skills and decision-making required to keep the enterprise going, are aimed at teaching professional and leadership skills to recent arrivals to the U.S.
5.) Bahrain backs urban projects. Bahrain's strong interest and support to international efforts dealing with the issue of urban development and its keenness to take advantage of global experiences and expertise in this important area is evident from the large official team talking part in a key forum on urban habitat.
Image credit: Flickr
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- Snoozebox: the transportable, temporary hotel
- Top 10 cities to launch a start-up in the U.S.
- Are single-family homes losing their appeal?
This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com