Barcelona by Marrovi licensed under Creative Commons.

Barcelona is using superblocks to reclaim streets from cars. The underrated, low-cost way to cut both commute times and carbon emissions. The clearest route to modern homeownership is not a good job — it’s inherited wealth.

Barcelona’s 10-year plan for superblocks: The city of Barcelona in Spain has released an ambitious 10 year plan to reclaim streets from cars through the creation of more space for people in car-unfriendly superblocks. One in three streets in the Eixample District will become green zones and 21 intersections will become public squares. The plan is an attempt to reduce pollution in the city and give priority to pedestrians and cyclists. (Stephen Burgen | The Guardian)

The case for more bus lanes: Over the last three decades, bus ridership has declined as travel times have slowed. While a single general purpose lane can carry 1,600 people per hour, buses in dedicated lanes can transport up to 8,000, making them a low-tech, low-cost solution that can reduce both commute times and carbon emissions. (Henry Hintermeister | US PIRG)

Inheritance is now the main route to housing: For the last four decades, home prices have been rising much more than wages. Middle-class home ownership used to be dictated by the job you had, but now inheritance is the only way young people can afford housing in many world cities. (Lisa Adkins | The Guardian)

The professional streetery builders: As restaurants try to find ways to safely serve customers during the pandemic, outdoor dining spaces have emerged as a solution. New York’s “streeteries,” as these pop-up spots are called, now have businesses specializing in building and designg these curbside dining platforms. (Valeria Ricciulli | Curbed)

Weightless, invisible batteries: In considering the energy needs of the future, we also need to rethink the design of vehicle batteries. Material scientists from the Imperial College of London say the next generation of batteries will be embedded in the objects they are powering, leading to reduced weight and greater flexibility. (Daniel Oberhaus | Wired Magazine)

Vanya Srivastava contributed to these summaries

Quote of the Week

“You can’t create a bike lane and not deal with the issue of intersections, because you’re leaving people in the middle of a traffic jungle. That would never happen with cars. Nobody forgets to put in a traffic light or paint the lines of the car lanes.”

Esther Anaya, a bicycle mobility researcher at Imperial College London, in El Pais discussing the rapid implementation of bike lanes during the pandemic around the world.

This week on the podcast, Sara Hendren joins us to talk about her book “What Can a Body Do? How We Meet the Built World”

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Jeff Wood is the Principal of The Overhead Wire, a consulting firm focused on sharing information about cities around the world. He hosts a weekly podcast called Talking Headways at Streetsblog USA and operates the daily news site The Overhead Wire.