Can Germany preserve its age-old Christmas markets?

Historians highlight the cultural heritage of Germany’s Christmas markets. The 15-minute grocery craze is hurting urban culture. The Dutch pivot to floating communities.

The significance of Germany’s Christmas markets: In Germany, there are usually several thousand Christmas markets open in December. But the pandemic has paused these spaces, which date back to medieval times. The absence of the markets has prompted historians to recommend them for UNESCO’s intangible cultural heritage list. (Amy McKeever | National Geographic)

Is convenience shopping eroding communities?: The 15-minute grocery craze is turning lively commercial corridors into drab retail strips. In order for the system to work, startups rent out storefronts typically used by traditional retailers to operate as warehouses to store goods. This can leave commercial spaces dark and decrease social interactions among neighbors. (Lev Kushner and Greg Lindsay | Bloomberg CityLab)

The Dutch embrace floating homes: With climate change causing sea levels to rise, the Dutch are embracing a future with more water by constructing houses anchored by poles and designed to float. Their floating neighborhoods have inspired countries such as French Polynesia and the Maldives — which are also threatened by sea levels — to follow suit. (Shira Rubin | Yale e360)

The perfect housing tax: Housing affordability and homelessness have become pressing issues across the country, yet incentivizing new housing supply has been difficult due to exclusionary zoning practices and NIMBYism. One theoretical solution is the land value tax, which is a levy on the value of unimproved land that disregards any improvements or new developments. Economists believe this could radically change the incentives around land use. (Akhil Saxena | Brown Political Review)

Los Angeles food cart design gets approval: For years, food vendors in LA have sought approval for a cart design from the LA County Department of Health, even protesting outside of city hall because of onerous standards. Now, a design to vend tamales by Richard Gomez has been approved, offering hope for other innovations in the space. (Carolina A. Miranda | Los Angeles Times)

Quote of the Week

“Embodied carbon in existing buildings is a red herring, and it’s becoming part of the discourse in a way I think is a little alarming. Old buildings are not necessarily better buildings. And they come with a lot of problems that aren’t necessarily embodied carbon, like asbestos and lead.”

Kim Cheslak in Slate discusses the back and forth discussion over embodied carbon in buildings.

This week on the podcast, Linda Samuels, associate professor of urban design at Washington University in St. Louis, joins us to talk about her book “Infrastructural Optimism.”