Here from the city of Vigo in Spain, a country which has an abundance of plazas. We see the mid-rise residential areas circling around the plaza. The square is currently an only pedestrian square. It was paved and got a playground, including the historical monument that was sculpted by Julio Gonzalez Pola. The square's large size makes it ideal for walking, relaxing or sunbathing. If you visit make sure to look at the architecture as it has an interesting architectural heritage spanning from the nineteenth century to the first part of the twentieth.

La Plata was founded in 1882 and is a planned city. Grand schemes of planned cities were popular in the late 19th century. The city was designed in a very strict grid-pattern form, and with many avenues and diagonals. ⠀ ⠀
The center is named Plaza Moreno and is the heart of the city where both the city hall and the cathedral is located. The city is very green and is an example of a hygienic city that became very important with the industrialisation.

Pointe-Noire, the second biggest city in the Republic of the Congo and national commercial centre, has about 1 million inhabitants. An important urban concern in the country is that new suburbs are being developed without any planning permits given by any governmental authority or local urban planning authorities. The suburbs are being created ad-hoc, and has resulted in massive sprawl. The developments being carried out are products of unplanned urban development. Despite being unplanned, they do not have characteristics of slums or informal settlements. However, the unplanned areas are lacking local infrastructure such as schools, recreational spaces, playgrounds, inroad and pipe networks.

The park opened in 1992 with the aim of becoming an iconic place in Madrid as the city was named the European Cultural Capital. The park consist of recreational, leisure and cultural areas. In the 220 hectares of land there is a 30.000 m2 lake, 1,9 km long river, 13 km with paths, 21 hectares olive groves, 19 sculptures, a garden, and a auditorium. No doubt, it's huge! Before the municipality of Madrid created the park it was a waste ground used as a refuse dump. The bad soil conditions were there but this was didn't stop them. However, one area with olive trees had miraculously survived (Olivar de la Hinojosa) even though the olive grove was nearly deteriorated. Many of these beautiful, over hundred year old, olive trees were taken care of and treated to be used in the park.

St Vincent Gardens is located in Albert park in Melbourne, and is a park of national significance. The park created in the 1850s is a great example of residential development around a landscaped square. It takes the form of a large rectangular area with semi-sircular crescents at both ends and has a tram passage between. Some say the development of this area is one of Australia's best town planning examples, which surely can be discussed further. But no doubt, it is a great resudential area. The aesthetic, historical, architectural and social significance made St Vincent Gardens registered in the National Trust of Australia and the Victorian Heritage register. Today it is a attractive place for having weddings, going for a walk or just playing in the park.

Patterson Park was established in 1827 and donated by William Patterson, businessman and founder of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, to the city for a public walk. The city bought more of his land in 1860 to expand the park. Today it is about 137 acres (0,5 km2). As you can see in the photo, the park has many attractions, large trees, paved walkways, athletic fields, playgrounds, swimming pool and more. A lovely park to take a stroll on a sunday afternoon.

Charles de Gaulle is the 2nd busiest airport in Europe after London Heathrow, and 8th busiest in the world. The airport has 3 terminals, and terminal 1 (as shown in the photo) was designed by Paul Andreu in the shape of an octopus. Andreu hoped to build other terminals based on the design of terminal 1, but several defects were identified few years after opening the airport in the 1980s and its design has been criticised numerously. Paul Andreu has also designed airports in Manilla, Jakarta, Shanghai, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Cairo, Brunei and Paris.

In the end of the 17th century Avola (like Messina) was struck by an earthquake that destroyed the city. The city was rebuilt once more as a baroque city in a hexagonal form, as designed by Monk and Architect Angelo Italia, which is still present today (as seen in the photo). It has striking similarities to the hexagonal city of Grammichelle, just 80 kilometres away.

The municipality of Maricá is a growing community located east of Rio de Janeiro. The municipality is divided into four districts: Maricá (city), Ponta Negra, Inoã and Itaipuaçu. (Itaipuaçu district pictured). The municipality is known for its beautiful and peaceful atmosphere and landscapes. However, the city core of Rio de Janeiro can be reached within an hour. Many of the properties located by the seaside are used short-term or by tourists, while the ones further away from the sea are used by residents.

Sveti Stefan, which used to be an island and fishing village, is a small islet and luxurious 5-star hotel resort in Montenegro. The fishermen cottages, stone houses and red tiled roofs (traditional in Montenegro) from the past have been preserved. After Montenegro’s independence in 2006, the government searched for someone who could restore the island to its former glory. Aman Resorts were awarded this privilege due to their exclusivity and extraordinary portfolio. The resort has 50 rooms, cottages, and suites on the islet.

Shuangyu Island, knows as the Double Fish Island due to its shape, is an artificial island currently under construction just south of Xiamen. The architectural design was inspired by a pair of dolphins circling around each other. The island’s size is approximately 2.2 km2 (540 acres) with a 11.4 km coastline, and has been planned as a high-end ecological resort featuring lifestyle, leisure, health and tourism activities.

Bexley is a borough located east of London, with modern development dating back to the 19th century. Bexley’s urban development pattern can generally be divided into two areas. One area is the predominantly older estate villages, while the other area is more urban infill areas with suburban houses and centres. ⠀ ⠀
The borough is designated as one of the ‘opportunity areas’ in The London Plan. The opportunities seen within Bexley include the further development of logistics and industrial/green enterprise development.

Aiete, is a quiet neighbourhood located the heart of the village of Donostia (also more commonly known as San Sebastian). The terraced apartments surrounding this area are built on a sloping hill and create a beautiful neighbourhood with a community feeling. Furthermore the inhabitants have green space right outside their doors (including the huge Aiete park nearby).

Hamedan is believed to be among the oldest Iranian cities dating back earlier than 1100 BC, and also being the capital city at one point. The city is located more than 1,800 meters above sea level and has green mountainous surroundings. Hamedan city is circular and is formed by Imam Khomeini square (or Hamedan Square as seen in the middle of the photo), the square where six main streets of the city meet. The square as we see it today was created based on a hexagram shape in 1928, designed by German planners and architects.

Pasay is one of the main cities in Manila Metropolitan Area. This city quickly became an urban town and grew rapidly since the American Colonial period. In this photo we see the difference in housing between people living in more dense and hardscape areas (Villamor district) compared to the green and more lush open areas on the other side of the river (Magallanes district). We need to understand and push forward the implementation of green and sustainable policies for poverty reduction, job creation and green neighbourhoods to counter these issues!

The banana-shaped Banana Island Resort in Doha (Qatar) opened January 2015 and has been delivering a genuine expression of pure Arabian elegance based on the Maldivian model. The resort is located 3,5 kilometres east from Hamad International Airport on a 30 acre manmade island. Building started in 2012 but missed several already announced opening deadlines in 2013 and 2014, before it finally opened in 2015. The resort has a luxurious hotel with 141 rooms available, and 45 of these are poolside villas and Maldivian types of villas located on the water.⠀ ⠀

Marrakesh, founded around 1070, is the fourth largest city in Morocco. Marrakesh, like other Moroccan cities, consist of an old city filled with street vendors located inside a wall made of pisé (red/pink clay). Outside the walls you find modern areas bordering to the old city. The old city became an UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985 because of its impressive number of masterpieces of architecture and art, and outstanding example of a living historic town with its tangle of lanes, its houses, souks (markets), fondouks, artisanal activities, traditional trades and more. The tourism to Morocco has increased a lot the last decades as the government has stressed the importance tourism repeatedly.

Songdo City is a planned 'smart city' built on 6 sq.km of artificial land just 35 km west of Seoul, South Korea's Capital City. Songdo is one of South Korea's answers to the urban development of business district like the ones in Dubai and Shanghai. It is moreover one of the largest private real estate development ever done in history. The city includes high-rise buildings, architectural hallmarks such as a copy of the Central Park and Venice's waterway, 40% green area, bike and walking paths. It is a smart city due to its tunnel vacuum waste system (and thus no trash trucks are seen), complies to LEED requirements, gets its energy from a local heating facility, and places emphasis on alternative transportation to privatised vehicular movement. The city is an example of an Low-Carbon Green Growth city, as introduced by the former president Lee Myung Bak who saw a need for more sustainable development across the entire country.

Siheung City has almost 500.000 inhabitants and is located northwest in the peninsula of South Korea. In the picture we see blue aluminium roofs spread over a vast area with industrial buildings. Traditionally colors have played a significant role in Korean history, and was often a indication for social status. Blue tile was a sign of high social status. Many got similar blue tiles for their roofs as part of the New Village Movement in the 1970s (modernisation of the rural area) initiated by the president. Today even the presidential residence completed in 1991, named blue house, has blue tiles.

Rotanda West is planned circular-shaped community which came about the early 1970s. It is located by the Gulf of Mexico and has more than 8,000 plots for housing. This area, much like Sun Lakes in Arizona, is a place made as a relaxing area to residents who want to live in peaceful and green areas. However, it has received criticism for being a closed and gated community only serving one type of people.

Frisco is a city with a land area of 62.4 sq.mi (161.6 sqkm), and 200,000 inhabitants. From 2000 to 2009 Frisco was the fastest growing city in the United States. Just 30 years back in 1990, there were only 6.000 people living in the city (194k increase). In 1904 the town was named Frisco city in honor of St. Louis–San Francisco Railway on which the town was founded.

The urban form of Chiang Mai (from Thai meaning: New City) is quite interesting. Chiang Mai was established in the 13th century as the capital of an area consisting of today's southern China and northern Thailand. The historic center of Chiang Mai was walled and nearly a perfect square, in accordance to principles of feng shui. There used to be five gates surrounding the city, and outside the walled city where there is a lake where one believes rice farming took place. The city has been influenced by Chinese capital city planning standards as the palace and religious centre is towards the north wall, in the centre of the north-south direction. However, except for some main streets which connects to the gates, the standards for a Chinese capital city is not based on a grid design.

Pantin Cementary (pictured) is one of the Parisian cemeteries located northeast of Paris. However the oldest garden and municipal cementary is Père Lachaise Cemetery. It was established in 1804, and is the largest cemetery located in the urban Paris (110 acres). It was named after the confessor to Louis XIV, Père François de la Chaise. The famous architect Alexandre-Thęodore Brogniart created the layout for the cemetery as requested by Napoleon Bonaparte.

Edku is a city located 42km north-east of Alexandria along the Mediterranean Sea that houses about 100,000 inhabitants. The primary industries within the area includes energy (LNG plant), rice milling and silk weaving industries.⠀ ⠀ Here from Edku town, an urban form similar to that of the old town (Medina) in Marrakech (Morocco).

Cárdenas, founded in 1828, is a city and municipality in Cuba located 140km east of Havana (Cuba’s capital). The city was designed and inspired by the American grid pattern, and not the traditional Spanish central plaza typically found in most Cuban cities. However, most of the streets have a narrow form. The city was one of the first cities in the country to have electric service, public transportation (trams, since 1913), telegraph and telephone.

Durrat Al Arus is a gated tourist town built on a manmade island in 1996. It was designed to be an integrated holiday home city with all forms of leisure activities including retail, F&B, cafes, resorts, hotels, private villas, theme parks, aqua parks, yacht marina, equestrian club and golf club. Although a lot was built and still operating, most of the facilities have either closed down, been abandoned or sold to private investors. The town is considered to be very liberal and open-minded. Quite the opposite from typical Saudi Arabian culture and traditions.

What is lacking in these typical American sprawl developments? The fail of considering climate change and public health. For planners this is of great importance as cities - for decades - have planned in a way which made people sit down in their cars, houses and offices without moving much in between. This has changed our health for the worse. This is caused by many factors, but definitely the combination of cars and cheap fuel which created the urban sprawl. ⠀ ⠀ Studies of life expectancy in cities and urban sprawl/rural areas have found that those living in city centers may often have a longer life expectancy than those living in the outside areas, due to their more active lifestyle and higher use of public transportation.