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Addis Ababa takes Dubai’s crown as the gateway to Africa
Matt Falcus Travel, Hospitality & Event ManagementTravelers are now more likely to pass through Addis Ababa’s Bole International Airport when connecting to destinations in Africa than any other gateway thanks to a number of factors that have made it easier and more attractive to do so. The Ethiopian hub has taken the crown from Dubai International, which has for many years been the most common connecting point to the African continent. Africa’s largest and fastest growing carrier, Ethiopian Airlines, is helping to grow Addis Ababa through targeted expansion in its long-haul and regional network.
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How is the ‘new NAFTA’ different?
Michelle R. Matisons ManufacturingThe idea of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was very controversial when first proposed during the Clinton administration and signed in 1994. It was the first North American trilateral trade bloc representing Mexico, Canada and the United States. NAFTA’s successor, called the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), was signed by all three participating countries’ leaders at the G20 Summit on Nov. 30. The legislatures of all three countries must ratify the agreement before it goes into effect. We know USMCA is intended to make up for NAFTA’s shortcomings. But will it?
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Would you live in an airport city?
Lucy Wallwork Construction & Building MaterialsThe Polish winner of the Man Booker International Prize wrote in her winning novel, on the subject of airports, that "soon we well may say that it’s the cities that supplement the airport, as workplaces and places to sleep. It is widely known, after all, that real life takes place in movement." Indeed, settlements have, through the history of civilization, sprung up around transport nodes — whether that is early settlers along the edges of a river, the Victorian-era railroad cities in the U.K., or port cities like New York. However, the more ambitious concept of the airport city, or "aerotropolis," is now gaining momentum.
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The evolving design of coworking spaces
Michael J. Berens Interior Design, Furnishings & FixturesOne of the fastest-growing areas of commercial real estate is coworking spaces. They have become increasingly popular with freelancers, entrepreneurs and self-employed professionals and paraprofessionals, whose numbers have expanded considerably post-recession, as well as with business travelers, who use them as hoteling spaces. As the number of users has grown, so has their diversity and their diverse business needs. Today’s coworking space providers are having to respond to the same types of demands for better working environments as are companies everywhere.
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Remodelers brace for deceleration
Michael J. Berens Construction & Building MaterialsThe good news for remodelers, according to recent forecasts, is that demand is expected to continue to grow over the next three years. The not-so-good news is that growth will be slower than it has been for the past three years. Although many remodelers remain optimistic conditions will improve in the months ahead, some already are anticipating a decline in the fourth quarter of this year. Recently released data confirms the trend reported last month that remodeling activity remained strong in the third quarter of this year.
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No response is not a response
Lloyd Princeton Business Management, Services & Risk ManagementHave you ever had the experience of trying to get the attention of a store clerk or waiter, only to have them go about whatever they were doing and act like you weren’t there? How did that make you feel? Were you annoyed, angry, exasperated? I’m guessing the one thing you weren’t feeling was satisfied that they had properly responded to your attempt to communicate with them. The point of my example is that most people in a face-to-face situation would consider being ignored or not getting or giving a response as inappropriate and rude. Yet, it is becoming quite common in business communications.
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Startup introduces blockchain-based property transaction platform
Scott E. Rupp Science & TechnologyA Philadelphia-based startup, Kognition, has launched what it has dubbed as the "world’s first open network and open economy for smart property" to create a real-time stream of opportunities to generate revenue, reduce risk, optimize performance and drive ROI. The blockchain-based effort is called Koin. Koin is designed to facilitate a "synergistic" relationship between smart property owners, traders, builders and vendors to optimize value for each party.
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Inventory boost lifts home sales
Michael J. Berens Construction & Building MaterialsMore buyers looked favorably on the housing market in October, encouraged by a greater number of homes for sale, continued slowing in home prices, and a temporary decline in mortgage rates. Existing home sales posted their first month-over-month positive growth in six months. New home sales, on the other hand, plummeted to their lowest point in over three-and-a-half years, even as inventories increased and prices dropped. Riding the same downward trajectory, construction of new homes also declined for the second month in a row.
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New science, government studies highlight climate change’s urgency
Michelle R. Matisons Waste Management & EnvironmentalFor over a year, we have witnessed one weather disaster after another besiege the United States mainland and beyond. This hurricane season, we saw Florence and Michael take Southern states hostage with a fury of wind and floodwaters, only to be paralleled with more California fires. "What next?" we ask. According to two new science and government studies, we can look forward to more compounded ecological catastrophes producing dramatic social changes.
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Unlocking opportunities for ‘intergenerational living’ in our…
Lucy Wallwork Construction & Building MaterialsAt a recent Housing Festival held in my hometown of Bristol, England, it was not the glossy new building technologies on show that stuck in my mind the most. Instead, it was a presentation by U.S.-based architect Jonathan Davis. Presenting a photo of the allotment in his own Grow Community on Bainbridge Island in Seattle, he described his elderly yoga-loving neighbor as a "wise soul," but so, too, his young daughter digging around in the vegetable patch. He didn’t see any reason these two "wise souls" should not be brought together more often.
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