The wonderful project/site/portal from this Sao Paulo group combines good storytelling with loads of info and a simple idea to inspire people to make (mega)city life more liveable.The above video – ilogical city looks at the now-asphalted rivers of Sao Paulo, the mega growth of the city and its chaotic love affair with the car. Take a look at this slider reveal graphic as well which looks at a few neighborhoods and the now-disappeared rivers.

A proposed solution: uncover the rivers which cause chaos when they overflow and think about using them as the new expressways.

- Jardim metro station underwater ealier this year…

This is not normal is a great question/statement for exploring urban issues that drive us all crazy (and ill). Maybe if we used a bit of the time we spend tying to coin money everyday into making life more liveable, we might have a more coronary-free existence.

All this ties into the latest  Quality of living survey from Mercer. Despite the near funereal tone, there is some good detail in the various releases.

Top 5 cities worldwide

The theme is quite clear. You either need to be cold or inaccessible, or both. Most of the world’s biggest cities, that hold the keys to a sustainable future, are  hot, easy to get to and replete with social, economic and environmental extremes.

A most liveable megacities index would be a useful benchmarking and info sharing exercise which might inspire some competition, pride etc amongst participants. The growthmongers are always going to be out there, along with people who think that gross national happiness of Bhutan -the country that got rid of its only traffic light-is a more relevant measure. I think we should sweat the small stuff and do more to inspire people, a la isso nao e normal, into making cities more liveable. The only solutions left are the sustainable ones.

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