The Year in Review
2018 was a year of ups and downs. From NIMBY battles to natural disasters, from elections to electric scooters, the stories that dominated the headlines are sure to resonate in 2019 and beyond. To cap off an eventful year, our writers and editors unpacked some of the issues we’ve been following over the past 12 months, explaining what mattered, what changed, and what to look for going forward.
2018 Was…
After 14 months, Amazon’s HQ2 hunt ended with a split decision in Washington, D.C. and New York City. What did we learn?
Sarah Holder
Populism was reclaimed by American progressives, as citizen-initiated ballot measures and a Poor People’s Campaign took aim at poverty and voter suppression.
K.A. Dilday
The old narrative of city and suburb is dead; in 2018, the spaces outside of cities were revealed in their full complexity.
Amanda Kolson Hurley
Scooters are dorky, polarizing, dangerous, fun, and maybe even useful. They could also be the kick in the butt that cities need to demand safe streets.
Andrew Small
On issues like climate change and gun violence, younger people demanded a louder voice in 2018.
Nicole Javorsky
Fifty years ago, Martin Luther King was assassinated. But the racist housing and policing policies he was fighting are still with us.
Brentin Mock
Sam Adams, Sarah Deer, Stephen Goldsmith, Sarah Ichioka, Emeka Okereke, Rhonda Vonshay Sharpe, Katie Wells, and David Zipper weigh in.
CityLab
From Paris to Madrid, efforts to curb the use of automobiles formed a battleground across Europe.
Feargus O’Sullivan
Companies like Google, Uber, or Facebook aren’t built to fix society. That includes cities.
Laura Bliss
A milestone upzoning plan in Minneapolis capped a year that saw pro-housing forces duel NIMBYs in cities nationwide.
Kriston Capps
Private funding and high-impact design were recurring themes of parks that opened in 2018. So was the hope that parks can unite, repair, and invigorate cities.
CityLab Staff
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