For years, Urban Omnibus has been collecting ideas to make cities friendlier and more comfortable places to live. Here are the cream of the crop, with a little design flair.

 

The Urban Omnibus, published by the Architectural League of New York, has been collecting good "citymaking" ideas since 2009. Earlier this year, the publication assembled 50 of them into a special Ideas For A New City feature, and commissioned eight posters to highlight some favorites (you can buy those here, and see them in the slide show). These are the eight highlights.

 

Think of a city and all the energy that's being expended and wasted. Every time you push something open or closed, that's energy that could be harnessed for use. Jenny Broutin and Carmen Trudell, two former Columbia students, came up with the idea for an "energy harnessing door."

 

SPACES TO SHARE IDEAS

Everyone's got a good idea: we just need a space to make them heard. Designer Candy Chang wants to take unused city walls and turn them into brainstorming spaces full of sticky notes and chalk drawings (see her contribution to the Common Space projecthere). Neighborland, a social network for neighborhoods co-founded by Chang, takes the city chalkboard experience into the online realm. The idea: to start a public conversation about the future of the neighborhood and bring people together in the process.

 

Hurricane Sandy showed how hopelessly prepared New York was for a serious storm. Urban Omnibus champions the use of wetlands and waterways as run-off areas, discussing how the Staten Island "Bluebelt" could be used here.