Word: urbane
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...urban liberal like me, the word “value” can have some suspicious connotations. It brings to mind the “values voters” of the last two or three presidential elections, in which “values” seemed a stand-in for an unexamined and potentially bigoted moral rubric—an ethical compass calibrated not by reason or argument but by a seat-of-the-pants, bottom-of-the-gut, irrational “feeling” about what is right. Or, in the completely opposite direction, the word...
...sparked calls for reform. He Bing, a professor at the China University of Politics and Law in Beijing, suggests that the current system be scrapped. The academic believes that peddlers should be given more flexibility to sell their goods and that the chengguan should concentrate on more pressing urban issues. "Street vendors are an important part of the market economy and directly contribute to the GDP," says He. "There are also other merits - cheap street markets cater to low-income families, add color to city life, utilize public space and create jobs...
Some locals jokingly call Herat the "Dubai of Afghanistan." The nickname is a stretch, but the mini-boom taking place in this commercial capital is borne out by 24-hour electricity and pothole-free streets where people wander without fear of the random violence that afflicts other urban centers in the country. Who gets the credit? Much of it goes to Iran, which lies less than a hundred miles to the west and is moving closer...
...most politically progressive of Spain's cities - is currently engaged in a massive renovation of its 117-year-old zoo. When the project is completed in 2015, the city will have a marine zoo on the shore, and a second, habitat-based zoo for land animals in the urban center. "We're transforming ourselves from the traditional, cage-based zoo to a modern conservation center that teaches respect for biodiversity," says Trepat. Susi's alleged unhappiness may become a weapon to attack the very idea of a zoo for Barcelona...
...certain bias. "Personally, I don't think we should have elephants in city zoos," Poole says. "Elephants in the wild are active in mind and body 24 hours a day - listening over long distances, smelling predators with their extraordinary sense of smell, interacting with friends and relatives. What urban zoo can provide that...