First we take Berlin

As I mentioned recently, we spend too little time in Berlin, but I have always been thoroughly charmed by the place whenever we have been.

And, like our friend Andrew, I've constantly been impressed with German town and city planning since moving here eight years ago.

In his latest post at Click Opera, Momus considers some recent plans in various cities to help maintain urban landscapes during tougher economic times, and some of the measures sound like what Germany's capital did, with great success, during the 1990s.

Since it's a global recession, I also like to think Berlin has now become a sort of template for cities all over the world. Whereas we might once have looked like a museum of crusty subcultures past their sell-by date, this city now looks like the future of Tokyo, the future of London, and the future of New York. We're your best-case scenario, guys, your optimal recessionary outcome. Everything else is dystopia, Escape-From-New-York stuff.

Hmmm... decisions, decisions....

(The rest.)