Seoul's Skygarden: the High Line of South Korea?

This week’s roundup of the best city stories from the web takes a look at plans for an elevated park in the South Korean capital, the issue of heritage preservation in Calcutta and the death-defying leaps of urban explorers on the rooftops of Paris.

We’d love to hear your responses to these stories and any others you’ve read recently, both at Guardian Cities and elsewhere. Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Seoul aims high

An abandoned elevated highway in the middle of Seoul is being transformed into something call the Skygarden. Similar to New York’s regeneration of a derelict elevated railway to make the High Line park, Seoul’s new grand urban project (designed by MVRDV) aims to create a raised public space full of local plants and flowers, as well as cafes, street markets, libraries and greenhouses.

London v Houston

Some eye-catching maps over at City Metric lay the outline of Houston over cities around the world, from London to Lagos, highlighting just how sprawling that American city is. Placed over London, Houston’s outline almost reaches the south coast, and encompasses Stevenage, Guildford and Tunbridge Wells – with a population just over half that of the UK capital’s.

Barbara Speed writes: “The urban sprawl which has resulted from the city’s liberal approach to development brings its own problems: poor health outcomes (Houston is America’s fattest city), long commuting distances, congestion and poor public transport.”

Calcutta’s heritage

In Calcutta, a lack of guidelines for building demolition means houses are being “indiscriminately” torn down – and rapidly, too. As Amit Chaudhuri explains in Scroll, many people in the city are concerned that local architectural heritage is under threat because of real estate development.

“Measures protecting not just heritage but both the cultural individuality and the multifariousness of the city as represented by its architecture are now long overdue in Calcutta,” Chaudhuri writes. He calls for the declaration of heritage zones in the city. “Their introduction would show an unprecedented commitment to re-engage with this great city’s identity and history.”

Parkour in Paris

Buildering, parkour, rooftopping: whatever the term, there are urban explorers who take serious risks to venture where others don’t. CityLab shares this video of two such cityscape-scalers in Paris, climbing and leaping over the rooftops with great views over the City of Light.

Heard of New York?

Ann Friedman’s tongue-in-cheek article in the LA Times aims to respond to the growing number of pieces – including from New York publications – that marvel at the so-called “liveability” of Los Angeles, a city known for its dominant car infrastructure. “New York is a liveable place – who knew?”, reads the title of Friedman’s piece, which goes on to paint a picture of Angelenos discovering the apparent wonders of the Big Apple.

“Southern Californians are overcoming their fears of subway germs, and reversing the American directive to go west,” Friedman writes. “They’re finding that New York is more than a capitalist prison that runs on the fumes of the finance industry and nostalgia for CBGB. It now offers many of the lifestyle amenities that their hometown has boasted for decades.”

Cycling in Byzantium

Istanbul suffers from traffic congestion, poor air quality and inadequate cycling infrastructure. This may change, however, as the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) has pledged to build 1,050km of cycle lanes by 2023.

Embarq Turkey’s Safe Cycling Design Manual for Istanbul provides guidelines for improving the city’s cycling infrastructure. The report includes surveys with Istanbul’s cyclists: 90% percent of respondents believed that there are major problems with cycling infrastructure in Istanbul; 35% thought there is a lack of signs on the road for safe navigation.

“Bike lanes should be designed with this data in mind,” writes Cigdem Cörek Öztaş in the City Fix. “They should both serve neighbourhood life and integrate with public transit systems. Local decision makers need to raise awareness about cycling as a viable transport option and implement accessible infrastructure across Istanbul.”