Urban Flaneur Guidebook

  http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-62112655/stock-photo-old-steel-production-in-essen-germany.html For a image of how this place was reused later go my blog entry on The Chaotic, Fractal and Complex City: http://mcadamsfatih1.blogspot.com/2012/10/regeneration-new-life-for-abandoned.html   http://flickrhivemind.net/Tags/mining,zollverein/Interesting http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-62112625/stock-photo-old-steel-production-in-essen-germany.html   http://www.opacity.us/site182_kokerei_zollverein.htm   http://flickrhivemind.net/Tags/landschaftpark/Interesting  

(Image found on  GetLostBBot ) In an article by Catherine de Lange in The New Scientist , “ Let's get lost: Apps that help you wander to happiness ”, she mentions several apps for your mobile that can assist you in your efforts to be an urban flâneur.   (To see the full article, you must register and subscribe to The New Scientist .   It can also be obtained if you have access to online databases at public or university libraries.) Her comment on being an urban  flâneur might  also be of interest to my readers. Here are a sampling of app links to help you be an urban flâneur: GetLostBot This ‘bot’ examines your regular patterns and then suggests new places to visit, breaking up your routine.   It does require that you be a FourSquare user.   Highlight If others have Highlight around you, you can see their profiles and maybe strike up a conversation. Although, this may be a little bit too personal for many. Roamz This app search...

Urban decay is found in all cities.   When a urban flâneur views or photographs abandoned or derelict buildings, it is not a view of a building, observed as a meaningless object, as a structure that should be considered as a blemish on the urban landscape or as a location for a new structure.   S(he views the underlying text of the structure and marvels at the serendipity of its beauty.     While rambling around the Internet, I found some interesting websites, some having exquisite photographs of urban decay.   In this blog entry, I decided to concentrate on  those blog/web sites related to Detroit-the ‘poster child of urban decay.’ In the future, I will feature other sites with photographs of urban decay.   Forgotten Detroit       The Ruins of Detroit by Marchand and Meffre Urban Adonia: Abandoned  Buildings of Detroit