The Architecture of Density: “In this short film from Yitiao Video, photographer Michael Wolf explains the vision behind his momentous photo series, “Architecture of Density,” in which he captures the immense scale and incredible intricacies of the city of Hong Kong.”

Three Cities: “A city that is walkable is also served by transit. Cities like New York, Philadelphia, and DC, are walkable with extensive and convenient transit. Cities like Portland, Denver, and Los Angeles were built around transit, first the streetcar and now light rail. They are somewhat less dense and a little less walkable than the first group. As transit cities densify they become more walkable. Their goal is to become truly “walkable cities,” and they are making a great deal of progress.”

Is the great California drought finally ending?: “The funny thing about this weather pattern — it’s about as unpredictable as you can get.” Nature could suddenly turn off the faucet, water officials warn.“It could shut down,” said Jeanine Jones, interstate resources manager in the Department of Water Resources. “We’re about a third of the way into the wettest part of the season. We have to see what happens in the rest of the year.”

Celebrating a Rugged Vision of Landscape Architecture: “Mr. [Lawrence] Halprin is onto something that makes the conventional piece of modern sculpture plonked onto the conventional corporate or public plaza look obsolete.”

A new must-read book explores the divides within landscape architecture and urban design: “Thinking the Contemporary Landscape, a 17-essay collection, attempts to set up a discourse between opposing ideologies, such as science and memory, power and territory, fact and myth, in order to present an all-encompassing theory of contemporary landscape practice.”