Nick Van Mead
The Guardian
United Kingdom
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Past articles by Nick:
Riding the Transcontinental: my saddle-sore sprint across Europe
The self-supported cycle race from the Black Sea in Bulgaria to France’s Atlantic coast is the toughest test of its kind → Read More
Toxic school run: how polluted is the air that children breathe?
Most of Britain's cities have had illegally polluted air for nearly a decade and the effect of air pollution is particularly bad on children. Ahead of Clean Air Day, we conducted an experiment to assess the air quality on a school run in central London, using new state-of-the art monitors that can measure air pollution in real time → Read More
Unbuilt Tokyo: 'depthscrapers' and a million-person pyramid
Had the creators of the underground skyscraper had their way, the Japanese capital might have looked very different indeed → Read More
Can you guess the British city from the vintage travel poster?
Leeds or Llandudno? Can you tell these popular destinations from their marketing material? → Read More
Quiz: Can you guess the city from the vintage travel poster?
Think you know Chicago from San Tropez? It’s harder than it looks → Read More
How they built cycling tunnels under the Tyne by hand – in pictures
The Tyne pedestrian and cycling tunnels, completed in 1951 as part of the Festival of Britain, are to reopen this summer after a delayed and over-budget restoration → Read More
22 of world's 30 most polluted cities are in India, Greenpeace says
Analysis of air pollution data finds that 64% of cities exceed WHO guidelines → Read More
A brief history of concrete: from 10,000BC to 3D printed houses
The Romans used concrete in everything from bath houses to the Colosseum. Our modern concrete structures will never last as long → Read More
‘Redefine the skyline’: how Ho Chi Minh City is erasing its heritage
The next 15 megacities #7: More than a third of the Vietnamese city’s historic buildings have been destroyed over the past 20 years. Can it learn from mistakes made by other fast-growing Asian cities before it is too late? → Read More
How an emerging African megacity cut commutes by two hours a day
The next 15 megacities #2: Could Dar es Salaam’s experiment with Africa’s first ‘gold standard’ bus rapid transit system offer an alternative to a future dependent on private cars? → Read More
A city cursed by sprawl: can the BeltLine save Atlanta?
With 2.5 million people moving to metro Atlanta over the next 20 years, an ambitious project to repurpose a 22-mile loop of old freight lines into walking, cycling and light rail offers the city an alternative future – if they can get it right → Read More
The lost city of Atlanta
Atlanta is known as a city where they would knock down a historic building to put up a parking lot. We look at what’s gone and what might be next → Read More
What is Walking the City week – and how can you get involved?
Guardian Cities wants to hear your experiences of urban walking – good and bad. What’s your favourite route and why? What delights or frustrates you? → Read More
China in Africa: win-win development, or a new colonialism?
The tiny fishing village of Bagamoyo is set to become Africa’s largest port in a $10bn Chinese development. Are locals right to be optimistic? → Read More
Rise of the ultra-cyclists: a new breed of riders go the distance
With no spectators, no bags of freebies and no medals, the 400km London-Wales-London ride provides a welcome antidote to overblown sportives → Read More
Quiz: can you identify these cities from their historic maps?
Cities evolve, but the old core stays same. Or does it? We’ve trawled the archives for a selection of historic maps. Can you ID the cities? → Read More
The four hour commute: the punishing grind of life on São Paulo’s periphery
Like most of São Paulo’s 20 million residents, Alcione Santos lives on the edge of South America’s biggest city. The daily journey to low-paid jobs is brutal → Read More
Guardian Cities: Live from São Paulo's occupations
An unprecedent wave of illegal occupations of abandoned property has transformed Brazil’s megacity. Join us as we report from across São Paulo → Read More
Living on the edge: São Paulo’s inequality mapped
Life in South America’s largest metropolis is anything but uniform – the city’s core and its periphery are worlds apart → Read More
Secret Stans week: what it is
Guardian Cities is devoting a week to exploring the cities of the five former Soviet ‘Stans’ – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan – and we want to hear from you → Read More