Thousands of St Petersburg residents took to the streets on Saturday to protest plans to build a 400-metre skyscraper in the historic centre of the city. Despite widespread opposition however, the future home of Russian energy giant Gazprom is already being built. Read more...

The grandiose Jordanian city of Petra, carved out of pink rock, is a first-rate tourist destination. So why has its twin city, in the Saudi desert, been forgotten for so long? Because it is said to be under an ancient curse. Read more...

It'd be so nice if it was true, but the fact is it isn't: the first settlements - before the Bronze Age, before the Iron Age, probably even prior to the Stone Age - didn't happen because folks liked each other's company. As the old saying goes: safety in numbers ... and fortifications. Read more...

Nine people were crushed to death and 16 seriously injured when 200 metres of motorway collapsed in the Hunan province of China on May 17. The local media says that the company charged with demolishing the construction is who's at fault for the catastrophe. Read more...

One of our Observers in Singapore wonders if the urban set-up there — which he says preserves an almost crime-free society — could also work in the French suburbs. Read more...

While most Chinese cities have seen their communal housing buildings disappear one by one over the past half century, Shanghai's Pig Cage Stronghold is still standing, and the vibrant home to hundreds of people. Read more and see the pictures...

A cluster of towns in Algeria endured over a week of catastrophic and fatal flash floods after the banks of the Oued M'Zab burst, leaving nearby buildings buried under thick sludge. Our Observer in the area filmed the extent of the damage on his mobile phone. Read more...

Built in the early eighties, these extraordinary sea-view homes are known as the "UFO houses" by the Taiwanese. Just 15 kilometres from the capital, the deserted residences have been left abandoned for the past three decades. Now they face imminent demolition. Read more and see photos...

Climatologists around the world agree that sea levels will continue to rise throughout the 21^st century. Countries with low-lying coastal areas like Vietnam and Bangladesh could see more floods and the loss of land, and some Pacific Islands could one day end up completely submerged. But not to worry - a Belgian architect has come up with a solution. He's designed "amphibian towns" to house the future refugees. Read more...

Just ten years ago there were barely a dozen skyscrapers in site in Moscow. Today soaring towers dominate the skyline and the city boasts Europe's tallest building. Our Observers in Moscow wonder how the rapid changes will affect the capital. Read more...