Sharing costs is becoming an increasingly popular concept. Fractional ownership allows people to enjoy many benefits at a reduced price. One of the first hot ideas in this realm was fractional aircraft ownership. Companies like NetJets offer the lure of private planes with no maintenance to worry about, no managing the pilot and ground crew; as one owner put it, “When you’re done with the plane, it just disappears.” Right now, outfits such as partialowner and fractionallife extend the partial ownership model to everything from homes and luxury cars to restaurants and racehorses. Likewise, art lovers can buy into syndicates such as ArtVest, based in Glasgow, Scotland, which offers partial ownership of artwork. Sharing has never been so hip. Thanks to rise of online social networking, people are sharing just about everything from carpooling duties to their living rooms (in the Couch Surfing Project).

The eco-city that everybody in Shanghai seems to be talking about, Dongtan island, plans to have over half a million people living on it by 2010. Preserving the natural habitat by incorporating it into a natural storm barrier, Dongtan will be truly eco-friendly. It will create all its own energy and heat using bio-fuels and renewable sources like wind and sunlight. All waste (including human waste) will be reused, recycled or converted into energy. Food will come from local organic farms and only electric cars will be allowed on the island. This will be the very first self-sustaining island in the world.

Bikes in Paris
Originally there were ‘only’ 10,000 but the quantity had to be doubled soon because everyone seemed to be thrilled by the new public transport in Paris. Since july the 15th there are 20,000 bicycles available to be rented in several parking points around town. It is required to have a personal card (29 euros/year) to get one and every rental is payed through a totally automized and very user friendly system. In order to encourage people to leave the bicycle always at a parking place where another user can get it, the first half an hour is free. 50,000 personal cards have been sold during the first month already.

Green Roofs
We all know that a a terrace in Manhattan is a status symbol (by the way, the latest trend is planting grasses: so wild!) but little is known about the green roofs, or the transformation of the ‘technical roofs’. Infact New York City buildings do not have pretty roofs of red tiles but flat areas covered by tar where air conditioning machines or water tanks are placed. So much tar is responsible for the Urban Heat Island Effect and turning ‘technical roof into a ‘green roof’ by covering it up with a carpet of low maintenance plants creates a microclimate. Two manuals on how to create a green roof will be available soon, they have been written by landscape architect superstar Signe Nielsen, yes the one that designed the terrace of Woody Allen, Richard Gere and many other celebrities.

Attending major music, sporting and arts festivals have become an increasingly popular summer pursuit for all levels of society. The problem for the wealthy is that while the event may be fun, they still like their creature comforts and sleeping in a tent in a muddy field rarely delivers the desired experience. Enter Spanish Hotel Movil, with its instant mobile Hotel. Carried on the back of a truck trailer, the two-story hotel can be erected in 30 minutes and offer 11 bedrooms with accommodation for 40 people. Every room has a bathroom, plasma screen TV, DVD and internetaccess. Depending on the trailer’s configuration, a bar and moviescreening-room can also be included. A weekend costs EUR 7,000, or you can buy your own hotel for EUR 400,000. Another development from Nikki Beach Hotels and the Kloster Cruise Family are developing the $498M Nikki Breach at Sea floating resort that will sail the South Beach elite from party to party.