The week’s most thought-provoking stories, ideas and analysis from cities around the world. Subscribe to our CityLab Weekly newsletter: bloom.bg/4vH1KkV

South Africa warned that rising municipal debt poses a growing threat to public finances, as the amount owed by financially distressed town councils continues to climb and local government elections loom bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

Affordable housing advocates want to rewrite Massachusetts’s minimum lot size rules, which often mandate big lots for new single-family homes. Foes see a loss of local control. Read more: bloom.bg/4yrKRKU 📷: Lane Turner/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

A new book on demolished buildings highlights Japan’s propensity to scrap and rebuild rather than renovate. Will the next generation fight harder for preservation? Read more: bloom.bg/3Ucp2RJ 📷: Paulo Fridman/Corbis Historical/Getty Images

The finest modernist architecture in Texas can be found with the corn dogs and midway games at the Texas State Fair. Read more: bloom.bg/4hPAxaM 📷: Donovan Reese/Getty Images

Boston, Cleveland and New York City are combining housing complexes with public library branches in a bid to add affordable units and boost community services. Read more: bloom.bg/4zE9sNH 📷: Jonathan Blanc/New York Public Library

After successfully disrupting Oracle’s data center plans in New Mexico, environmental activists say they’ve now got a blueprint for waging similar campaigns against hyperscalers across the US bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

After a century of fighting over them, US cities like New York largely abandoned their public bathrooms. That's starting to change. Read about the new book chronicling the troubled history of restroom access and how these spaces have always reflected and reinforced social inequality: bloom.bg/47sIAV4 📷: Bill Tompkins/Michael Ochs Archives via Getty Images

Could an electric hydrofoil catamaran finally deliver a fast, quiet, clean urban ferry system? bloomberg.com/news/newslette…

An exhibit on artist Isamu Noguchi highlights how his approach to open-ended play design was ahead of its time. Read more: bloom.bg/4isukBQ 📷: Fredrik Brauer

Can the most ancient of building materials compete with concrete and steel to build more climate-friendly skyscrapers? Read more: bloom.bg/4zHIJjq 📷: Tim Soar/Groupwork

Last year, the UK and EU sent 650,000 metric tons of plastic waste to COP31 host Turkey — more than they sent anywhere else. Some view the trade as too convenient to walk away from bloomberg.com/news/features/…

Could an electric hydrofoil catamaran finally deliver a fast, quiet, clean urban ferry system? Read the latest Design Edition newsletter here: bloom.bg/4dKT4Tb 📷: Courtesy of Vessev

Design Edition is Bloomberg CityLab's weekly newsletter about architecture, development and design — and the people who make buildings happen. Read and subscribe ➡️ bloom.bg/design-edition

Massachusetts YIMBYs are targeting minimum lot size rules in effort to save the Bay State's endangered starter homes bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

The finest modernist architecture in Texas can be found with the corn dogs and midway games at the Texas State Fair bloomberg.com/news/features/…

Get thought-provoking stories, ideas and analysis from cities around the world. Read the latest edition of CityLab Weekly and subscribe: bloom.bg/4vH1KkV

A new project seeking to “obscure” George Washington is one of hundreds of efforts to rethink who get memorialized in America. bloomberg.com/news/newslette…

A new book, "Vanishing Japan," spotlights the eclectic range of buildings that came up during the construction frenzy of the post-war years, only to be demolished a few decades later bloomberg.com/news/features/…

A new project seeking to “obscure” George Washington is one of hundreds of efforts to rethink who get memorialized in America. bloomberg.com/news/newslette…

Get thought-provoking stories, ideas and analysis from cities around the world. Read the latest edition of CityLab Weekly and subscribe: bloom.bg/4vH1KkV