Hear what it's like to live on one of the windswept Orkney Islands, off the northernmost tip of Scotland, where people have made a home since prehistoric times. Then learn how redesigned urban centers in Europe have had a positive impact on quality of life — and get ideas for making your own city a more enjoyable place to be outdoors. And consider some of the world's most fascinating nomadic societies, from their often underappreciated role in history to their struggles in the modern world.

• Kinlay Francis, tour guide from Kirkwall in Orkney, Scotland
• Urban planner Jeff Speck, author of "Walkable City" (Picador)
• Historian Anthony Sattin, author of "Nomads" (W. W. Norton)

• Kinlay Francis and his wife operate Orkney Uncovered to provide custom tours in the Orkney archipelago.
• Rick writes about visiting Orkney.
• Jeff Speck is a city planner and urban designer based in the Boston area. His book "Walkable City: How Downtown Can Save America One Step at a Time" has been reissued in an updated edition. Links that show many of Jeff's city design projects and TED Talks are provided on his website.
• The town of Poynton, in Cheshire, England (population 13,000), has a 15-minute video showing how redesigning streets in its downtown with the concepts of "shared space" has improved the experience for both pedestrians and motorists.
• Anthony Sattin is the author of "Nomads: The Wanderers Who Shaped Our World."
• Anthony recommends a New Yorker article on how much modern society resembles that of the Mongol hordes.