audio by year 2006

In this final installment of Planetizen's three-part series on parking, Mott Smith, Principal of planning and development firm Civic Enterprise Associates in Los Angeles, analyzes the urban design problems generated by gratuitous "onsite" parking requirements, which ruin street life and force property owners to use their lots inefficiently.

Joel Kotkin, author of the November 2005 report "The New Suburbanism", introduces the new planning theory, clarifies what it means, and describes how it remains very much a work in progress. This podcast was recorded on April 20, 2006 in Los Angeles by Joel Kotkin.

Are you stuck in traffic from your exurban house to the sale at the local Hummer dealer? It's Thomas Jefferson's fault. The genius who drafted the Declaration of Independence also espoused a far-ranging anti-urban philosophy, with policies setting the stage for two centuries of sprawling development and political biases against cities. By Leo Vazquez, AICP/PP.

How deeply does the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA -- one of the oldest statewide environmental laws -- impact urban planning in California? Does it effectively balance the interests of the state's citizens, the building industry, and environmentalists? How do planners use the law, and what kind of growth does it promote in the state? In this exclusive Planetizen Roundtable Discussion, CEQA experts discuss the powerful law's wide-ranging impact on planning issues, and evaluate opportunities for reform.

Ricky Mathews, Publisher of the Biloxi Sun Herald and Vice-Chairman of the Governor's Commission on Recovery, Rebuilding, and Renewal after Hurricane Katrina, argues that Andres Duany and other New Urbanists have been critical to the early success of rebuilding efforts in Mississippi, providing citizens not only with the hope of recovery, but with master planning that has inspired confidence in a bigger and better Gulf Coast community, all while respecting local traditions.

On April 19th, 2006, the University of Winnipeg, Centre for Sustainable Transportation, and the Institute of Urban Studies, presented a symposium and free public lecture featuring James Howard Kunstler, author of "The Long Emergency". We bring you highlights from James Howard Kunstler's speech at the Winnipeg Art Gallery in Winnipeg, Canada.

Ecology is and should be the defining force in any plan or development, according to ecologist and land use planner Paul Kephart in his keynote address to the Los Angeles Green Roof Market Development Symposium, a recent day-long conference focusing on implementing green space and ecology into urban areas.

Developer John Elkington identifies five key factors for successfully re-energizing historic and entertainment districts.

We present an audio book review of former Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt's book Cities in the Wilderness: A New Vision of Land Use in America. Babbitt writes of the failures of local and state governments to curb sprawl and the ultimately insufficient efforts of the episodic conservation efforts achieved during his own tenure at the Department of the Interior between 1992 and 2000. This review touches on some of the highlights of Cities in the Wilderness, including Babbitt’s views on the necessary components of a sustainable land use policy for the United States.

We present an interview with Bob Simon, the founder of Reston, Virginia, America's first post-war planned community. For the last 14 years, Simon has returned as a resident of the community he founded 40 years ago, and at age 92, he looks to the future as his community changes with the times.

We present the first part of a three-part series of discussions about urban renewal with architect and planner Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk. In the first installment, Plater-Zyberk discusses Miami 21, the comprehensive planning project her firm Duany Plater-Zyberk and Company is currently developing for the city of Miami.

We present an audio book review of The City: A Global History, renowned author and urban commentator Joel Kotkin's condensed history of all the major cities of the world. Kotkin attempts to boil down the entire history of the world's greatest cities into 200 pages, and surprisingly he doesn't do too bad.

Journalist Ray Suarez, a senior correspondent for the PBS television program NewsHour with Jim Lehrer discusses how New Orleans, its residents and its economy are evolving in the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

In this episode, we bring a summary and analysis of the most interesting and intriguing news to appear on Planetizen in September 2006.

In this episode, we bring a summary and analysis of the most interesting and intriguing news to appear on Planetizen in October 2006.

Enrique Peñalosa, former mayor of Bogotá, Colombia, discusses his experiences reviving the city's public infrastructure with a highly-regarded bus rapid transit, an extensive network of bikeways, and a large collection of pedestrian areas and greenspaces.

We present the second part of a three-part series of discussions about urban renewal with architect and planner Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk. In the second installment, Plater-Zyberk discusses the importance of political leadership and public input in urban design.

In this episode, we bring a summary and analysis of the most interesting and intriguing news to appear on Planetizen in November 2006.

In this episode, we bring a summary and analysis of the most interesting and intriguing news to appear on Planetizen in January 2007.