Land Use

10 Principles for Productive Public Spaces

Mackenzie Keast surveys the ten fundamental principles for placemaking identified by New York-based Project for Public Spaces (PPS) in their newly released handbook Placemaking and the Future of Cities.

September 20, 2012 - Urban Times

Art Project Creates a Cozy Oasis in any Urban Room

A provocative art project dubbed the Urban Living Room has appeared on the streets of Rotterdam, its first stop on a worldwide journey to "support dialogue and connection in public realm."

September 20, 2012 - The Pop-Up City

What Makes a City Smart?

Does a smart city have to pursue sustainability goals? Does it have to utilize the internet to involve citizens? Boyd Cohen tries to put some parameters around the discussion of smart cities - a nebulous term that means many things to many people.

September 20, 2012 - Fast Company Co.Exist

Seattle's Clashing, Confusing, and Disjointed Grid

Seattle is a city of grids (plural). Downtown, alone, contains three, making for some pretty interesting transportation challenges. Some argue it's simply part of what makes the city livable.

September 20, 2012 - The Atlantic Cities

How Andres Duany Envisions the Future by 'Translating' the Present

Rick Hampson explores the New Urbanist vision for how cities will be designed and planned over the next 30 years, as told by the movement's co-founder, Andres Duany.

September 19, 2012 - USA Today

On Authenticity and 'Traditional-Style' Development

Scott Doyon takes on the oft-expressed gripe that Traditional Neighborhood Development somehow feels fake. Doyon sees value in incorporating the collective wisdom learned over generations, regardless of whether it's reminiscent of another time.

September 18, 2012 - PlaceShakers

One Year Later, Assessing Occupy Wall Street's Effect on Space

On the one-year anniversary of the beginning of Occupy Wall Street, Richard Sennett looks at the movement's legacy with regards to rethinking public space.

September 17, 2012 - The Nation

Is L.A. TOD Purposely Pushing out Low-Income Residents and Local Businesses?

A protest last week through downtown Los Angeles was meant to raise awareness of local activists' concerns that Los Angeles County Metro is displacing working class people and small businesses as it develops land adjacent to its stations.

September 17, 2012 - KPCC

Study Calls Into Question Walmart's Economic Development Bona Fides

A study just published in Economic Development Quarterly documents the geographical destruction on local businesses wrought by a new Walmart store, and raises questions about its long-term impact on sales tax revenues, reports Nate Berg.

September 17, 2012 - The Atlantic Cities

America's Cultural Invasion of the Champs-Elysees

When the next iteration of the oldest military parade in the world celebrates the French Republic by marching down the Champs-Elysees, as it invariably does every Bastille Day, it will pass through what is increasingly becoming an American mall.

September 16, 2012 - The New York Times

Tide Recedes in Spain's Urban Migration

'Rurbanismo,' as it's called, describes the reversal of historic migration patterns now engulfing Spain, as a generations-old trend of rural-to-city movement has been reversed.

September 16, 2012 - The New York Times

Is San Francisco Doing Enough to Keep Out Chain Stores?

A city law enacted in 2006 was intended to protect San Francisco's independent stores from the spread of chain - or 'formula' - stores. Stacy Mitchell explains the gaps in the current law and the efforts of one city Supervisor to tighten it.

September 15, 2012 - Institute for Local Self-Reliance

How Does Your City Stack Up...Sideways?

A project by French artist Armelle Caron looks at what happens when you take the patterns of blocks that make up a city's form and organize and stack them sideways. Robert Krulwich investigates what such an exercise reveals about a city.

September 15, 2012 - NPR

If Congestion is a Sign of Vitality, Kansas City Must Be Suffering

Chuck Marohn opines on the oddly empty, and unnecessarily wide, streets of Kansas City, Missouri. With no traffic to speak of, Marohn argues that by building roads simply to move cars quickly, "We're fighting a beast that does not exist."

September 14, 2012 - Strong Towns

(Stalled) Projects and Their (Unfulfilled) Promises

Across the U.S., cities bear the scars of giant projects stalled by the economic crisis. Too often, the public ends up with the short end of the stick.

September 14, 2012 - The Wall Street Journal

Leading the Rooftop Solar Charge - Chain Retailers?

Sure, they may be doing so for purely financial reasons, but across America, big box stores are leading the way in embracing renewable energy sources, reports Diane Cardwell.

September 14, 2012 - The New York Times

How Does Placemaking Pay?

Hazel Borys compiles an extraordinary list of studies quantifying the role of livable, walkable places in building equity, city coffers, health, and social capital.

September 14, 2012 - PlaceShakers

Portland Shifts Gears

America's burgeoning bicycle culture gets the star treatment, as USA Today focuses its attention on the new infrastructure, new funding, and new culture that have made bicycling in Portland an ease.

September 13, 2012 - USA Today

Why Can't Urban Designers and Transit Planners Just Get Along?

Reflecting on his experiences at CNU's recent Transportation Summit, Jarrett Walker examines "the mutual incomprehension that plagues the relationship between urban designers and transit planners."

September 13, 2012 - Human Transit

Why Public Spaces Are Crucial for 'the Future of the Human Race'

Jay Walljasper chronicles the decline of lively public spaces in the era of "rampant traffic, proliferating privatization, heightened security...and the internet," and human kind's existential need for protecting and expanding the public realm.

September 12, 2012 - On The Commons

Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.

Planning for Universal Design

Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

100 Most Influential Urbanists

The who's who of urbanism, according to Planetizen readers.

Urban Planning Creators You Should Know

A short list of voices on social, video, and podcasting platforms.