Rome's new mayor spent two decades in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and he's bringing lessons learned while living car-free in the United States to help solve Rome's traffic problems.
Ignazio Marino was a "distinctive sight" commuting to and from his his job as a transplant surgeon at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia via red Schwinn. "Even though Marino spent his formative years in cities whose narrow streets encourage walking - Genoa as a child, Rome for medical school - he said it wasn't until he moved to Philadelphia in 2003 that he lived in a city without owning a car," writes Inga Saffron.
When he began campaigning to become the mayor of Rome on promises to "make the car-choked Italian capital a more livable place," it was those experiences in Philadelphia that informed his agenda.
"Unlike Parisians, who have taken to their Velib bike-share system with a vengeance, or Londoners, who have pedestrianized part of Trafalgar Square, he felt Romans had been slow to adopt planning ideas that favor walkers and bicyclists - even though they practically invented the gracious pedestrian plaza."
After closing one central Roman road to nonessential traffic on weekdays and all motorized vehicles on weekends, Marino is looking to add more car-free zones, launch a bike-share program, and expand the city's network of bike lanes.
FULL STORY: Changing Skyline: Former Philadelphian transforms Roman traffic
Oregon Passes Exemption to Urban Growth Boundary
Cities have a one-time chance to acquire new land for development in a bid to increase housing supply and affordability.
Where Urban Design Is Headed in 2024
A forecast of likely trends in urban design and architecture.
Savannah: A City of Planning Contrasts
From a human-scales, plaza-anchored grid to suburban sprawl, the oldest planned city in the United States has seen wildly different development patterns.
Washington Tribes Receive Resilience Funding
The 28 grants support projects including relocation efforts as coastal communities face the growing impacts of climate change.
Adaptive Reuse Bills Introduced in California Assembly
The legislation would expand eligibility for economic incentives and let cities loosen regulations to allow for more building conversions.
LA's Top Parks, Ranked
TimeOut just released its list of the top 26 parks in the L.A. area, which is home to some of the best green spaces around.
City of Rochester
Boston Harbor Now
City of Bellevue
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Birmingham, Alabama
City of Laramie, Wyoming
Colorado Department of Local Affairs
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.