Adaptive Reuse
From Skates to Shelter: Shuttered Rink To Become Transitional Housing
An iconic roller skating rink, closed during the pandemic, is being transformed into a bridge housing facility for unhoused Angelenos.
Maine Passes Zoning Reform Laws
The state legislature passed two bills, one supporting accessory dwelling units and another incentivizing adaptive reuse, aimed at boosting housing affordability.
Philadelphia Leads the Way in Adaptive Reuse
Philadelphia, a city rife with historic architecture, seeks to incentivize more conversion of historic buildings into housing.
Dead Mall? Convert it to a Health Clinic
Closed and struggling malls around the country are being repurposed as healthcare centers.
New York’s New Head of City Planning Gives First Interview
Dan Garodnick, the new leader of the city’s planning department, outlines how the city plans to adjust zoning regulations to acknowledge changes in how and where people live and work.
How Adaptive Reuse Can Ease the Housing Crisis
An analysis of Los Angeles properties found that the city could make a significant impact on its housing shortage by converting commercial buildings to housing.
The Return of Cities
Major cities like London continue their rebound from the pandemic, with some tweaks.
Opinion: Revise Zoning and Tax Codes To Support Adaptive Reuse of NYC Office Space
With office buildings facing an uncertain future in their current form, cities can tweak regulations to encourage innovative new uses.
L.A. Reimagines Parking for New Uses
In famously car-centric Los Angeles, developers and city officials are changing the way they view parking space, opting instead to allocate the space to more effective uses.
Year in Review: Urban Planning in 2021
Part one of two of Planetizen's review of 2021—re-assessing failed predictions and daylighting the biggest planning stories of the year.
New Minneapolis Park Connects City to the Mississippi River
The newly built Water Works Park and Pavilion incorporates elements of historic mills and provides amenities long absent from the city's waterfront.
Paper Series Sheds Light On Adaptive Reuse
A series of reports from Berkeley's Terner Center assess the potential of commercial-to-residential conversions to help ease the housing crisis.
Looking to Vacant Retail Spaces for Needed Housing Supply
The Phoenix City Council has taken the first steps toward zoning reforms that can balance out the oversupply of retail spaces at one end of the market and the lack of housing units at the other.
Opinion: Outdated Zoning Codes Stifle Growth and Development
Strict separation of uses may be an inefficient way to zone dynamic modern cities.
Memphis Targets Adaptive Reuse of Historic School for Neighborhood Benefits
A plan to rehabilitate the vacant former location of Melrose High School in Memphis' Orange Mound neighborhood "recalls many other recent initiatives aimed at elevating and investing in Black urban history."
This Washington City Quietly Eliminated Single-Family Zoning
Walla Walla's 2018 zoning reforms included adaptive reuse, reduced parking requirements, and more relaxed rules for accessory dwelling units.
Converting Unused Parking Garages to Affordable Housing
As garage operators find their businesses increasingly unsustainable, some are looking to affordable housing as the logical next incarnation of their buildings.
Walkable Waterfront Takes Shape on the Schuylkill River Near Philadelphia
The Pencoyd Landing development is focused on providing access to pedestrians, cyclists, and transit users in the neighborhood of Lower Merion Township, across the Schuylkill River from Philadelphia.
America's 'Most Beautiful McDonald's'?
The Long Island restaurant is housed in a historic 18th century farmhouse.
How Easy Is it to Repurpose Offices into Apartments?
Adaptive reuse is a hot concept, but regulatory and financial hurdles have made it slow to catch on in practice.
City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Tufts University, Department of Urban and Environmental Policy & Planning
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
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.
