Public Health
Key Warehouse Centers Challenge Distribution Center Expansion
Communities near major e-commerce distribution centers are increasingly resisting new construction, citing air pollution and other public health impacts.
Opinion: Aging Population, Declining Fertility Requires Long-Term Investments
Faced with the dire consequences of a one-two punch of aging populations and declining birthrates, one writer has suggestions for how policy can help ensure a better future.
Oregon Law Requires Cooling, but Could Leave Many Renters Out
A state bill requiring landlords to allow tenants to install portable air conditioners comes with a raft of exemptions that could restrict the most affordable options.
Sensory Urbanism Fights ‘Visual Bias’ in Planning
Researchers are beginning to understand the effect of sounds, smells, and tastes in the urban experience.
Unsurprisingly, People Enjoy Walking More in Safe, Green Spaces
New research shows that people are likely to walk more in places that are both walkable and green.
Communities Near Warehouses Unprotected by Outdated Zoning Codes
Today’s massive modern distribution centers have outsized impacts on adjacent neighborhoods. But outdated zoning codes often let them slip through the cracks with no environmental review.
Urban Design, Transport, and Health
The Lancet medical journal published a series of articles that explore how to evaluate and guide urban planning decisions to create healthy and sustainable cities. Live long and prosper!
California Bill Proposes Automated Noise Pollution Enforcement
If signed by Governor Gavin Newsom, a new bill would use automated sensors and cameras to enforce decibel limits on cars and motorcycles.
Car Noise Is Killing Us
It’s not just traffic collisions that kill—a new study from researcher at Rutgers finds that the loud noises emanating from cars has direct impact on heart health in Americans.
Acceptable Deaths
What can we learn from our Covid response?
Federal Funding Boosts California Effort To Seal Abandoned Oil Wells
The state’s oil-producing regions are dotted with oil wells that contribute to water and air pollution and threaten public health.
Extreme Heat as a Public Health Crisis
Cities can take action to improve conditions during extreme heat events and prevent heat-related deaths, many of which occur in low-income communities.
Report: The West Is the Worst for Air Quality
Thanks to longer fire seasons and increasingly intense blazes, Western states are experiencing the nation’s worst air quality.
After Waiting Two Days, Justice Department Appeals Transit Mask Ruling
Mystery surrounds the decision by the Biden administration to not ask for an immediate stay of an unanticipated district court ruling to vacate the CDC's masks-on-transit rule. Two days later they appealed as coronavirus cases increase nationwide.
How To Preserve Both Affordable Housing and Urban Trees
Housing and environmental activists are calling on the city to commit to a ‘Trees and’ approach, rejecting the perceived conflict between housing affordability and a healthy urban tree canopy.
Where Redlining and Oil and Gas Drilling Intersect
Research shows neighborhoods historically redlined by the federal government have twice as many oil and gas extraction projects as “desirable” neighborhoods.
How Repairing and Modernizing Aging Homes Can Contribute to Housing Affordability
Weatherization and efficiency upgrades can reduce energy costs and keep older homes habitable, but many low-income households are excluded from federal funding.
What Is CEQA?
Designed to assess the environmental impacts of new projects and provide mitigation measures, the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) has a controversial history, sometimes serving as a convenient tool for groups intent on stopping or slowing development.
Reimagining Public Space in the Post-COVID Era
The pandemic forced a large-scale reexamination of how public spaces and urban form impact public health and equity. Now, policymakers can learn from those innovations to plan for the future of cities.
More Unhoused New Yorkers Died in 2021 Than in any Prior Year
New York City saw its deadliest year for people living in shelters or public spaces, with the pandemic and a rise in deadly overdoses fueling a fatal epidemic.
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.
