Urban Design
How Residential Architecture Got So Cookie Cutter
While it's fun to tease about the architectural shortcomings of most newly constructed urban residential buildings in the United States, the causes of its ubiquitous sameness reveals the depths of the country's housing crisis.
Can Los Angeles Fix its Bad Transit?
Transit writer Alon Levy argues it will take more than system improvements to integrate public transit into L.A.'s urban fabric.
The Street-Level Consequences of Zoning
Modern zoning practices separated uses, claiming this was a better way to organize American cities. However, the social, cultural, and urban design outcomes drastically changed the world we live in.
Futuristic Public Toilets Coming to San Francisco
San Francisco's street furniture predates Google, but the city hopes a new design will bring it into the Information Age.
Critic Blasts the Design and Planning Effects of CVS
CVS is about as American as apple pie, but at what cost to American communities?
Eyes from the Street – A Finer Filter
Evidence described here suggests that urban design for "eyes on the street" is not enough to lower crime.
Thinkers in the Tropical Shade: Empowering Lessons for Livable Places
Thanks to the Australian-American Fulbright Commission and UN-Habitat's World Urban Campaign, fundamental relationships at the heart of urban public health and livability are under scrutiny in tropical Australia.
From Combined Sewer Systems to Green Infrastructure
A partnership between the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the Omaha Stormwater Program are tackling the challenges of combined stormwater systems in the Omaha area.
Looking Back to Find the Future of San Diego
An advocacy group is republishing the 1974 regional plan for sustainability, and finding that it's just as relevant now as it was then.
Los Angeles: Focus on Urban Design (Not Just Urban Planning)
By embracing timeless principles of urban placemaking, we can create walkable transit villages and make room for housing at every socioeconomic level. First we have to re-invigorate high quality urban design.
240 'World Changing Ideas,' Including Transportation and Urban Design
Fast Company’s second-annual World Changing Ideas Awards will recognize winners in 12 categories. There are now 240 finalists.
Eyes from the Street: The Neighbourhood Fabric that Matters
The mantra “eyes on the street" focuses on the physical and functional traits of urban fabric but fails to explain the high crime rate of my Jacobsian neighbourhood. Time to reconsider, look for explanations, and exchange mantras for research.
Op-Ed: Let's Make Urban Design Inspiring Again
Allison Arieff finds fault with the nation's uninspired conversation on infrastructure. When urban design projects have more emotional appeal, she argues, they can unify rather than divide.
New Tools for Making Walkable Places
Eleven ways to make a city more walkable.
L.A. Tenants Link Planned 'Design District' to Displacement
Community leaders say a design district in Westlake could pave the way for the erasure of L.A's Historic Filipinotown.
Urban Design for Medical Students
A co-curricular program at a Philadelphia medical school integrates public health and city planning.
Explained: Keys to Affordability in Zoning and Subdivision Ordinances
Zoning ordinances are one of the most powerful ways local governments regulate development, and they should work to implement the policies in a Comprehensive Plan Update.
The Block Fallacy, or How Not to Build a Circulation System
An examination of the Block Ordinance as a panacea for the ailments of modern cities.
A Shifting Sense of Urban Design in Dallas
In an opinion piece, architecture critic Mark Lamster discusses the merits and deficiencies of recent Dallas developments. He praises a rising sense of "progressivism" in the city's design choices.
Professor: High-End Housing Worsened Vancouver's Affordability Crunch
UBC's Patrick Condon argues that for Vancouver and cities like it, simply adding supply at any level doesn't get at the root causes of the global affordable housing crisis.
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
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
Town of Zionsville
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.
