Planning Department

Recently released plans for a possible new football stadium in downtown L.A. show how the city tends to react to developers rather than guide them, according to this criticism.

With fewer staff members to cover the workload, L.A. is redefining planners' roles, including a change that will make planners more community-focused and less centralized.

Petaluma, California, made headlines last year when it got rid of its planning department. The Architect's Newspaper takes a look at how the city is adapting to contract-based planning through hired consultants.

With the layoff of City Planner John 'Rusty' Lewis, Natchez, Mississippi is left with only one employee in its planning department - and she retires next week.

A controversial proposal in the London borough of Barnet would create a fast track for developers who pay more for faster service. Critics say this would create an unfair, two-tiered system, where richer developers get more access to government.

Brooklyn architect Robert M. Scarano Jr. has crossed Brooklyn's zoning laws too many times, and the city is making the case to ban him from submitting any plans. In the worst case, he put two apartment buildings in a location greenlighted for one.

New Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker has followed through on campaign promises to begin an overhaul of the city's planning department, handing out a series of firings in an effort to revitalize and streamline the city's planning process.