Density
Starchitecture and Sustainability: Hope, Creativity, and Futility Collide in Contemporary Architecture
Can today's contemporary architects, schooled in modernism and invention, in fact incorporate the sort of green building materials and techniques that make a real difference? And does design really matter? Josh Stephens takes a look.
Urban Residents Are Accidental Environmentalists
Margaret Wente is surprised to learn from reading David Owen's Green Metropolis that her new city lifestyle is super-green, thanks to the advantages of density.
The Globe and Mail
New Ideas for Small Spaces
At a recent conference, international architects explained their ideas for designing and planning compact, shared, and flexible housing to meet the needs of today's households.
Urban Omnibus
Manhattan is the Greenest City
A review of GREEN METROPOLIS: Why Living Smaller, Living Closer, and Driving Less Are the Keys to Sustainability by David Owen, expanding on his groundbreaking essay in the New Yorker in 2004 on why New York is the greenest city around.
The New York Times
Inside David Byrne's Livable City
Using a mishmash of highlights from cities around the world, musician and artist David Byrne talks about his personal vision of a perfect, livable city.
The Wall Street Journal
The Planetizen News Brief - 9/10/09
4:25 minutes (4.05 MB)
Turning off traffic lights in London, reducing VMT through density, and the rising demand for parks -- all on this week's Planetizen News Brief, airing weekly on the nationally-syndicated radio show "Smart City". Read, listen or download.
New Study on the Benefits of Density
A new report from the National Research Council seeks to establish the scientific basis for the relationships among development patterns, VMT, and energy consumption. So what did they find?
Reconnecting America
Changing Tune on Density
Back in 1971, Alvin Duskin mounted an all-out campaign to limit buildings in San Francisco to 72 feet. Today, he is one of many Bay Area activists reconsidering density.
San Francisco Chronicle
Redefining Residential
The late columnist Emmett Watson set the tone in Seattle for keeping the small bungalow, suburban character of the city. Today, New Urbanists and others are working to redefine Seattle's landscape post-Watson with denser, affordable buildings.
The Seattle Times
Next Steps for Shrinking Cities: Results of the Planetizen Brainstorm
Bulldoze? Densify? Walk away? There are many ways cities can react to shrinking populations and abandoned neighborhoods. Planetizen readers decide which ways are the best.
The Planetizen News Brief - 7/9/09
4:30 minutes (4.19 MB)
Enviros struggle to move past NIMBY tendencies, iPhones begin tracking urban nuisances, and a small town main street succeeds -- all on this week's Planetizen News Brief, airing weekly on the nationally-syndicated radio show "Smart City". Read, listen or download.
Fear of Density in Houston
As Houston considers extending its urban boundaries, planners and locals struggle with the proper techniques for ensuring good development without zoning.
Houston Chronicle
Granny Flats and Carriage Houses for Denver
Grass Root Efforts to Help Bring Back a Much-Loved Building Form
Denver Daily News
Back-To-Nature Plans Stall Innovation
According to this op-ed, allowing cities to de-densify undermines the importance of the city's role in society at large--namely, as a breeding ground for technological and cultural innovation.
Los Angeles Times
Finding Public Space Wherever They Can in Cairo
Dense Cairo has few sanctioned public spaces. So residents make do wherever they can.
The New York Times
How Rail Spurred A Makeover In Tysons Corner
Tysons Corner is hoping to go from a 9-to-5 work farm to a 24-hour city.
Time
Transit Stops Increase Property Value- But Why?
Sam Staley argues that the increase in property values around transit stations isn't attributable to increased ridership, and in fact the locations with the least investment had the highest ridership.
The Business Journal (Fresno)
If A German Town Can Go Car-Free, Why Not America?
An article in the New York Times this week profiled Vauban, Germany, a town without cars. NYTime's Room for Debate Blog asked planners and developers to envision a car-free town in America.
The New York Times
Comparing the Fates of Two Exurbs
Reporter Ben Adler travels to Leesburg, VA without a car and reports on the difficulties he experiences getting around. In comparison, Ben walks with ease around Kentlands, a New Urbanist development in Maryland.
The American Prospect
OK City Not OK for Walking
Jeff Speck takes a walk in Oklahoma City and finds too-wide streets, too-low density and too much danger for pedestrians.
The Oklahoman



















