Futurism

Elon Musk Gigafactory

A Scathing Critique of Elon Musk's Big Tunneling Idea

Not all ideas are worth attention. What does the fact that ideas like Elon Musk's The Boring Company get so much attention say about the quality of civic discourse, or the potential for planning to improve the built environment?

May 24, 2017 - The Baffler

Hyperloop

The Hyperloop Hype Machine

After another big announcement from the realm of futuristic transportation, there's reason to remain skeptical.

April 15, 2017 - Curbed

Atlanta Bus Parody

Friday Funny: The Future of Mobility Is Now

A new ad by Swedish public transit agency Västtrafik pulls quite a bait and switch.

March 31, 2017 - The Verge

New York Skyline Fisheye

12 Big Ideas for the New York City of the Future

Faced with a surging population and a need for big new ideas, Crain's recently tasked 12 design and planning firms to conjure up creative ideas for the city.

November 2, 2016 - Crain's New York Business

Urban Sky

Y Combinator's New Cities Project Gets Curiouser and Curiouser

The Silicon Valley start-up devoted to reinventing the city made a splashy hire this week.

October 28, 2016 - TechCrunch

Blue Sky

This Tech Company Wants to Build a Better City

There's no shortage of ambition from Silicon Valley startup accelerator and investment firm Y Combinator—which recently announced its intentions to build a prototype city.

June 29, 2016 - Bloomberg

Port

Ten Innovations for the Cities of the Near Future

The World Economic Forum offers a reminder of just how drastically things could change, and soon, in cities.

November 9, 2015 - Citiscope

A Robot to Go the 'Last Mile'

Contrary to one some urbanists believe, some of the advancements of the new economy might better serve less dense, even suburban, environments. Example: a delivery robot created by the co-founders of Skype.

November 6, 2015 - The New York Times

The Hazards of Predicting the Future of Cities

City planners should be wary of any predictions that downplay the unknowability of the future by projecting present conditions onto it.

November 5, 2015 - Thriving Cities Blog

Times Square

Friday Funny: The Signage of the Not-So-Distant Future

A Tumblr called Signs from the Near Future has seen the signs, and has predicted what the signs of the future will look like.

June 6, 2014 - Signs from the Near Future

What if the Smart Cities of the Future Are Full of Bugs?

In an excerpt on Places from his new book, Smart Cities, urban forecaster Anthony Townsend considers the inevitable glitches.

October 14, 2013 - Places Journal

Octagenarian Artist Bequeaths Plans for 'City of Tomorrow'

Futurist Orville Simpson envisioned a hyper-efficient city housed in a single, interconnected mega-complex. Lauren Boettcher explores plans by the University of Cincinnati to take on Simpson's legacy.

June 27, 2012 - Enhanced Online News

Undersea-Oriented Development

Expo 2012 is happening now in Korea, and features a panorama of a futuristic underwater city as part of a focus on future sustainability.

June 26, 2012 - The Vancouver Sun

Automakers Grapple with Urbanization

In a discussion at the Automotive News Europe Congress in Monte Carlo last week, panelists said the trend towards urbanization will require making cars part of a larger eco-system of transportation.

June 24, 2012 - Automotive News

The Next Chapter in the Arcosanti Saga

Michael Tortorello pays a visit to the futurist desert colony to see what's in store as its legendary founder retires and it struggles to remain a bulwark against modern capitalism.

February 17, 2012 - New York Times

How - and Where - Should We Live?

A new report predicts how - and where - we'll be living in the near future, and where planners and developers should focus.

November 19, 2011 - The Atlantic Cities

12 Ultra Modern Home Designs

The Web Urbanist counts down twelve of the best ultra modern home designs with a descriptive slideshow.

November 4, 2011 - Web Urbanist

Rusty "Home of Tomorrow" Up for Preservation

A prefab steel home built in 1933 on the campus of Connecticut College as a futuristic "home of tomorrow". Today, although covered in rust, it is still standing and being prepped for historic preservation.

October 10, 2011 - CBS Connecticut

Planning for Robots

Art student Diego Trujillo-Pisanty is considering what a future of domestic robot servants would do to the built environment.

August 5, 2011 - BLDGBLG

Big City of Dreams

This slideshow from The New York Times looks at a variety of examples of large-scale planning efforts that never materialized.

February 2, 2011 - The New York Times

News from HUD User

HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research

Call for Speakers

Mpact Transit + Community

New Updates on PD&R Edge

HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Websites

The best of the Internet—since 2002.

Top Apps

Planning apps for a brave new world.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

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.