The Wall Street Journal

The gaze of the world's starchitects has turned lovingly towards the lowly parking garage. New projects by Zaha Hadid, Herzog & de Meuron, Frank Gehry, and Enrique Norten in Miami give a makeover to the Cinderella of structures.

However one's feelings on zoning, New York City's Resolution has changed over the years to positively reinforce good social initiatives over the outright banishment of negative uses, Julie V. Iovine reports.

Catering to potential office tenants who would want more modern spaces, New York City officials are toying with rezoning a swath of midtown Manhattan, allowing for even more density and the replacement of aging office buildings.

University Place, Washington is a small town struggling through the recession. With its credit rating recently downgraded and labeled a "negative outlook," the town is facing new challenges as it tries to emerge from the hole.

Call it megachurch fatigue: A proposed Sufism Reoriented sanctuary is just one of an increasing number of religious developments facing no shortage of community backlash in northern California.

In a recent report about Malaysia, the World Bank has said that the capital's urban sprawl is transforming it into a "mini Los Angeles" rather than a densely populated Asian City.

The city and federal DOT have decided against a $600 million plan that would introduce light rail and, subsequently, more residents to the city. Instead, money will go to improving a notoriously unreliable bus system.

The plan to historically designate downtown Brooklyn's skyscrapers, which has been approved by the Landmarks Preservation Commission, is facing backlash from the city's Real Estate Board.

Long the sole preserve of Manhattan developers, Brooklyn is now the setting for its own race to the sky. Two developers are planning to break ground next year on residential buildings that will loom nearly 100 ft over any of their predecessors.

Various reports detail how Mumbai can become a world-class city by listing infrastructure and development goals, but, as Nayantara Kilachand points out, "cultural and social nuance" need to be--but aren't--factored in.

Chumbo (Chinatown Under the Manhattan Bridge) is drawing young creative types to a slice of Chinatown with--what else--low rent. Is this neighborhood within a neighborhood big enough for long-time residents and newcomers?

With the increasing popularity of online shopping, many shopping centers are losing retailers left and right. More unusual tenants are filling in the gaps, like gun ranges and bounce houses.

Durham-Chapel Hill, North Carolina and Titusvilla, Florida are metropolitan areas that grew faster than the national average in 2010, reports Ben Casselman for The Wall Street Journal.

Joining Yelp, Net-A-Porter, and Apple, tech companies find a new hub in Union Square (aka "Silicon Square").

Obama supports Boxer's 2-year transportation reauthorization bill over Mica's 6-year bill. However, both bills greatly increase funding for the Transportation Infrastructure and Innovative Finance Act.

Plans are moving ahead to convert Berlin's Tempelhof airfield into the city's newest park.

In interviews with key figures at four of the most influential European architecture firms, the constant theme was that architecture philosophy needs to recognize that eco-friendly design is the future of design innovation.

For a city of over 16,000 people per square mile, less than 7% of Hong Kong's land is designated for residential use. Subdivided apartments - aka "coffin units" - totaling 150 square feet aren't uncommon, reports The Wall Street Journal.

Federal officials are being sent to work in six cities including Detroit, Cleveland and New Orleans to help coordinate local officials to "tap federal funds and leverage local and regional resources," The Wall Street Journal's Sharon Terlep reports.

A new finding by Univ. of Wisconsin Population Health Institute reveals that when the health variable is isolated, suburban living beats living in the city and in rural areas.