Places Journal

Sign at Oil City, Louisiana

Friday Eye Candy: Photo Series Captures Abandoned Oil Wells

A photographer documents the 'orphan wells' strewn across northwest Louisiana in a stark reminder of our deep entanglement with fossil fuels.

July 9, 2021 - Places Journal

Blank Wall

The Race Barriers of American Cities

The United States has a long and insidious history of erecting structures to control the movements of African Americans in urban and suburban spaces.

December 9, 2020 - Places Journal

Oakland Architecture in Music Video

Does Oakland Have a Future as a Public City?

The city is experiencing significant growth and development, but it has a complicated history of booms and lags and its civic future is uncertain.

May 30, 2019 - Places Journal

Los Angeles

Unequal Distribution of Shade Is Environmental Injustice

A longread, written by Sam Boch and published by Places Journal, has been creating a stir online and is highly recommended for those with an interest in intersections between social justice and urban design.

May 3, 2019 - Places Journal

Redlining Map

A Reading List on Exclusion and Racism in the Legal History in the United States

The legal history of the United States is full of laws designed to exclude and segregate the racialized other. This reading list recommends scholarship that sheds light on that history.

March 6, 2019 - Places Journal

Road Maintenance

The Study of Maintenance

A highly recommended long-read, published by Places Journal, lays the groundwork for the study of maintenance and care.

December 10, 2018 - Places Journal

Minecraft Model

Real World Lessons From the Virtual World of Minecraft

The popular game Minecraft offers deep lessons what building in the virtual world means in the real world.

August 9, 2018 - Places Journal

Frank Lloyd Wright Oak Park

National or Regional? Finding American Identity in Architecture

In an extended discussion, Keith Eggener examines what it means for a work of architecture to be "naturally" American, and why looking at modern American styles through an intensively regional lens may be unhelpful.

September 15, 2017 - Places Journal

Polling Place

Density is Destiny: Voting Records Mirror Proximity to Neighbors

Urban densities tend to encourage more liberal, tolerant values. Living among diverse neighbors can reduce fear and resentment, as everyday interactions break down stereotypes and misconceptions of ‘the other.’

April 20, 2017 - Places Journal

Where Transit and Inequality Intersect in Baltimore

The "Inequality Chronicles," now in their third installment by Places Journal, are essential reading.

March 26, 2016 - Places Journal

A Chronicle of Inequality—Starting with Memphis and Houston

Places Journal has launched a series titled "The Inequality Chronicles." Expect high-quality longform articles.

March 15, 2016 - Places Journal

Reyner Banham: The Man Who Wrote Too Well

Reyner Banham lost review of the designs of crash-test dummies.

September 12, 2015 - Places Journal

iUrbanism

Insightful designers continue to seek a better future for Los Angeles architecture by way of L.A. urbanism.

July 20, 2015 - Places Journal

Adapting Landscape Architecture to the Anthropocene

As the effects of humans accelerate the changes occurring on the planet, landscape architects and planners alike will need to take into account ways that civilization can adapt to a lack of stability.

July 4, 2015 - Places Journal

Planning for Climate Change on the Shores of the Great Lakes

Two academic researchers explain the planning and landscape architecture opportunities offered by the "dramatic fluctuations" and "emergent shorelands" of the Great Lakes Coasts.

March 25, 2015 - Places Journal

Places Journal Launches New Tool for Public Scholarship

Places Journal has just launched Reading Lists: a new, interactive tool that enables readers to create and share topical lists of articles, books, and other media from diverse sources.

March 13, 2015 - Places Journal

A History of 'Urban Dashboards' and their Impact on City Governance

Welcome to the age of "Dashboard Governance"—when a good user interface offers the potential for performance advantages to city management.

March 9, 2015 - Places Journal

Los Angeles Smog

A History of Non-Planning (and its Contemporary Effects)

An article by Woodbury University Professor Anthony Fontenot examines the effects of a history of opposition to planning as a centralized arm of the state, and proposes a way forward.

January 13, 2015 - Places Journal

10 Years After the Indonesian Tsunami: Rehousing for Resilience

What can rehousing initiatives teach us about the ongoing struggle for urban resilience?

December 23, 2014 - Places Journal

'History of the Present' Series Examines Profound Urban Transformations

Emerging from a half century of dictatorship, can Myanmar's principal city be a model of sustainable, democratic development?

October 6, 2014 - Places Journal

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.