Urban Development

With Los Angeles, Charlotte, Washington D.C. and many more cities hoping on board, seats are filling up quickly on America's streetcar bandwagon. However, experts caution gung ho cities about unreal expectations for improving mobility.
21 hours ago   The Atlantic Cities
Is revitalization without displacement possible? Although it's a harder and longer process than unmitigated gentrification, Brent Toderian argues that "positive and responsible change" can coexist with the maintenance of existing communities.
Yesterday   HuffPost British Columbia
A proposal for a vertical neighborhood in Delhi is long on height but short on insight, according to Greg Randolph of the American India Foundation. Is Delhi ‘poised to repeat the public housing mistakes of the West’?
2 days ago   The Global Urbanist
After more than a decade of planning, the ambitious Clichy Batignolles project is rising in northwest Paris. The development is an attempt to stay competitive in the global marketplace, without compromising the city's world-renowned charms.
2 days ago   The New York Times
A new report paints a grim picture of San Francisco’s traffic future. Without radical reductions in auto usage, the city’s downtown will be ‘mired in gridlock.’ Is a controversial congestion pricing scheme the solution?
2 days ago   The San Francisco Examiner
With new luxury high-rises sprouting in a densifying Hollywood, and many more on the way, those hawking penthouses priced between $1-$45 million play up the unique amenities and play down the messy reality of a changing neighborhood.
3 days ago   Los Angeles Times
Liven up your comprehensive planning effort Texas style. Matthew Lewis, Development Director for the city of San Marcos, used everything from Legos to "design rodeos" (i.e. Texas charrettes) to get to common ground.
4 days ago   PlaceShakers
The chief minister of the Indian state of Maharashtra (home to Mumbai) is pushing to rationalize the region's density controls, which had been prone to abuse by developers. Some fear the controls will result in more homogenous designs.
4 days ago   The Financial Times
Chuck Wolfe champions the 'urban diary' tool as a universal means to understand the city around us.
5 days ago   Crosscut
Once upon a time two competing shoe salesmen together visited an isolated community. After investigating the area one sent a telegram back to his office which read, “I’m returning tomorrow. Nobody here wears shoes!” while the other sent a telegram which read, “Send more product. Opinion
6 days ago   By Todd Litman
Speaking at an event this week, Detroit's economic development czar was unabashed in his support of gentrification for the troubled city. The subject is a sore one for a city that still recalls the rampant black displacement of the 1940s and ’50s.
May 17, 2013   Motor City Muckraker