Architecture

Brightly colored pale blue, dark blue, and coral row houses in Baltimore, Maryland.

The Key Role of Row Houses in Philadelphia and Baltimore

The row house is ubiquitous in the two cities, but their policies on design and preservation vary widely.

February 2, 2025 - North Penn Now

Aerial view of Waikiki Beach with hotels and mountains in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Rising Above: Innovative Solutions for Waikīkī’s Sea-Level Challenges

The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s award-winning Waikīkī sea-level rise adaptation project combines science, architecture, and community input to create scalable solutions for climate resilience and coastal flood mitigation.

January 28, 2025 - University of Hawai'i News

Firestone tire shop in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Avoiding Misplacement of a Place

To balance the interests of current residents and economic well-being, does a city's signature identity need an update?

January 28, 2025 - Resurgence: A Journey via Substack

Office buildings in downtown Washington, D.C.

DC Announces ‘Office to Anything’ Adaptive Reuse Program

The program complements an existing residential conversion initiative and could yield up to 2.5 million square feet of new commercial space.

January 23, 2025 - ABC 7 News

Circular concrete water tower in Helsingborg, Sweden.

Innovative Water Towers Popping Up in Sweden

Swedish cities are encouraging designers to dramatically reimagine the humble water tower.

January 9, 2025 - Fast Company

Large brutalist building and skyscrapers viewed from middle of wide street in downtown Houston, Texas.

Research Links Urban Design and Human Happiness

An emerging field of ‘neuroarchitectural’ research is revealing how building facades and urban design impact the human brain and body.

January 3, 2025 - Wired

Large Walmart store with empty parking lot.

How Smaller Supermarkets Could Transform American Communities

Bigger is not always better.

January 2, 2025 - Marcelo Remond

Spikes on building designed to prevent people from sitting.

One Year Into Brazil’s ‘Hostile Architecture’ Ban

A recent law prohibits ‘defensive’ architecture designed to keep people away from buildings or public spaces.

December 31, 2024 - Next City

Scenic seasonal landscape from above aerial view of a small town in countryside Cleveland, Ohio.

Planetizen’s Top Posts of 2024

The most-read articles on Planetizen in 2024.

December 24, 2024 - Diana Ionescu

'Vertical canyon' on glass-clad residential high-rise in Denver, CO.

Denver's New High-Rise Integrates Vertical Canyon in Architectural Design

Unlike other new builds in Denver, Colorado, a new high-rise reveals a unique “sculptural canyon” running vertically through the facade to foster a sense of community and connection to nature.  

November 29, 2024 - designboom

Black and white still set photograph from Fritz Lang's Metropolis film.

Francis Ford Copolla’s Urban Planning Swan Song

Legendary director Francis Ford Coppola’s likely final major film, Megalopolis, celebrates design and urban planning. It is a dazzling mishmash of architectural, cinematic, and literary history.

October 29, 2024 - CommonEdge Collaborative

Banner for urban planning creators with logos.

Urban Planning Creators You Should Know in 2024

Whether you’re a TikTok enthusiast or a Substack reader, you can find plenty of valuable and engaging urban planning content in the new media landscape.

October 11, 2024 - Planetizen

Close-up on red and white "Office space for lease" sign in window of office building.

Office Vacancies Drag Down Property Taxes

Downtown office buildings around the country are selling for much lower prices than before the pandemic, prompting questions about the future of central business districts.

September 15, 2024 - Governing

Apartment buildings under construction with crane.

Study: Retrofitting Old Buildings Has Lower Total Carbon Footprint Than New Construction

A study of over a million Chicago buildings assessed their ‘embodied carbon’ footprint over their lifetimes, showing that demolishing an old building in favor of a new one almost always produced more emissions.

September 12, 2024 - Smart Cities Dive

Adaptively reused textile mill in Fort Mill, South Carolina.

A Guide to Regulating Adaptive Reuse

How building codes and zoning laws can guide the safe and effective conversion of existing properties to residential units.

September 5, 2024 - Pro Builder

Google Maps street view of new office tower in Atlanta, Georgia.

Fourth Ward Project Aims for Sustainability on Atlanta's Beltline

A new megaproject hopes to bring new life to a former industrial site.

September 5, 2024 - Metropolis

Indoor view of PDX's new massive airport terminal with a wooden beamed roof and skylight.

PDX International Airport’s New Terminal Is a Mass-Timber Marvel

Needing to expand to accommodate 35 million annual passengers by 2045 but constrained by Portland’s urban growth boundary, PDX had to think outside the box when planning its expansion. The result is a case study in sustainability.

September 1, 2024 - Metropolis

Bike parked on urban sidewalk with large street trees.

Sustainable Urban Design: A New Tool and Approach on The Talking Headways Podcast

Discover how the Sustainable Urban Design Framework helps planners create livable, sustainable communities. Nico Larco from the University of Oregon explores a new tool and book in the latest “Talking Headways” podcast.

August 14, 2024 - Streetsblog USA

Ladder going down into kiva ruin in New Mexico.

The Meaning of Ruins on the Landscape

In the latest in a far ranging series of interest to planners—centered on contrasts between urban and natural environments—Chuck Wolfe speculates about the role of ruins in urban and natural environments.

August 8, 2024 - Resurgence: A Journey via Substack

Google street view looking up at historic Chicago skyscrapers.

Chicago Towers Recommended for Adaptive Reuse

Once slated for demolition, two historic buildings owned by the federal government will be restored for new uses.

August 8, 2024 - WTTV

FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?

After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.

Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold

The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.

Senior Planner

City of Thousand Oaks

Community Development Director

City of Wisconsin Rapids

Professor of Urban Planning

Harvard University Graduate School of Design

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

100 Most Influential Urbanists

The who's who of urbanism, according to Planetizen readers.

Urban Planning Creators You Should Know

A short list of voices on social, video, and podcasting platforms.