Asia-Pacific

China, Japan, other South East Asian countries, Australia, New Zealand, and Pacific Islands countries.

Friday Funny: The Amazing Disappearing House

A woman in Russia returned home form vacation recently to an empty plot of land. Her home was mistakenly demolished as developers readied a site for new construction.

January 25, 2008 - Associated Press

Pentagon Looks Toward Space For Solar Power On Earth

The Pentagon and an international consortium are investigating the feasibility of 'beaming back' solar energy from a network of space-based satellites and Pacific island-based antennae that could begin operating as early as 2012.

December 27, 2007 - AP via San Francisco Chronicle

Land of the Living, Dead

Vice Magazine presents this photo essay on a cemetery in Manila that is heavily populated with both the living and the dead. More than 10,000 families make this graveyard their home.

December 17, 2007 - Vice Magazine

Japanese Urban Centers Fading In Rural Prefectures

Smaller cities in rural areas of Japan are being gutted out, as big box centers continue to sprout up outside cities.

December 6, 2007 - International Herald Tribune

Turning Around Japan's Declining Towns

Many Japanese cities are in decline, and people there are counting on the new prime minister to put a stop to it.

December 3, 2007 - Der Spiegel

The Continent of Garbage

A vortex of winds has concentrated garbage and plastic flotsam into a huge island of garbage in the middle of the Pacific Ocean -- an unintentionally man-made mass that is growing at a rapid pace.

November 22, 2007 - The Tyee

The Singing Streets Of Japan

Road designers in Japan have created a system of specialized grooves on highway pavement that produce melodies when cars drive over them at certain speeds.

November 14, 2007 - The Guardian

Intimately-Integrated Transit

This post from Salon shows a video of a train that travels right through a market in Bangkok.

October 19, 2007 - Salon

Japan's Development Pace Threatens Environment

Rapid building and public works projects are destroying much of the natural environment in Japan, a country that lays 25 to 30 times more concrete than the U.S.

October 11, 2007 - NPR

Mixed Feelings Over New Town In Hanoi

A $7 billion new town is being planned in Vietnam, across the Red River from capital city Hanoi. And though the creation of thousands of new houses is welcomed, many are concerned about development along the sensitive riverfront.

October 3, 2007 - VietNamNet Bridge

An Aging Population Leaves Future Of Cities Uncertain In Japan

Japan's population is aging, and could drop by more than one-quarter of its size within 50 years. Many are calling on the government to plan for the diminishing population, and for how it will affect many of the country's cities and suburbs.

September 27, 2007 - The Washington Post

Japan's Reforestation Problem: Leeches

Japan's leech invasion may be an unintended consequence of successful reforestation efforts combined with rural population declines.

September 10, 2007 - Salon

Friday Funny: To Prevent Global Warming, New Zealand Proposes 'Fart Tax'

In New Zealand, its not so much people, but methane-producing livestock that's the problem. A revived government proposal would tax farmers for their animal's gas emissions.

August 3, 2007 - Stuff.co.nz

Landfill Doubles As Eco-Preserve

The landfill on the island of Pulau Semakau is designed to store the waste from the city-state of Singapore while preserving the ecological health of the surrounding environment.

July 27, 2007 - CNN

Temporary Tokyo And Its Shifting Visions Of The Future

Tokyo is rapidly developing -- and redeveloping. One of the unique characteristics about the city is the temporal nature of its buildings and spaces, which are often replaced after very short lives with new visions of the city's future.

June 6, 2007 - Wired

Urbanization And Declining Birth Rates In Asia

Birth rates have been steadily declining in many Asian countries -- a trend some are attributing partly to rapid industrialization and urbanization.

May 21, 2007 - International Herald Tribune

North-South Rail Route To Reopen In Koreas

The governments of North and South Korea have agreed on plans to create a cross-border train route -- the first such rail crossing in more than 50 years.

May 12, 2007 - BBC

Nations Unite To Ban Destructive Fishing Technique

An agreement between 21 nations has banned the highly destructive commercial fishing practice known as bottom trawling in the South Pacific seas, which accounts for more than one-quarter of the world's oceans.

May 8, 2007 - BBC

Malaysia's Large-Scale Plans For Economic Development

The Malaysian government is hoping its new mega-plans for an expansive 21st Century economic hub will bring more action to the country, where other big projects have not lived up to their economic potential.

May 4, 2007 - International Herald Tribune

Tokyo Project Sets Mixed Use 'Benchmark'

This report looks at the new Tokyo Midtown mega-development, which the author suggests will become the new standard for mixed use.

April 16, 2007 - International Herald Tribune

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.

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.