Asia-Pacific

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

Arriving in Texas: the Shinkansen Bullet Train

The Houston to Dallas high speed rail train will be built with the cooperation of Japan's Central Railway, a longtime successful and profitable operator of Shinkansen bullet train lines. Securing the private financing is key to the project.

August 20, 2014 - The Texas Tribune

Floating Vertical Farms Could Deliver and Monitor Food Production in Dense Cities

Known for its density with nearly 20,000 people per square mile, Singapore is changing its food systems strategy to produce more food locally, and reduce food waste.

August 6, 2014 - Fast Company Co.Exist

United States Overtakes Saudi Arabia as World's #1 Oil Producer

Bloomberg News shares news of a report showing that the surge in shale oil production has made the United States the top oil and natural gas liquids producer in the first quarter of 2014 and discusses its impact on domestic and global oil prices.

July 7, 2014 - Bloomberg News

World Bank Study Finds Large-Scale Benefits for 'Climate-Smart Development'

A new study by the World Bank examines the benefits for policies addressing clean transportation, energy efficiency in industry, and energy efficiency in buildings in five countries and the European Union.

June 26, 2014 - The World Bank

Hong Kong Towers

Friday Eye Candy: A Photo Critique of Asia's Megacities

Michael Wolf is a 60-year-old German photojournalist living in Hong Kong. In a recent interview, he describes his various projects in capturing the lives of the millions who call Asian megacities home.

May 23, 2014 - Vice

Dispersing Transit Commutes with Financial Incentives and Data

Urban Engines uses real-time transit data, and raffles, to encourage transit riders to commute during non-peak hours.

May 18, 2014 - CityLab

A Primer on Zoning in Japan

An intrepid blogger digs into the differences between Japanese zoning regulations and those here in the United States.

April 22, 2014 - Urban Kchoze

Are Environmentalists Digging Their Own Fracking Hole in Opposing Natural Gas Exports?

In a pair of articles, The Hill's energy and environment blogger Timothy Cara looks at political efforts to increase natural gas exports to Europe on account of Russia's annexation of Crimea, part of Ukraine, and environmental groups opposed to it.

March 24, 2014 - The Hill

Natural Gas Dependence Hobbles Western Response to Crimean Crisis

With the Crimean referendum just days away, President Obama hopes that economic sanctions will cause Russia to back-off its threatened annexation from Ukraine. However, Europe may be unlikely to go along due to it's dependence on Russian natural gas.

March 11, 2014 - Living on Earth

Chinese Cities Consider Congestion Pricing

Air pollution and traffic are choking China's largest cities: a recent conference reveals that officials are looking to solve these twin transportation problems with economics.

December 28, 2013 - StreetsBlog NYC

10 Lessons From 'Un-Smart' Cities

Technology company Ericsson has published its 2013 list of the world's cities with the best information and communications technology (ICT) networks, but there are also good things happening in the cities with the least developed networks.

November 29, 2013 - Future Cities

Desperation Grows in the Philippines As Aid is Slow to Arrive

As disaster relief efforts began to grow in the Philippine city of Tacloban and surrounding areas in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan, logistical difficulties are hampering aid efforts. 90 percent of the city is thought to have been destroyed.

November 13, 2013 - BBC News

The Super Typhoon and Climate Change

The head of the Philippines delegation at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Warsaw suggests climate change is responsible for Typhoon Haiyan. Is he right? Quartz investigates the connection.

November 12, 2013 - Quartz

Philippines Devastated by Record Typhoon

Reports of horrific destruction are starting to emerge after one of the strongest storms on record slammed the Philippines over the weekend. The government estimates that 10 percent of the country has been affected.

November 11, 2013 - The Washington Post

Hong Kong to Get a Carbon Labelling Scheme to Fight CO2

The Construction Industry Council is launching a Carbon Labelling Scheme for Construction Materials in December 2013, the purpose of which is to communicate verifiable and accurate information on the carbon footprint of construction materials.

November 3, 2013 - Future Cities

New Rail Tunnel is First to Join Two Continents

On the 90th anniversary of the founding of modern Turkey, officials realized a vision dreamt by an Ottoman sultan by inaugurating a rail tunnel beneath the Bosporus to connect Asia and Europe. Critics have questioned the tunnel's safety.

October 30, 2013 - The New York Times

What a Rich Client and Complete Design Freedom Produces

In a slideshow of stunning photos by renowned photographer Iwan Baan, The New York Times shows the latest example of what spending an estimated $6 billion a year on architectural splendors will buy you.

October 13, 2013 - The New York Times

Preservation of World's Cultural Treasures Goes Digital

Using high definition scanners, digital modeling, and Scan-to-BIM software, consultants and non-profits are helping to restore historic structures following natural disasters, and cataloging treasures before calamity strikes.

October 7, 2013 - The Architect's Newspaper

Award-Winning Project Imagines Insects Will Solve Urban Hunger

A team of Canadian MBA students has won $1 million to alleviate urban hunger with insect-based foods, reports Mary Jander.

September 29, 2013 - Future Cities

10 Cities Most at Risk From Natural Disasters

Natural disasters affect millions of people each year, and cost between $60 billion and $100 billion worldwide. Here are the 10 global cities most at risk.

September 25, 2013 - Future Cities

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.

Community Development Director

City of Wisconsin Rapids

Professor of Urban Planning

Harvard University Graduate School of Design

Transportation Planner I

KFH Group Inc.

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

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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.