James Brasuell, AICP is the former editorial director of Planetizen and is now a senior public affairs specialist at the Southern California Association of Governments. James managed all editorial content and direction for Planetizen from 2014 to 2023, and was promoted from manging editor to editorial director in 2021. After a first career as a class five white water river guide in Trinity County in Northern California, James started his career in Los Angeles as a volunteer at a risk reduction center in Skid Row. Prior to joining Planetizen, James worked at the Cal Poly Pomona College of Environmental Design, as an editor at Curbed LA, as editor of The Planning Report, and as a freelance contributor for The Architect’s Newspaper, the Urban Land Institute – Los Angeles Chapter, FORM, KCET, and the California Planning & Development Report.
On the Legacy and Unfulfilled Potential of Shopping Malls
The origin story of one of the definitively American typologies—the shopping mall—is one of unintended consequences run amok. Could the next chapter of this story come closer to the author's intention?
The Past and Future of Architecture Criticism
How much do the challenges of the built environment require a thoughtful and informed media? What is the role of traditional architecture criticism in the world of aggregators, snark, and armchair urbanists?
How Data Privatization Will Change Planning Practice
Planners will be presented with new challenges and opportunities in a new era of data-enhanced government.
Learning from the Las Vegas Recovery
The recovery of Las Vegas, hit hard by the Great Recession, resembles the recovery of the rest of the country—uneven and innovative.
Mayor de Blasio Op-Ed Supports New Regulations for Uber
An op-ed by Mayor Bill de Blasio declares that the time has come to regulate transportation companies like Uber.