Education & Careers

How Important is Your Graduate Planning Specialty or Concentration?
As students plan their spring semester courses and make early plans for the summer, they often wonder how to choose a planning specialization or concentration. They ask how important the concentration is for their future career as a planner.
New Organization Seeks to End Exploitation of Architects
The architectural profession is notorious for overworking and under-compensating its workforce. A new organization seeks to empower architects by promoting the value of their work and fighting for better working conditions.

Holiday Gift Ideas for the Plan-Nerd
Holiday gift recommendations for your urban planning geek friend or family member (or yourself) from L.A.'s ultra-plan-nerd, Clement Lau.

The 100 "Best" Books on City-Making Ever Written?
After looking over his extensive library of books on urbanism, Brent Toderian selects the 100 best books on city-making that he's collected and read over the years.
Texas to Require Fingerprinting of Architects
Already one of only two states to require criminal background checks of registered architects, the Texas legislature has gone one step further by requiring them to be fingerprinted. It's the first state in the country to embrace the practice.
Ranking Architects' Favorite Architects
BD is out with its annual list of the architecture firms most admired by their colleagues. A number of large commercial practices joined avant-garde firms in the top 10.
A Look at the Remarkable Career of Laurie Olin
The tenth entry in the Cultural Landscape Foundation's award-winning Pioneers of American Landscape Design series features the renowned landscape architect Laurie Olin, recent winner of the National Medal of the Arts.
A Call for Planning to Better Address Social Issues
Does planning possess the power to address the issues people care about? Kate Henderson, with the UK's Town and Country Planning Association, discusses the results of a year-long study into how planning can help tackle poverty and exclusion.

Kanye West Delivers Desktop Pep Talk at Harvard GSD
Musician and aspiring designer Kanye West stopped by Harvard’s Graduate School of Design for a surprise visit Sunday evening and delivered what Jenny Xie calls a manifesto on architecture.
JPER’s Top Cited Articles: The Debate over Communicative Planning
JPER has existed since the early 1980s but 4 of the top 5 articles date from the mid-1990s to the early 2000s and focus on the theory behind collaboration and communication in planning.
Planning May Pay Decently, But Is It Low-Stress?
Urban and Regional Planning has landed a spot on Business Insider's list of the "15 High-Paying Jobs For People Who Don't Like Stress", a claim we're sure some of you may take issue with.
Planning Takes Center Stage in Broadway-Bound Musical
Liisa Ecola reviews “If/Then”, a new musical that follows the personal and professional paths chosen by professional planners. There's a good chance this will be the first Broadway musical to feature a heroine who has a PhD in city planning.
Planning and Public Health's Historic Bond and Disconnection
To meet America's health challenges, planning and public health are becoming reconnected across the country. But a century ago, the fields were "nearly indistinguishable". How did they become disconnected in the first place?

What Is Planning?
By analyzing the areas of expertise and interests of 851 undergraduate and graduate planning faculty members, Tom Sanchez investigates what planning is, what it is not, and what it could be.
NYC: 7 Things at Risk, Post-Bloomberg
As Mayor Bloomberg gets set to leave office in New York, here are 7 things that may dramatically change under a new administration.
10 Traits of 'Globally Fluent' Cities
City leaders are constantly told technology is making the world smaller, and they need to make sure their city competes on a world stage, but how? Here are 10 traits cities must have in order to be "globally fluent."
AIA Pushes for Architecture Peace Corps
The AIA is pushing Congress to establish an AmeriCorps-like program for young architects. With the potential for aiding underserved communities, reducing student loans, and providing recent grads with real-world experience, what's not to like?
Leading Urbanists Adopt Charter Calling for a New Canadian Urban Model
After 5 years of debate, and much handwringing over the use of the word "sprawl", the Council for Canadian Urbanism (CanU) adopted a Charter for Canadian Urbanism at its 5th annual summit in Halifax.
How Are You Celebrating National Community Planning Month?
October is National Community Planning Month in the United States, and the American Planning Association (APA) has launched an informative webpage chock full of resources to help you celebrate this year's theme: People and Places.
Top 10 Civic-Minded Companies
A ranking of the 10 most civic-minded companies holds some surprises -- mainly that the list is dominated by financial services firms.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
New York City School Construction Authority
Village of Glen Ellyn
Central Transportation Planning Staff/Boston Region MPO
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions