Community / Economic Development
How Much Did the Super Bowl Cost Taxpayers This Year?
With the Super Bowl just around the corner, it's time to reconsider the allegiance of cities to professional sports teams.
Human-Scaled Photos Make Urban Issues Accessible
Chile's most influential newspaper makes urban issues accessible and interesting to millions by using 'human-scaled' and annotated panoramic photos in its local coverage.
6 Easy Ways to Make a City More Livable
Baltimore has a lot of bold ideas for changing the face of the city. While we wait for them to happen, why not implement some simple solutions for making the city more livable, proposes Mark R. Brown, AICP.
Creating a Defined Urban Core Just Outside the Nation's Capitol
Montgomery County planner John Marcolin details the ongoing creation of an urban core in Silver Spring, Maryland, the thriving unincorporated area just northeast of Washington, D.C.
Placemaking Is About More Than Just 'Cool Urban Amenities'
Brendan Crain responds to recent criticism of placemaking as a counterproductive and superficial pursuit with a defense of the social and economic capital building elements that are the foundation, and outcome, of the process.
Talent Clustering: A Wide or Narrow Benefit?
Experts have disagreed about the net effect of America's increasing clustering of highly skilled and affluent citizens in a relatively small number of metro areas. Richard Florida examines who benefits and who loses from this process.
Chain Creep: Coming to a Small Town, or Big City, Near You
Dollar stores were already a presence in rural communities, but recession has caused dollar chains to ramp up development to keep pace with the public's growing need to stretch their paychecks. Urban communities aren't immune from chain creep either.
Picturing Ten Urban Qualities Important for Every City
Writing in The Atlantic Cities, Chuck Wolfe provides ten illustrated examples of enjoyable environments that reflect an evolving recognition for the qualitative aspects of the urban experience.
To Unleash Dallas's Building Boom, Tear Down a Freeway
Patrick Kennedy proposes an elegant and cost-effective way to deal with Dallas's aging elevated freeway and the city's "massive pent-up demand for walkable urban housing" - tear the sucker down.
Sandy Damaged Homes Sold 'As Is' for Millions
Homes in the Rockaways are being marketed and sold in the battered conditions that Hurricane Sandy left them, reports Elizabeth A. Harris. Existing residents view them as investment opportunities, but long-term market conditions are uncertain.
The Emerging Asian City: An Interview with Vinayak Bharne
The publication of the 24 chapter volume “The Emerging Asian City: Concomitant Urbanities & Urbanisms”, brings together some of the most significant emerging voices and thoughts on the forces and phenomenologies shaping urban Asia today.
Collaborative Planning Effort Seeks to Transform L.A.'s Riverfront
Efforts to transform L.A.'s maligned river into a public and economic asset got a boost last week with the establishment of a cross-disciplinary and cross-agency planning effort focused on an eight-mile stretch of the river.
Community Dynamics: Stoking or Choking Collective Planning Efforts?
Does your community allow the perfect to become the enemy of the good? Scott Doyon kicks off an ongoing look at community-unfriendly behaviors.
Re-Positioning Cities at the Core of Global Trade
Recalling the structure of ancient trade hubs, the Brookings Institute’s Alan Berube calls for local and national policies to once again place cities at the center of international trading strategies.
Stop Segregating the Rich! Fighting Displacement Fights Crime
Isolating poor residents from rich ones is not only bad for those being segregated, it leads to the worst outcomes for a city as a whole. Fighting displacement results in less crime and more stable and healthy communities.
Can Planning Policies Solve India’s Gender Divide?
As recent headlines reveal the insecurity faced by women in India’s largest cities, the role – and responsibility – of urban planning is being questioned.
Chicago Area Taking Aggressive Steps to Stabilize Housing Market
Although the nation's housing market appears to be improving, the foreclosure crisis is far from over. Following in the footsteps of other localities, Cook County, Illinois, is creating a countywide land bank to help address its foreclosures.
Public Process and the Perils of Dismissive Engagement
Steve Jobs said, "People don’t know what they want until you show it to them.” So why do planners keep asking people what they'd like to see? Scott Doyon believes it's time to dig deeper.
Real Estate, not Gun, Battles Define Tranformed Rio Favela
Jonathan Watts reports on the transformation of the Vidigal favela in Rio de Janeiro. With drug gangs kicked out, wealthy buyers have moved in, and rental prices have surged. But has the neighborhood changed for the better?
A New Urban Role for China’s Evolving Shopping Malls
As the structure of China’s urban shopping malls evolves into large-scale, multi-use “lifestyle complexes”, so too does their role in the social and cultural fabric of metropolitan society.
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.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority
