Community / Economic Development

Yacht Race to Bring New Cruise Terminal to San Francisco

As San Francisco prepares to host the America's Cup yacht race in 2013, one of the key building areas for the event is also being fast-tracked as the site of a new cruise terminal.

June 23, 2011 - San Francisco Chronicle

High Rise Boomlet Bringing Good and Bad to Chicago

High rise apartment construction is set to take off again in Chicago, though it's unclear for how long and whether the resulting projects will have a positive lasting impact on the city.

June 23, 2011 - Chicago Tribune

China's Superhighway on Kenyan Soil

Three Chinese companies are building a 31-mile highway to the Kenyan capital of Nairobi. It's a move locals see as an effort to gain favor with the Kenyan government.

June 23, 2011 - NPR

Western Australia's Capital Envisions its Transformation

Recently released Capital City Planning Framework for Perth outlines a mixed-use city that is both livable and welcoming to outsiders.

June 22, 2011 - Architecture & Design

A Neighborhood of Stairs

The La Independencia neighborhood in Medellin, Colombia sprawls up a hillside, leaving the inhabitants to walk up to 10 flights of stairs every day. An ambitious development program is considering building an outdoor network of escalators.

June 22, 2011 - TheCityFix.com

Reviewing Recent Books on Cities

In reviewing a handful of new books looking at cities and how they work, this piece from The New Yorker glosses over the current thinking behind the urban conversation and wonders if city celebration has gone too far.

June 21, 2011 - The New Yorker

Stalled Developments Documented

Photographer Daniel Kariko focuses on issues of land use in sensitive environments. His latest work looks at stalled suburban housing developments in the U.S.

June 21, 2011 - domus

Stagnant Sales Hamper Chicago's Revitalization Efforts

Failing to attract buyers even with deep discounts, developers are starting to bail out on Plan for Transformation, an ambitious program that seeks to replace moribund public housing projects with mixed-income housing.

June 20, 2011 - Chicago Tribune

Chinese Ghost Cities on the Rise

A year after taking a look at the new but empty cities being created in China, Business Insider takes a trip back to see what's changed in those brand new and unoccupied cities.

June 19, 2011 - Business Insider

Opportunities for Big-Box Developments Abound Across the Northern Border

After being hidden in plain sight for decades, Canada now emerges as the hot spot for U.S. "international" investment.

June 19, 2011 - Retail Traffic

St. Louis Streetcar On Path to Revival

Plans to revive a decades-dead streetcar loop in St. Louis are gathering steam.

June 18, 2011 - St. Louis Post-Dispatch

A Pool in the River

This Kickstarter campaign is hoping to raise money to build a floating pool in the waters around New York City that use and filter river water to provide a public swimming facility.

June 18, 2011 - Kickstarter

Marketing Cities as Products in China

City development has become a close cousin to product sales in China, where developers are finding new ways to market their services as suites of urban products.

June 18, 2011 - Ad Age

South Korea to Build New Capital for Southern Sudan

The new country of Southern Sudan, officially declaring its independence in July, will have help from the national development arm of South Korea in building a proposed new capital city.

June 17, 2011 - Gulf News

Cities Try New Approaches to Fund Streetcars

As federal transportation funding grows increasingly uncertain, cities across the country are trying new approaches to generate funds for their planned streetcar projects.

June 17, 2011 - Urban Land

The Ponzi Scheme that Created the Suburbs

Charles Marohn explains how cities and towns failed to consider the future expense of expanded infrastructure to new suburban developments.

June 16, 2011 - New Urban Network

Clashing Strategies for Preserving Historic Community

Hannibal Square in Winter Park, Florida has a long history as an African-American community, dating back to the 19th century. Today, a community land trust, a redevelopment agency and other groups are approaching the community with different goals.

June 16, 2011 - Next American City

Rust Belt Mayors Are Greening Brownfields

With the unlikely help of a group called the Mayors Automotive Coalition, down-at-the-heels towns are reinventing themselves - in various shades of green.

June 15, 2011 - OnEarth

Density, Closer to the Ground

Vancouver, Canada, famous for its dense downtown development, is changing tack slightly with a transit corridor from downtown to the airport, bringing building heights down mostly to 4 to 12 stories.

June 15, 2011 - New Urban Network

Realizing Fast-Forward Urbanism

Top-down and bottom-up planning are brushed aside in favor of the concept of a middle ground approach in the new book "Fast-Forward Urbanism: Rethinking Architecture's Engagement with the City". It could work, according to this review.

June 14, 2011 - The Architect's Newspaper

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.

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.