Community / Economic Development

Al Fresco Streets

Parametric Modeling for Planning in Uncertain Times

A new technology- and data-drive approach to planning could provide direction as society faces challenges of unprecedented scale.

November 10, 2020 - Smart Cities Dive

Winter Markets

Winter Is Coming—Capitalize on It

Outdoor dining programs have provided relief for local restaurants and retailers, while offering an oasis of social life for residents. The winter months will challenge that momentum, but creative, flexible approaches can save the day again.

November 9, 2020 - Andrew M. Manshel

Queen Elizabeth

England Begins Second Lockdown to Protect the National Health Service

The day after Election Day in America, the U.K. Parliament voted overwhelmingly to impose a 4-week lockdown in England to ensure that nation's prized healthcare system doesn't collapse due to treating mounting coronavirus infections.

November 8, 2020 - The Independent

Arizona Canal

Phoenix Takes a New Approach on Homelessness

Phoenix is centering housing—affordable housing, permanent supportive housing, and eviction protections—in a new planning framework designed to reduce the number of homeless people living on the streets of the city.

November 4, 2020 - Arizona Republic

Resilient Home

New Collaborations for Land Banks and Community Land Trusts

Land banks and community land trusts are finding new ways to work together in light of the ongoing housing affordability crisis and the new economic pressures of the COVID-19 pandemic.

November 4, 2020 - Land Lines

Mass Shootings

Corona Crisis in America: The Metropolitan Area to Watch

The battle to control the coronavirus in the U.S is being led by 50 governors and the D.C. mayor, but ultimately it is at the local level where decisions are often the most consequential. Among large counties, the crisis is most severe in El Paso.

November 3, 2020 - The Texas Tribune

New York Public Library

How to Build Thriving Digital Public Spaces

Much of communal life now takes place virtually in digital spaces that feel public but are not. The internet needs to be more like our public parks, libraries, and public squares.

November 3, 2020 - Wired

2020 Election

Coronavirus and the Future of Cities: A Final Pre-Election Tour of the Issues

This is Planetizen's seventh collection of articles on the subject of the future of cities in the wake of the pandemic, and how cities and communities are changing plans to respond to the many changes that world has experienced in 2020.

November 3, 2020 - James Brasuell

Outdoor Recreation

Outdoor Recreation Boosted by the Pandemic

The pandemic brought droves of people to Wisconsin’s outdoors, resulting in crowds on trails and at camp sites as well as a growth in the outdoor recreation and manufacturing economy.

November 2, 2020 - Wisconsin State Journal

Drive-Through Coronavirus Testing

'We are Entering the Steep Slope of the Epidemic Curve'

Dr. Scott Gottlieb, President Trump's former Food and Drug Administration commissioner, warned CBS viewers recently that the U.S. was at a "dangerous tipping point" in the pandemic. "We are on the cusp of exponential growth," he added later.

November 1, 2020 - CBS News

Rome, Italy

Friday Fun: Top 25 Destinations for Foodies

Readers of Travel + Leisure voted for their the top food destinations. Keep this list in mind for when we can travel more freely.

October 30, 2020 - Travel + Leisure

Tongass National Forest

Protections Stripped From Alaska's Tongass National Forest

The Trump administration has, in the past week before the election, achieved one of the largest rollbacks of public land protections of its entire tenure.

October 30, 2020 - The Washington Post

Blight Demolition

$160 Million in Bond Funding for Demolitions on the Ballot in Detroit

Proposal N, on the ballot for Detroit voters next week, will provide $160 million in bond funding for demolitions and $90 million to mothball homes for future rehab, but, according to this opinion, it won't solve the city's blight challenges.

October 29, 2020 - Detroit Free Press

Westside Los Angeles

Searching for the 'Urban Mystique'

An excerpt from a new book by Josh Stephens, "The Urban Mystique: Notes on California, Los Angeles, and Beyond," published by Solimar Books.

October 29, 2020 - Josh Stephens

Sfotball Fields

No Place to Play During the Pandemic

Youth sports in America have been devastated by the coronavirus which prompted the shutdown of programs and facilities for play and practice.

October 28, 2020 - The New York Times

Miami, Florida

Revitalization Without Displacement: A New Model From Miami

Upzonings in working class neighborhoods usually provoke political opposition based on concerns about gentrification and displacement. But the new Wynwood Norte Neighborhood Revitalization District in Miami might have worked for a solution.

October 28, 2020 - Miami Herald

Coronavirus and Urbanism

An American Urban Coronavirus Success Story

The City by the Bay has joined eight largely rural counties in California by advancing last Tuesday to the least restrictive tier of the state's new reopening criteria by reducing coronavirus transmission to nearly New York levels.

October 27, 2020 - The Mercury News

Rural Pandemic

The Impact of COVID-19 on Rural Areas

As the coronavirus outbreak surges across the country, many rural communities are now seeing an unprecedented spike in infections and hospitalizations.

October 26, 2020 - National Public Radio

LaGuardia Airport

Architecture Billings Show a Modest Rebound

Many architecture firms are still struggling, but the industry, a bellwether for planning and the larger economy, has recovered a little from the lows of the spring and summer months.

October 26, 2020 - Archinect

Little League

Field of Dreams Coming to L.A.'s Chinatown

The Los Angeles Dodgers and the Dodgers Foundation will renovate an unplayable ballfield into a new Dodgers Dreamfield, which will serve almost 3,500 youth in the surrounding community.

October 23, 2020 - L.A. Downtown News

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.

Senior Manager Operations, Urban Planning

New York City School Construction Authority

Building Inspector

Village of Glen Ellyn

Manager of Model Development

Central Transportation Planning Staff/Boston Region MPO

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.