Europe

Paved walkways with wood benches in green city park with large trees.

Considering Mindfulness as an Urban Planner's Tool

A recent blog post in Substack considers the appropriation of mindfulness to urban observation and, implicitly, urban planning today.

February 26, 2024 - Resurgence: A Journey via Substack

Cars and double-decker bus in Dublin, Ireland.

Dublin Will Ban Through Traffic Downtown

A vast majority of residents support a plan to limit vehicular traffic through the city’s center.

February 20, 2024 - Bloomberg CityLab

Champs-Elysees and Arc de Triomphe

Paris to Triple Parking Fees for SUVs

Parisian voters approved the referendum, which aims to reduce the presence of “heavy, bulky, and polluting” vehicles in the city center by making it more expensive to park them.

February 12, 2024 - The Verge

Corner store in San Francisco

How to Participate in Post-Pandemic Urban Resilience

In a summary of a recent talk, Chuck Wolfe provides five tools to help reimagine post-pandemic urban spaces with a focus on livability and co-creation.

January 29, 2024 - Medium

Streetscape in old neighborhood of Brussels, Belgium with bikes parked in bulb-out.

Paris Is Great, But Here's Where the Green Mobility Revolution Is Happening

A movement toward sustainable mobility is taking place across Europe, not just in the City of Lights.

January 10, 2024 - Scott Shepard

White flag with COP28 cliamte conference logo against lightly cloudy blue sky.

COP28: Beginning of the End for Fossil Fuels?

A deal came together “quickly and unexpectedly" on the final night of the nearly 2-week United Nations climate talks in Dubai, UAE, according to a series of articles by Washington Post climate reporters.

December 20, 2023 - The Washington Post

Aerial view of industrial plant with large smokestacks, surrounded by smoke with sunset sky in background.

COP28: Will Developed Nations Reduce Emissions?

Tensions between developed and developing nations surfaced over emissions and energy, with the former focused on reducing fossil fuels and the latter pointing to unrealized emissions reductions from the nations most responsible for global warming.

December 6, 2023 - The Wall Street Journal

Artesian fountain in point against backdrop of green forest in city park.

Masking Traffic With White Noise

A Belgian city is designing public fountains and other design elements to reduce noise pollution in a local park.

December 6, 2023 - Fast Company

Small grey sedan charging at outdoor electric car charging station with green kiosk and green forest in background in Norway.

Norway’s EV Boom Could Entrench Car Dependency

The Scandinavian country is a pioneer when it comes to EV adoption, but there are downsides.

November 2, 2023 - Vox

Close-up of decorative water fountain on La Rambla pedestrian street in Barcelona, Spain with blurred pedestrians in background.

Rick Steves on Walkability Lessons From Europe

Many of Europe’s pedestrian-friendly, transit-rich cities weren’t always that way.

October 22, 2023 - Strong Towns

Rendering of Elysium, Spain city built on brnd new land.

New ‘City’ Elysium Planned in Spain

The development proposes a from-scratch sustainable community built on brand new land at the edge of a reservoir.

October 16, 2023 - Fast Company

Multistory apartment building facade in Vienna, Austria with pink glass balconies.

L.A. Councilmember Proposes Social Housing Model

Inspired by the success of Vienna, Austria, Los Angeles leaders are considering public housing as a faster, more effective way to curb the city’s homelessness crisis.

October 8, 2023 - Spectrum News 1

Greece

New Park Space for an Old City

After 3,400 years, Athens will soon get its first large urban park. When completed in 2030, Ellinikon Metropolitan Park will be 600 acres (243 ha), about three-fourths the size of New York City’s Central Park, an enormous addition of green space.

August 31, 2023 - ULI Urban Land Magazine

Aerial view of the River Seine and the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France

Meet the New River Seine

The Paris Olympics will highlight the renaissance of the city’s famous river.

August 17, 2023 - World Crunch

A conceptual rendering of the planned Tour Triangle building sticks above the Paris skyline, with the Eiffel Tower in the distance.

Paris Reinstates Historic Height Limits as Part of its New Bioclimatic Local Urban Plan

Paris’ reinstated height limits, lowering height limits allowed in 2010, are part of Mayor Anne Hidalgo’s recently released Bioclimatic Local Urban Plan.

June 25, 2023 - Dezeen

Black and white photo of Pike Place Market entrance in Seattle with "PUBLIC MARKET" and "Meet the producer" signs

Revisiting ‘Third Places’ as a Pandemic Recovery Tool

In Chuck Wolfe's latest piece on downtown recovery for GeekWire, he proposes revisiting a multifaceted ‘third place’ agenda as a focus for downtown recovery.

June 22, 2023 - GeekWire

A local train is in motion on one of the platforms at the Amsterdaam Centraal train station.

Eurostar Temporarily Closing Two High-Speed Rail Routes

Eurostar is temporarily closing routes from London to Disneyland Paris and London to Amsterdam.

June 15, 2023 - Trains

Vancouver Chuck Wolfe

Ten Signs of a Resurgent Downtown

In GeekWire, Chuck Wolfe continues his exploration of a holistic and practical approach to post-pandemic urban center recovery, anchored in local context and community-driven initiatives that promote livability, safety, and sustainability.

May 24, 2023 - GeekWire

A platform of the Berlin East Railway station with a waiting traveler and a tram on June 17, 2014 in Berlin

Germany Launches €49 Nationwide Transit Pass

The low-cost monthly ticket is a boon for some commuters and urban travelers, but critics of the program question the lack of investment in expanding train service to underserved rural parts of the country.

May 4, 2023 - Bloomberg CityLab

Seattle, Washington

The City Beyond Amazon's ‘Great Return’

In GeekWire, Chuck Wolfe explains how, as the Amazon (and other) “Great Returns” to the office unfold, it's essential to dig deeper.

May 2, 2023 - GeekWire

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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.