Europe

The Netherlands Seeks Less Confrontational Strategies to Stop Fare Evasion
Rather than simply being punitive, the Dutch rail carrier is trying to find cost effective ways to collect fares and make riders feel welcome.

Banner Year for Electric Vehicle Sales
U.S. sales of plug-in electric vehicles, including those with internal combustion engines, increased by 81 percent in 2018 over 2017. But if you remove the best-selling Tesla Model 3 from the mix, the increase drops to 11 percent.

Progressive Carbon Pricing Policy Should Address Social Equity
Putting a price on carbon emissions is widely viewed as an effective tool to reduce emissions. It can also be applied to help those who stand to lose the most from climate change, thus enabling a socially just transition to a low carbon economy.

Friday Eye Candy: 300 Years of Land Use Transformation
The history of the earth since 1700 has been a history of human land use.

Learning the Wrong Lessons From France's Yellow Vest Movement
The widespread Yellow Vests protests, which initially involved hundreds of thousands of protestors in November, are wrongly being interpreted as a movement against carbon taxes and climate action, rather than a revolt against social inequities.

Electric Vehicle Incentives: A Tale of Two Countries
While Trump wants to end the EV credit program, in part to punish GM for closing unprofitable car manufacturing plants, Norway is scaling back the generous perks that have enabled EV sales to comprise almost half on new auto sales.

App Provides Real-Time Air Quality Data for Paris
Paris has made some incredibly ambitious and highly controversial policy changes to improve the city's air quality. In the meantime, there's a new app from Valeo to determine the state of the air quality in the city.

In Oslo, Streets for People, Not Cars
New measures will greatly reduce vehicle traffic in the city center as Oslo moves to put pedestrians, cyclists, and air quality before cars.

These Streets Were Made for Walking
Many streets and cities are designed for vehicles instead of for pedestrians. But policies and programs in cities around the world, and even in the United States, might be signaling a shift in priorities.

The Best Architecture of 2018 (From the Other Side of the Atlantic)
The Guardian's list of architecture's best in 2018.

Implementing the Paris Climate Agreement in Katowice, Poland
Representatives from nearly 200 nations have been attending the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Katowice since Dec. 2 to work on implementing the 2015 Paris climate agreement. Scheduled to end Friday, it will be extended two days due to discord.

EU Commission 'License to Pollute' overturned by top European court
The General Court of the European Union upholds action brought by cities: annuls in part the European Commission’s regulation setting excessively high NOx emission limits tests introduced following Dieselgate scandal

Athens Fights Rising Temperatures
At the recent Smart Cities Conference in Barcelona, Mayor Kaminis of Athens highlighted how the city is helping residents survive the increasingly hot summers in the Greek capital.

Cities Need to Create Level Playing Fields For New Mobility (That Tilt Towards Community Goals)
The new mobility landscape requires a few key roles from government.

Massive Mine Encroaching on Swedish City
The Swedish city of Kiruna will have to move after one of the world's largest iron mines opens a crack in the earth that is spreading straight for the city.

Major Increase in Global Carbon Emissions Projected for 2018
The report from the Global Carbon Project, an international group of scientists who track greenhouse gas emissions, comes as a surprise as emissions had been relatively flat for the last four years. Global emissions this year will increase 2.7%.

Free Transit for All in Luxembourg
Luxembourg will put their money where their mouth is when it comes to cleaning the environment and providing an alternative to congested car commutes.

President Macron Acquiesces to Yellow Vests' Demands on Fuel Tax Hike
Despite statements to the contrary just a week ago, Macron reversed position and caved to the demonstrators' demands that upcoming fuel tax hikes be suspended.

France Drops Road Tolling Plans Amid Fuel Tax Protests
Controversial London-style congestion pricing won't be coming to French cities due to concerns sparked by the 'Yellow Vest' protests over an upcoming fuel tax hike, but President Macron stated the fuel tax increases will go forward in January.

Planning a Successful Neighborhood Square
Insight from Barcelona and Portland on how to plan and design an active, welcoming neighborhood square.
Pagination
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.
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
JM Goldson LLC
Custer County Colorado
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Jefferson Parish Government
Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Claremont