Europe

Newest Fuel Cell Vehicles: Trains!

Alstom Transport uses technology similar to that of hydrogen fuel cell automobiles. Railway Gazette reports that German rail authorities hope to develop Zero Emission Trains by purchasing fuel cell trainsets.

October 6, 2014 - Railway Gazette

The Look and Feel of 'Inherently Urban'

Greek orators, current solution-based efforts, and 25 photographs remind us of the central role of human opportunity in the urban environment.

October 1, 2014 - The Huffington Post

Madrid to Expand Non-Residential Vehicle Restrictions

Madrid, Spain is taking the next steps in restricting vehicular access to its urban core in the hopes of completely pedestrianizing central Madrid by 2020.

September 29, 2014 - Arch Daily

Stockholm Complete Street

TED Talk Pitches a Shift in Street Design

Mikael Colville-Andersen discusses the benefits and methods of designing bicycle infrastructure within a city in a TEDxZurich talk.

September 26, 2014 - Business Insider

Athens Plans Massive City Park in Derelict Olympic Footprint

With an ailing economy and soaring unemployment, the city of Athens, Greece is planning on selling 6.2 million square meters to Lamda Development SA.

September 25, 2014 - This City Life

The Importance of Inter-Urban Walkability

In his third "place-decoding" essay from France, Chuck Wolfe recalls all that we can learn from walking between settled places.

September 25, 2014 - The Huffington Post

The Cost of 'Cool'

Thomas Rogers writes of the "Life and Death of a 'Cool' City," using the example of Berlin and the many "new Berlins" that have endeavored to follow its lead as the next big thing in Europe.

September 17, 2014 - The New Republic

The Option of Sensing the City

In his second Huffington Post article on "place-decoding," Chuck Wolfe argues for considered attention to enhancing people's abilities to discern the city around them.

September 13, 2014 - The Huffington Post

Learning to 'Place-Decode' the Elements of Urbanism

Chuck Wolfe champions the role of France's attachment to place as a laboratory for decoding the essential elements of urbanism.

September 5, 2014 - The Huffington Post

Euro-Envy Reconsidered: Talkin' Time, Distance, and Change

Most North American urbanists turn to Europe for inspiration and direction. Some of that brilliance, Ben Brown reminds us, is due to time and distance.

September 3, 2014 - PlaceShakers

Chicago Metra Rail Struggles with High Rates of Suicide

Chicago's Metra commuter rail service has a big problem on its hands: Distressed people are resorting to using train tracks to end their lives at a higher rate than in other major cities. Would partnering with a suicide-hotline agency stem the tide?

August 30, 2014 - Governing

Planned Epicurean District in Paris Raises the Specter of Gentrification

A new corridor planned as a haven for local gourmet food in the quiet Haut Marais neighborhood of Paris concerns residents with the threat of gentrification.

August 23, 2014 - New York Times

Interpreting the 'Timeless and Time-Bound' in Cities

In his latest essay on interpretation of the urban environment, Chuck Wolfe suggests that if we take away context clues cities become matrices -- with blank cells to complete -- where each of us personalizes how space meets time.

August 21, 2014 - The Huffington Post

Tourism's Negative Effects in Italian Art Cities

With about 353 tourists per resident in the historic city center of Venice, many residents are fleeing the crowds and moving onto the mainland, making the city a "monument-attraction," rather than a viable living space.

August 16, 2014 - Global Site Plans

Pont Neuf

Book Review: 'How Paris Became Paris'

"How Paris Became Paris: The Invention of the Modern City," by Joan DeJean, is full of creative insights on the symptoms of urban modernity as well as bold statements about how Paris came to be one of the world's great cities.

August 12, 2014 - Josh Stephens

Maine-Montparnasse Tower Paris

6 'Epic Architecture Fails'

Jason Fargo follows the announcement that the FBI will soon set up shop outside of the infamous and despised J Edgar Hoover Building in Washington D.C. by listing six buildings that residents of cities "love to hate."

August 10, 2014 - Guardian

Elfreth's Alley

Revisiting the Common Sense Elements of City Life

Chuck Wolfe revisits five instances of how we can learn from the urbanism we already have.

August 8, 2014 - The Huffington Post

Paris Metro Train

The Value of Fast Transit—Under Construction in Paris

The proposed Grand Paris Express program, which began construction this summer and is expected for completion in 2030, will serve 2 million people a day at "wildly fast speeds." Then there's light rail in the United States.

July 24, 2014 - the transport politic

Chicago Bench

Study: Parks Make for Better People

Tom Jacobs details the findings of a study out of France that finds evidence of what researchers call "green altruism"—or people treating each other better after period of immersion in a natural environment.

July 23, 2014 - Pacific Standard

Post-Car? Helsinki's Plans for a Tech-Enabled Mobility Network

Helsinki, capital of Finland's, is working to create a "mobility on demand" system that integrates shared and public transit in a single payment network. The idea is that with such a system in place, residents would no longer need cars.

July 16, 2014 - Guardian Cities

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.