Europe
Prague Hopes to Clean Up its Public Space
With tourist season in full effect, the Czech city of Prague is hoping to clean up its notoriously dirty streets with a new ban on littering and urinating in public places.
Town Removes All Traffic Signals
Bohmte, Germany is following the lead of an EU program called "Shared Space", which recommends that cities remove traffic signals and find ways to encourage cars to share their space with pedestrians and bicyclists.
Paris Plans Green Car Sharing System
Following on the success of its bike-sharing system, Paris is planning to unveil a citywide green car-sharing system.
An Italian View of U.S. Planning
An Italian city planner visits San Diego to analyze sprawl-fighting techniques first-hand.
Soccer Fans Join Together for Street 'Carnivals'
"Football Carnivals" are on the rise in Germany, where the community viewing buzz from the 2006 World Cup has hung around and revived itself for the current European Championship.
Tiny Monaco Using Stilts to Expand
The second-smallest country in the world (after the Vatican) has plans to expand its territory by building more land on stilts in an idea inspired by oil rigs.
Bicycling in U.S. is Risky Business
The US has never encouraged cycling as a practical mode of travel, and as a result, biking to work is a rare and hazardous activity, with four times the fatality rate of some European countries. A Rutgers University study shows how that can change.
Using Cellphone GPS, Researchers Prove We're Homebodies
GPS from cellphones is enabling exciting research into human behavior, but European studies show that our behavior is rarely exciting.
Friday Bummer: Really Long Headways at Fake Bus Stop Keep Alzheimer's Patients From Disappearing
A senior care facility in Germany teamed with the local transit agency to install a fake bus stop near the home to stem occupant disappearances after Alzheimer's patients repeatedly wandered off site to catch buses at real stops.
It's Just Like Riding A Bike...Mostly, Kinda
What can leaders of a particularly hilly city do to encourage cycling? Well, they can try making it easier to ride a bike.
Planning the Paris of the Future
French President Sarkozy's call for 'audacious' plans for a Paris of the future has been answered by some of the world's top architects and designers, but some wonder how any of the plans can work within the constraints of the existing city.
Sweden Creates Sewage-Powered Cars, But Auto Industry Lags Behind
Household sewage is currently fueling cars in Sweden, and has for years. But Swedish industry has given up on the idea, investing in ethanol-based gasoline.
Surging Fuel Prices Spur Green Backlash in Europe
With dramatically increasing fuel costs, European consumers formerly amenable to "green" taxes are turning against them, leading to fears that ambitious emission-control policies may not be achievable.
Harvesting the Wind on the Open Ocean
Offshore drilling company StatoilHydro is finding a new way to get energy at sea- with large-scale wind turbines.
Budapest To Encourage Cycling
Thick congestion has politicians in Budapest looking at ways to improve mobility -- mainly by encouraging bicycle use.
Where Cyclists And Motorists Are Friends
To make North American cities more bicycle friendly, planners should look to Stockholm, Sweden and Freiburg, Germany -- two European cities were bikes and cars happily co-exist on the street.
Belgian Town Seeks Immigration Control Through Language Requirement
Flemish nationalists in small-town Belgium are hoping to keep immigrants out by requiring that all schoolchildren speak Flemish -- an attack on the droves of French-speaking immigrants that have descended on the country.
Sweden Tops All Nations As Climate-Friendly
One country stands out in Europe in surpassing the greenhouse gas emission reductions required by the Kyoto Protocol - Sweden. While it used several environmental technologies to achieve those reductions, experts give credit to its carbon tax.
Strenghtening The Center City Is Not Enough
Harald Bodenschatz calls for a radical shift in the urban planning discourse when he claims for a revitalization not only of the downtown, but of the district centers and of suburbia itself, which should be made denser and more valuable.
Critical Mass on Eight Wheels
Streetfilms looks at the livable streets movement in Paris and a twice-weekly "critical mass" over roller skaters that often brings crowds of thousands.
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.
Gallatin County Department of Planning & Community Development
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
JM Goldson LLC
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
