Exclusives

BLOG POST

<!--StartFragment--><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Big Caslon'"><span style="white-space: pre" class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>A comment I hear frequently from planners is that the focus on food and planning is “trendy”. I must admit that this puzzles me quite a bit. Professional planners in rural areas have concentrated on planning for agriculture – food planning – for decades. Before we had professional planners, human populations planned their communities around food, whether they were planning how best to follow herds for hunting, structuring early agricultural societies, or developing the first cities where food proximity and trade were central considerations.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal">&nbsp;</p>

May 20 - Lisa Feldstein

BLOG POST

<p> Last week, I was busy trying to turn my paper on sprawl in Canada (available at http://works.bepress.com/lewyn/65/) into a speech.   In my paper, I define sprawl in two ways: where we grow (measured by growth or decline of central cities, controlling for municipal annexations) and how we grow (measured by modal shares for cars and transit).  As I was proofing, I asked myself: why these particular measurements?  What presuppositions underlie defining sprawl based on, say, modal share as opposed to the growth of a urban area&#39;s land mass? </p>

May 18 - Michael Lewyn

FEATURE

Prakash M Apte, a planner in India, brings us this in-depth and fascinating look at the history of town planning in Gandhinagar, which was developed with an "egalitarian ethos," says Apte, but now it is at risk of becoming "just another suburb."

May 16 - Prakash M Apte

FEATURE

Architect Charles Moore was an intellect and practitioner that loved Los Angeles, pushing the envelope of the city's nostalgia and utopianism while simultaneously embracing them, says urban designer Vinayak Bharne.

May 12 - Vinayak Bharne

BLOG POST

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May 9 - Johanna Hoffman

FEATURE

Cities like Detroit can find the funds and initiative to make downsizing work by identifying as many stakeholders and potential partners as possible, writes Alison Bates, who thinks that "right-sizing" is the right move for the city.

May 9 - Alison Bates

BLOG POST

By all logic, the comic strip character Dagwood should be fat, sick and impoverished due to his gluttonous eating, sedentary habits, and automobile-dependent lifestyle. Blondie should worry about his high blood pressure and clogged arteries [...]

May 4 - Todd Litman

FEATURE

Planetizen intern Victor Negrete explains how he made the choice to attend planning school, and the thought process he went through deciding which schools to apply for, and ultimately to attend.

May 4 - Victor Negrete

BLOG POST

<p> As just about everyone in the planning profession now knows, this is the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Death-American-Cities-Modern-Library/dp/0679600477/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1304357036&amp;sr=1-1"><em>The Death and Life of Great American Cities</em></a><em> </em>by urbanist icon <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Jacobs">Jane Jacobs</a>. While <em>Death and Life</em> was itself iconic, Jane Jacobs was also a great public intellectual who continually built on her ideas in subsequent books and articles.  </p>

May 2 - Samuel Staley

BLOG POST

At the GeoDesign conference in San Diego we heard mention of folks at MIT using helium balloons with cameras attached to take aerial pictures. Thinking this was a fabulous idea I decided to find out more and see if this was a technique [...]

April 27 - Ken Snyder

BLOG POST

<p> <span><span style="font-size: small"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman">Spring is conference season for many major professional associations including the American Planning Association. However, if you missed APA this year, or even if you didn’t, a number of more specialized groups meet over the summer in smaller and more focused settings. Student registrations and deals on accommodation can make these very affordable.</span></span></span><span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small"> </span></span> </p>

April 27 - Ann Forsyth

FEATURE

Planetizen founding Editor Chris Steins offers his evaluation of the top 25 thinkers at the intersection of planning and technology.

April 26 - Chris Steins

FEATURE

When it comes to Jane Jacobs, planners pick and choose what they find useful, says Roberta Brandes Gratz, missing Jacobs central argument for grass-roots, bottom-up planning. Gratz reviews a new book "Reconsidering Jane Jacobs."

April 25 - Roberta Brandes Gratz

BLOG POST

<p> The Brookings Institution&#39;s &quot;State of Metropolitan America&quot; database (at <a href="http://www.brookings.edu/metro/StateOfMetroAmerica/Map.aspx#/?subject=7&amp;ind=70&amp;dist=0&amp;data=Number&amp;year=2009&amp;geo=metro&amp;zoom=0&amp;x=0&amp;y=0">http://www.brookings.edu/metro/StateOfMetroAmerica/Map.aspx#/?subject=7&amp;ind=70&amp;dist=0&amp;data=Number&amp;year=2009&amp;geo=metro&amp;zoom=0&amp;x=0&amp;y=0</a> ) contains a wealth of information both on central cities and their metropolitan areas.  One issue I was curious about was the economic gap (or lack thereof) between cities and their suburbs.

April 22 - Michael Lewyn

BLOG POST

<p> <span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New'">Here in Canada, we&#39;re in the midst of a Federal election. It’s an election where if you’re interested in urban issues, you’re likely quite frustrated.</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Courier New'"> <br /> </span> 

April 19 - Brent Toderian

FEATURE

The excesses of the "landscape urbanism" aside, Michael Mehaffy believes landscape architects are well positioned to lead the way towards positive change in the urban landscape. Here's why.

April 18 - Michael Mehaffy

BLOG POST

Living public figures, whether they be Lockyer, Haggarty, Sarah Palin, or Mummar Gaddafi generate their own fanfare. They do not need a building, an airport, or a trail to speak for them.

April 15 - Josh Stephens

BLOG POST

<p class="MsoNormal">Most professions have special responsibilities to society. Physicians are expected to observe the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippocratic_Oath">Hippocratic oath</a>. Police officers must apply the law fairly and refrain from abusing their power. Lawyers and accountants are expected to offer accurate advice and protect client confidentiality.</p><p class="MsoNormal">And planners? We have a special responsibility to consider all perspectives and impacts. When evaluating public policy questions most people ask selfishly, “How does this affect me?” Planners, in contrast, should ask selflessly, “How does this affect the community, particularly disadvantaged and underrepresented groups?”</p>

April 14 - Todd Litman

FEATURE

April 14 - Fanis Grammenos

FEATURE

What cities are best prepared for climate change, and which will falter? Josh Stephens reviews <em>Climatopolis: How Our Cities Will Thrive in a Hotter Future</em> by Matthew Kahn.

April 7 - Josh Stephens