Exclusives

FEATURE

Benefits and Burdens in Post-World Cup South Africa

The 2010 World Cup has ended in South Africa. What's left behind are a number of physical and cultural legacies that will be both landmark developments and potential economic hazards.

August 2 - Nate Berg

BLOG POST

More evidence that walkability is marketable

A few days ago, I was in a Chicago neighborhood called Lincoln Square, on Lincoln Avenue just south of Lawrence Avenue. Lincoln Avenue looks like many posh urban neighborhoods- narrow, walkable streets inhabited by gelato-eating, prosperous-looking people. Even on a weeknight, the shops and streets of Lincoln Square betrayed no evidence of a recession.*

July 29 - Michael Lewyn

BLOG POST

Canadian Urbanists weigh in on Census Controversy

Canadian city planners and urbanists have been active in the discussion and debate over the last few weeks, regarding the Federal government's decision to change the mandatory long form census to a voluntary approach. As un-sexy as the census might seem to many (I myself never thought I'd be writing a post about the census), the national media has been all over this, giving extensive coverage to the numerous experts and professional organizations who have been unanimously critical of this move, and the effects it will have on the planning and management of cities and communities.

July 29 - Brent Toderian

FEATURE

San Juan to Ban Cars, Make "Walkable City"

The oldest city in the Americas bans cars from its colonial streets and outlines a plan to make San Juan more livable. David Soto gives us a look at this ambitious plan.

July 26 - David Soto

BLOG POST

Reflexive Congestion Self-Management?

<span style="word-spacing: 0px; font: medium 'Times New Roman'; text-transform: none; color: #000000; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; letter-spacing: normal; border-collapse: separate; orphans: 2; widows: 2; webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px" class="Apple-style-span">I frequently drive to an uncle’s house near the beach via the Garden State Parkway in New Jersey. For years, that drive required a very late Friday evening departure and a similarly late Sunday evening return trip to avoid the wicked stop-and-go that always mires t

July 26 - Ian Sacs

BLOG POST

The Busiest Street In Town

Few children’s books skillfully cover the subject of urban planning. Chicago's <a href="/node/29243">Wacker Manual for the Plan of Chicago</a> (1911), David Macaulay’s lavishly illustrated City:A Story of Roman Planning and Construction (1974), and most recently, Planetizen's <a href="/kidsbook">Where Things Are, From Near to Far</a> (2008) are standouts.

July 25 - Mike Lydon

BLOG POST

Planning History: A Few of the City and Metropolitan Plans You Should Know

<span style="widows: 2; text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; border-collapse: separate; font: normal normal normal medium/normal 'Times New Roman'; white-space: normal; orphans: 2; letter-spacing: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #000000" class="Apple-style-span">Last month I highlighted some important <a href="/node/44923" target="_blank">places</a> in the history of planning. Responding to student requests, this month I turn to plans.

July 22 - Ann Forsyth

BLOG POST

LA Planning Department's First Public Participation Webinar

The City of Los Angeles <a href="http://planning.lacity.org/">Department of Planning</a> and <a href="http://www.ladottransit.com/">Department of Transportation</a> held a first-ever public online participation webinar Thursday, July 20, 2010. The city used the opportunity to experiment with web conferencing technology, and will survey participants after the event to evaluate the success of the experiment. A webinar is a web conference, where participants can access a virtual meeting using a computer, and Internet connection. Participants access a website to see the presenter's computer screen, and also listen to the presenter through the computer's speakers, or using a telephone.

July 20 - Chris Steins

FEATURE

False Friendliness: Photoshopped People in Public Spaces

Proposals for new projects arrive on city desks everyday showing vibrant public plazas full of people. But too often those spaces fail to attract people in the way they were portrayed. Are Photoshopped people a deliberate falsehood?

July 19 - Tim Halbur

BLOG POST

Are You For/Against Closing Street Segments?

<div>There's a lot of babbling on in this blog about how streets are public space, that they are for people, and that they should be designed equitably for everyone.

July 13 - Ian Sacs

BLOG POST

And The Winner Is…

Spanish football fans are celebrating in the streets, while in The Netherlands they are drowning their sorrows, but the real winners of the 2010 World Cup are the people of South Africa. Long after the last vuvuzela is sounded, residents and visitors will enjoy the legacy of new <a href="http://www.arrivealive.co.za/pages.aspx?i=2874">Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)</a> systems build in South Africa’s four major cities.

July 12 - Todd Litman

FEATURE

Sustainable Communities: Live Event with HUD, DOT and EPA Leadership

Whitehouse.gov held a live online event on July 15th at 2pm EDT/11am PDT on sustainable communities. All of the questions were submitted and chosen by Planetizen readers.

July 8 - Tim Halbur

FEATURE

Save the Soleri Amphitheater

Officials in Santa Fe have announced plans to demolish an amphitheater designed by architect Paolo Soleri, the visionary behind the as-yet-unfinished Arcosanti project. David Licata says it deserves to be saved.

July 5 - David Licata

BLOG POST

Roads, Oil Spills, and Externalities

Planners are quick to criticize roads and highway investments for the vast sums spent to build, operate and maintain them, often questioning the value of these subsidies. Recently, on a planning list-serve, these subsidies were labeled an “external cost” of automobiles, but they are not.

July 4 - Samuel Staley

BLOG POST

Planning History: A Few of the Late 19th and 20th Century Places you Should Know

Earlier blogs have explored books and journals for finding out about the basics of planning <a href="/node/43730" target="_blank">history</a>. In this blog I add to this by listing a just few of the places it is important to recognize as a planner. It is of course difficult to make such lists but students ask for them with some frequency. Of course, places are one thing and planning processes quite another--and in planning process is very important. Upcoming blogs will deal with plans and processes.

July 3 - Ann Forsyth

BLOG POST

Externalities, Meet Externalities

(NOTE TO READERS: An expanded, footnote-filled version of this article is online at http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1632935 )   Externalities are costs (or benefits) imposed on third parties by another individual’s voluntary action. Government regulations exist at least partially to protect us from externalities created by others.

July 1 - Michael Lewyn

BLOG POST

Sacrificing Pelicans To Petroleum Gods: Deep Water Horizon Spill Forces Energy Policy Rethink

Many ancient religions required animal sacrifice to satisfy their gods’ desires. We now sacrifice pelicans, marine mammals and sea turtles to satisfy our desire for cheap oil. <img src="http://protectfloridasbeaches.org/blog/bird_in_oil_epa.jpg" width="414" height="298" />

June 30 - Todd Litman

BLOG POST

Do You Read These Planning Magazines?

I'm frequently asked for recommendations for good planning magazines. As editors of Planetizen, we come across a staggeringly impressive and diverse array of web-based content. But sometimes there is nothing quite like browsing a good magazine in y

June 29 - Chris Steins

FEATURE

Placemaking for Pot Smoking

Potential legalization of marijuana presents California cities the chance to do a different type of 'greening.' Josh Stephens reports on the land use challenges of regulating California's most lucrative crop.

June 28 - Josh Stephens

BLOG POST

Enjoyable voice recognition, is it FINALLY here?

Given today it the release date of the new iPhone, I want to talk about something else at Apple the really caught my attention -- their automated customer care. Last week I had to call Apple to find out how to get the sales tax removed from a purchase given our 501(c)3 status. It was a complicated set of questions I needed to ask -- and yet the conversation was as smooth as talking to a live person. It struck me I was getting a sneak preview of something that is going to radically transform how we use technology on a daily basis -- FINALLY.

June 24 - Ken Snyder