Exclusives

FEATURE

The new Dubai Metro rail system recently began operations in the desert city. Christopher Corbett, an American planner who's been living and working in Dubai, takes us on a visual tour.

September 21 - Christopher Corbett

BLOG POST

<p> Traffic is essentially &quot;an engineering issue,&quot; says author Tom Vanderbilt. &quot;But there&#39;s also a layer of culture.&quot;<br /> <br /> That layer of culture determines, to a large extent, how traffic can become a problem. This idea is explored in Vanderbilt&#39;s 2008 book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0307264785?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=planetizen&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=0307264785" target="_blank" title="Traffic, by Tom Vanderbilt - on Amazon">Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us)</a>, a <a href="/books/2009" target="_blank" title="Planetizen Top Books 2009">Planetizen Top Book</a> of the year. He recently expanded on that idea for a discussion about traffic put on by <a href="http://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/" target="_blank" title="Zocalo Public Square">Zocalo Public Square</a> in (where better?) Los Angeles.

September 18 - Nate Berg

BLOG POST

<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; line-height: normal" class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-size: small; font-family: Calibri">Should society encourage parents to <a href="/node/40737">drive children to school</a> rather than walk or bicycle? Should our transportation policies favor driving over walking, cycling, ridesharing, public transit and telecommuting? Probably not. There is no logical reason to favor automobile travel over other forms of accessibility, and there are lots of good reasons to favor efficient modes, so for example, schools spend at least as much to accommodate a walking or cycling trip as an automobile trip, and transportation agencies and employers spend at least as much to improve ridesharing and public transit commuting as automobile commuting.

September 17 - Todd Litman

FEATURE

Thousands of special interest groups are competing to influence the new transportation bill. Reporter Matthew Lewis sheds light on the most significant players, in an extensive report from the Center for Public Integrity.

September 17 - Matthew Lewis

BLOG POST

<p> In her new book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Paradise-Built-Hell-Extraordinary-Communities/dp/0670021075/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1253033030&amp;sr=8-1"><em>A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities That Arise in Disaster</em></a>, journalist and essayist Rebecca Solnit describes a phenomenon that is rarely mentioned in the context of disaster preparedness: the spirit of caring -- even joy -- that can emerge in the face of calamity.

September 15 - Michael Dudley

BLOG POST

<p class="EC_MsoNormal"> Not long ago, I posted on what makes some cities more stressful than others.<span> </span>(See <a href="/40441" target="_blank">http://www.planetizen.com/node/40441</a> ).<span> </span>In that post, I remarked that the ideal objective indicia of stress (resident surveys on crime, illness, etc.) often do not exist for most cities. </p>

September 14 - Michael Lewyn

BLOG POST

<p>  This interview below with the Chinese Premier offers  a preview of the challenges and opportunities that will unfold at the </p> <p> December 2009 UN Climate Conference  (see <a href="http://en.cop15.dk/?gclid=CI-ImOyB8JwCFYwwpAodNSUfjQ">http://en.cop15.dk/?gclid=CI-ImOyB8JwCFYwwpAodNSUfjQ</a>) </p> <p> Here is the interview,  <a href="http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/opinion/2009-09/14/content_8687301.htm">http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/opinion/2009-09/14/content_8687301.htm</a> </p>

September 13 - Matthew E. Kahn

BLOG POST

<p> During my first week in China, I have spoken to dozens of people and toured all over Beijing. I even have a map listing the locations of all of the McDonalds in Beijing. Spatial theorists need to write down a model to explain how a uniform distribution of McDonalds is what we observe. </p> <p> While I am quite happy to be here, this is not a low cost trip. The flight over was literally a pain in the neck. I&#39;m in trouble with my wife </p>

September 13 - Matthew E. Kahn

BLOG POST

<p> In my first week here in Beijing, I have spoken to a number of scholars here about climate change.  A few observations; </p> <p>  1.  China&#39;s scholars are thinking about climate change mitigation but I haven&#39;t met many talking about adaptation. </p>

September 10 - Matthew E. Kahn

BLOG POST

<p> I have lived in Boston, Chicago, London, Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco but I have never seen anything like Beijing.  Over the next two weeks, I&#39;m giving a series of talks at Tsinghua, Peking University and the Lincoln Institute, and the CASS.  While I was little surprised to see Mao&#39;s face on all of the money and to not be able to access my blog, I have been very impressed with everything I see and I see glimpses of a future &quot;green city&quot;. </p>

September 7 - Matthew E. Kahn

BLOG POST

<p> What&#39;s better than <a href="/node/38227">Twitter in the city</a>? An iPhone. With a connection to the Internet, built-in camera, location-awareness, 3-access accelerometer and colorful display, the Apple iPhone has become much more than a mobile phone: it&#39;s a sophisticated mobile computing platform. Combine this technology with a library of thousands of programs and growing ecosystem of developers, the iPhone is powerful and versatile tool to transform how people interact with their surroundings. </p> <p> A growing number of iPhone apps are taking advantage of the phone&#39;s functionality to allow people to navigate, measure, observe, and interact with cities in new ways. This post describes some I have come across for e-government, urban sensing and interaction, and navigation. First, a caveat: I don&#39;t actually own one of the devices myself and haven&#39;t tested the apps (yet). I&#39;ve certainly missed many, so leave your favorites in the comments below. </p>

September 7 - Robert Goodspeed

FEATURE

Susanna Diaz reviews a new book covering the history and thought of urban planning in Brazil, edited by Profs. Vicente del Rio and William Siembieda of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

September 3 - Vicente del Rio

BLOG POST

<span style="font-size: small; font-family: Times New Roman"><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Calibri"> <p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt" class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-size: small; font-family: Calibri">Location, location, location. Choosing a smart home location can help households become healthy, wealthy and wise, since it affects residents’ physical activity levels, long-term financial burdens and opportunities for education and social interaction. </span> </p>

September 2 - Todd Litman

BLOG POST

<div class="content"> <p> Forbes just came up with another of its “Most X City” surveys. This week, it listed the most stressful cities (<a href="http://www.forbes.com/2009/08/20/stress-unemployment-homes-lifestyle-real-estate-home-values-stressful-cities_slide.html?partner=msnhealth" title="http://www.forbes.com/2009/08/20/stress-unemployment-homes-lifestyle-real-estate-home-values-stressful-cities_slide.html?partner=msnhealth">http://www.forbes.com/2009/08/20/stress-unemployment-homes-lifestyle-rea...</a> ). Nearly all of Forbes’ criteria, however, are silly in one respect or another. </p>

September 2 - Michael Lewyn

BLOG POST

<p> With the semester starting, students are beginning to focus on assignments and other project work. Today there is a great deal of information available for planners, but that can lead students to be overwhelmed (and use only a few available sources) or uncertain about how to use those sources that are available. Fortunately universities are coming up with resources to help students untangle these issues. My own institution just launched the very helpful <a href="http://digitalliteracy.cornell.edu" target="_blank">http://digitalliteracy.cornell.edu</a>/. The following tips are adapted from my guide for students doing final projects and theses (link at the end of this entry). </p>

August 31 - Ann Forsyth

FEATURE

August 31 - Amber Hawkes

BLOG POST

<p> Planetizen readers, I have an idea I&#39;d like your opinion on. As managing editor for the past year, I&#39;ve become increasingly aware of how skilled and professional our readers are. Comments on articles are almost always civil, engaging and thoughtful, something that can&#39;t be said for the majority of websites. We have a community of experts here, which is why I bring my idea to you. </p>

August 31 - Tim Halbur

BLOG POST

<p> Yogi Berra said that.  I also recall someone saying at some conference on smart growth or new urbanism: the more cars sharing the road, the more people get frustrated (hence all the car ads of people driving with no other cars in sight), while the more people on a well designed sidewalk, the more we tend to like it.  </p>

August 30 - Ken Snyder

FEATURE

The future of architecture is in its expression as city structure, not just as buildings, and in its self-conscious ecological awareness, says architect Richard Register.

August 27 - Richard Register

BLOG POST

<p> <span><span style="font-size: x-small">One reason why buses are less popular than trains is buses&#39; lack of &quot;legibility</span></span><span><span style="font-size: x-small">&quot;</span></span><span><span style="font-size: x-small">: the ability of an occasional passenger to figure out how to get somewhere by bus. While subway or light rail passengers can look at a system map (which is usually present on a station wall) and figure out that a train to destination X shall arrive at their station reasonably soon, bus passengers typically have to invest time in getting schedules, and then pray that the schedule has not changed.<br /> </span></span> </p>

August 26 - Michael Lewyn