Exclusives

Houston, Texas

BLOG POST

How Houston Achieved Lot Size Reform

Nolan Gray of George Mason University and Adam A. Millsap of the Charles Koch Institute write about a recent article they authored in the Journal of Planning Education and Research.

July 22 - JPER

The Villages, Florida

FEATURE

The Villages and the Dangers of Holding Too Tightly to the Past

Some parts of The Villages, Florida, the nation's largest retirement community and one of its most popular master planned communities, bear a striking resemblance to the neotraditional development favored by famous early examples of New Urbanism.

July 20 - James Brasuell

Congestion

BLOG POST

Liberating Cities from Cars

Examining models of progress toward restrictions on the use and storage of automobiles from urban areas around the world.

July 20 - Joan Fitzgerald

Zoning Code

PLANOPEDIA

What Is a Form-Based Code?

Form-based codes are a variety of development regulation that departs significantly from the land use control approach of most zoning codes in the United States.

July 16 - James Brasuell

New York Development

PLANOPEDIA

What Are Zoning Codes?

Local governments use zoning codes to define what can and cannot be built. While comprehensive plans and other kinds of plans lay out a vision for the future, zoning codes offer the legal tools to implement that vision.

July 15 - James Brasuell


Cities for People

FEATURE

Jan Gehl on 60 Years of Designing Cities for People

The 10th anniversary of "Cities for People" offers the occasion for this interview with Jan Gehl, who has devoted a 60-year career to ideas about humanistic city planning—ideas of increasing relevance in 2020.

July 15 - Jan Gehl

Florida Retirement Community

FEATURE

The Stage for Trump's Racist Tweet: The Villages, Florida

The Villages is one of the strangest, and most significant, planning and development stories in recent memory—with surprisingly regular relevance in the media and numerous intersections to politics and culture.

July 13 - James Brasuell


Shanghai Maglev

BLOG POST

Our World Accelerated: Analyzing the Impacts

During the last 120 years, our mobility increased by an order of magnitude, but so did associated costs. Are we better off? Could we do better?

July 8 - Todd Litman

Riverside, California

BLOG POST

COVID-19, YIMBY, and PHIMBY

How will COVID-19 and its economic consequences affect housing supply?

July 6 - Michael Lewyn

Public Health

BLOG POST

How Public Transit Agencies Are Adjusting to the Realities of the Pandemic

U.S. public transit agencies have been reacting to news and developments on the fly, as sudden declines in ridership, loss of revenue, waves of protest, and an uncertain long-term prognosis continues to disrupt day-to-day operations.

July 2 - James Brasuell

Swahili Coast

BLOG POST

Anti-Racist Planning: A View from Elsewhere

Developing anti-racist approaches to urban planning requires looking elsewhere—to other geographies and histories—for alternative urban imaginaries and practices.

July 1 - Dean Saitta

Missing Middle Housing

PLANOPEDIA

What Is Missing Middle Housing?

One of the newest terms in the world of urban planning, Missing Middle Housing has generated a lot of attention in recent years as cities around the United States look for ways to create more housing options in a vast sea of single-family homes.

June 26 - James Brasuell

Density

FEATURE

A Different Kind of Density: Lessons From Asian Megacities

As the pandemic has made clear, a healthy, prosperous future will depend on the development of the kinds of density that encourage strong social infrastructure.

June 24 - Jordan Sand

Plan Portsmouth

PLANOPEDIA

What Is Land Use?

Land use might seem self explanatory, but it has a very specific meaning in the context of U.S. planning history.

June 23 - James Brasuell

Granny Flat

PLANOPEDIA

What Are Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs)?

Sometimes referred to as mother-in-law units or granny flats, accessory dwelling units (ADUs) are a hallmark of contemporary planning as jurisdictions of all sizes and histories legalize the construction of these supplementary residential units.

June 19 - James Brasuell

Black Lives Matter

BLOG POST

Disorder is Not Destiny

Do protests and riots inevitably lead to crime waves and flight to suburbia? Not always.

June 19 - Michael Lewyn

Tamir Rice

BLOG POST

Planning Beyond Mass Incarceration

Sheryl-Ann Simpson from Carleton University, Justin Steil from MIT, and Aditi Mehta from the University of Toronto write about a recent article they co-authored in the Journal of Planning Education and Research.

June 18 - JPER

Sherman, Texas

BLOG POST

Pandemic Data for Planners

The right data will be critical in crafting effective responses to the threats posed by the coronavirus.

June 16 - Kayla Matthews

San Francisco BART Station

BLOG POST

Lessons from Pandemics: Valuing Public Transportation

Public transit is critical for efficient and equitable transportation, but it is currently under threat due to fears of COVID-19 contagion. Now, more than ever, planners must communicate transit benefits and respond to inaccurate criticisms.

June 12 - Todd Litman

Coronavirus Protest

BLOG POST

Debating the Future of Cities After the Coronavirus, Volume 3

The third installment of an ongoing, curated list of a particularly contemporary genre of urbanism punditry.

June 10 - James Brasuell

Professor of Urban Planning

Harvard University Graduate School of Design

Transportation Planner I

KFH Group Inc.

Director, Strategy and Research

Greater Baltimore Committee

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.

FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?

After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.

Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold

The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.

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