Exclusives
BLOG POST
A ‘New Urbanism’ Travelogue
I visited three New Urbanist developments in North Carolina. Here's what I liked, what I didn't like, and what I learned.
BLOG POST
Leveraging Blockchain Tech to Build Smart Cities
Blockchain is far from exclusive to cryptocurrency. Smart cities have a lot to gain from the technology and can thrive with its application.
BLOG POST
Cool Walkability Planning
Shadeways (covered sidewalks) and pedways (enclosed, climate controlled walkways) can provide comfortable walkability in hot climates. The Cool Walkshed Index can help plan these facilities.
BLOG POST
Public Lands in the United States, Part One: “Redeemed From Wilderness”
This is part one in a blog series examining the history of public lands in the United States and their shifting role in the American psyche.
FEATURE
Is Twitter Still an Effective Planning Tool?
Twitter has been a daily dose of drama and upheaval ever since Elon Musk offered to pay over $40 billion to buy the social media platform. Media outlets and public transit agencies had been abandoning the social media platform—should planners?
BLOG POST
Planning for a Post-Climate World
A series of 19th century paintings that illustrates the rise and fall of empire highlights the limits of growth.
BLOG POST
New York City's Dancing Prohibition Remains a Barrier to Entry, Equality
New York’s 1960s-era zoning code still prohibits dancing in small bars and restaurants in more than 80 percent of the city, but Mayor Eric Adams and advocates want to change that.
FEATURE
How Can Urban Planning Address the ‘Loneliness Epidemic’?
The U.S. Surgeon General is sounding the alarm about the health effects of isolation. Planners have a role to play in rebuilding our “social infrastructure.”
FEATURE
Most Influential Urbanists: Call for Nominees
Change doesn’t happen accidentally. Who are the people shaping cities and communities through the Covid-19 pandemic and beyond?
BLOG POST
How Is Supply Chain Expansion Impacting Urban Development?
Supply chain expansion can have specific impacts on urban development as people move to metropolitan areas and require more involved participation at all levels of the supply chain.
BLOG POST
A Toolkit of Urban Vehicle Access Regulations to Improve Livability
You may have heard Paris is implementing traffic restrictions, but did you know that Paris is very late to the party? European cities, big and small, have been implementing measures to keep traffic from destroying urban quality of life for decades.
BLOG POST
Thinking About Right-NIMBYism
Some conservatives oppose new housing on the ground that exclusion will “save” their neighborhoods from poor people. Is there any response to these arguments?
BLOG POST
ADA Compliance Slowly Makes Headway
Decades of advocacy are paying off, but it often takes legal action to force cities to make accessibility improvements mandated by the Americans with Disabilities Act over thirty years ago.
BLOG POST
Bitter Irony Behind Brooklyn’s Sweet Domino Sugar Sign
A new feature on the Brooklyn waterfront is a reminder that Domino Sugar has made several unsavory appearances in the history of Puerto Rican communities.
FEATURE
Essay: Will America Ever Change its Urban Patterns?
If there has ever been a good time to change our urban patterns, the time is now.
FEATURE
Recommended Mobile Apps for Urban Planning in 2023
Planetizen's annual list of top apps for planners is back, ten years after its first appearance on the site. Scores of apps have been recommended by planners as examples of planning in action, or tools for planning action.
BLOG POST
Transportation Agencies: Improve Your Models or Hire More Lawyers
Transportation models are biased in ways that result in inefficient, unfair and environmentally harmful planning decisions. Improve your analysis or prepare to be sued.
FEATURE
Restoring the Vacant Middle: Creating Middle Housing Through Historic Preservation
How flexible zoning in historic districts can support preservation and create affordable housing.
FEATURE
The Tragedy of Parking
Parking minimums and other zoning laws have made American cities untenable for any other type of transportation. It’s time we find a new way to zone our cities.
PLANOPEDIA
What Is an Easement?
There are limits to the rights and powers associated with land ownership. Easements are a critical example of how property rights can be balanced with the needs of neighbors, the public, and other interests external to the control of property owners.
City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
Town of Zionsville
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.
