Exclusives
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Planning Education: Made in China?
A high school field trip in China that is hard to imagine in the United States.
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A 'Mottainai' Neighborhood: Little Tokyo Embodies the EcoDistrict Model
Little Tokyo in Los Angeles was selected to be part of the EcoDistrict Target City program. Global Green is excited to be part of this collaborative effort to promote neighborhood scale sustainability and further the concept of "Mottainai."
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What Can a 'Science of Cities' Offer Planners?
Research across a range of fields is beginning to offer useful new guidance for planning policy and practice—and pointing the way to more effective "bottom-up" strategies.
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The Curious Anonymity of Architecture
Chicago's complaints about the signage on Donald Trump's new tower are predictable enough. What's surprising is that the people to design buildings rarely, if ever, get the slightest recognition in the public realm.
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Does Low Congestion Mean Urban Failure?
The least congested cities tend to be small, declining, and dangerous.
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Destabilizing Urban Planning
How can the contemporary concepts in ecology studies—adaptability, resiliency, and flexibility—advance urban planning practices?
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One Hundred Years of Exposure
An interview with artist and critic Jonathon Keats, who recently implemented a project in Berlin where participants will anchor pinhole "century cameras" around the city to record its changes over a period of 100 years.
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Self-Starter Urbanism: Small Firms Tackle Big Projects on Their Own Terms
Development and research projects allow small firms entry into large-scale design.
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Let's Make Sticky Streets for People!
As cities work hard to evolve their perspective on the role of streets as public places in smarter city-making, remember this: Good cities know that streets move people, not just cars. Great cities know that streets are places to linger and enjoy.
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A Parking Paradox
Minimum parking requirements affect developer behavior most where they are most controversial: in downtown neighborhoods. In suburbs where they may just mimic the market, the arguments for such rules are paradoxically even weaker.
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Is Traffic Speed Compliance A Congestion Cost?
Conventional evaluation often exaggerates congestion costs by using baseline travel speeds which exceed speed limits. This assumes that traffic speed compliance is a congestion cost that justifies major infrastructure investments to alleviate.
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Two-Way Streets Can Fix Declining Downtown Neighborhoods
America’s multi-lane one-way streets are a disaster for neighborhoods. A recent study, released at the International Making Cities Livable Conference and led by John Gilderbloom, finds benefits to converting such streets to two-way traffic flows.
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The Fall of Planning Expertise
With increasing skepticism and conflict towards planners and planning projects, we must ask ourselves: Is the power and politics now vested in "community participation" undermining the planning profession?
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E-Commerce And The Future Of The City
Chinese cities have grown at an astounding pace over the past few decades, wholeheartedly embracing the automobile. The upcoming IPO of Alibaba and the rise of e-commerce heralds a new, possibly troubling chapter in China's urban development.
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Did Google Find a Low-Speed Shortcut to Fully Automated Vehicles?
Google's bold new design for a self-driving car has no steering wheel or pedals. And it has a top speed of 40 km/h. Here is a look at Google’s plans and the role low-speed automated vehicles could play in urban transportation.
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Gentrification and High Rents—Not Quite the Same Thing
Public concern about gentrification is based on fears that out-of-control rents are pricing out the middle and lower classes. But rent is rising even in places where gentrification is not happening.
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Tall Tower Debates Could Use Less Dogma, Better Design
When it comes to tall buildings, there's a lot of dogma out there among urbanists, in both directions. Lets spend more time and attention on the quality of tower and neighbourhood design, rather than on how tall the buildings are.
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The Case for Neighborhood Bars...and Why Planning is Like Cooking
Beyond permits and specific plans, urban planning is the creation and facilitation of a user experience, where the neighborhood bar is an essential ingredient to the cohesiveness of a neighborhood.
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Does Beauty Still Matter?
The design of urban landscapes has become dominated by a growing call for them to be ecologically resilient. But isn't it important what they look like?
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How Green is My Neighborhood? Let Me Count the Ways
Neighborhood-scale sustainable development is flourishing, as are tools for assessing and certifying the triple bottom line of projects. Ten neighborhood rating tools are reviewed for their best fit for planners, developers, and communities.
Smith Gee Studio
City of Charlotte
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
US High Speed Rail Association
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
Municipality of Princeton (NJ)
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.
