Government / Politics

California Law Doesn't Stop Sprawl

A draft report from San Diego reveals that California's SB 375 law, which passed in 2008, was ineffective in reducing sprawl in the long term, Ethan Elkind writes for the UCLA UC Berkeley Legal Planet blog.

July 7, 2011 - Legal Planet

The End of the Great American Highway

The American highway is in shambles, and there is not enough money to fix it, reports Zach Rosenberg of Car and Driver Magazine.

July 6, 2011 - Car and Driver

US DOT To Distribute $527m in Next Round of TIGER Grants

The US Department of Transportation will begin accepting applications for the transportation grants on August 22nd.

July 6, 2011 - Governing

The Soon-to-be Glamorous and Cutting Edge LAX

The addition of the Bradley terminal and modernization projects across LAX are pushing the airport back into relevance, Dan Weikel reports for the Los Angeles Times.

July 6, 2011 - Los Angeles Times

Beverly Hills Committing $350k to Keeping Subway Out

The City Council of Beverly Hills has been outspoken against the MTA's plans to run a subway under the city. This Thursday, they're considering pulling together $350 thousand to fund their opposition.

July 5, 2011 - Canyon News

Answer for California's Problems: Divide and Conquer?

County of Riverside Supervisor Jeff Stone proposes breaking up California in order to form a new "State of South California."

July 5, 2011 - Los Angeles Times

Tent City of Protest

The center of protest in Yemen's capital city of Sana'a has turned into a massive tent city, with more than 4,000 tents and a variety of services, public spaces and pop-up industries.

July 4, 2011 - Der Spiegel

More U.S. Cities Launching Bike Sharing Programs

More American cities are following successful European cities' leads and launching their own bike sharing systems.

July 3, 2011 - McClatchy

The Private Sector Approach to the Public Sector

This short series from Next American City looks at the emerging trend of entrepreneurs applying their own private-sector business savvy to the world of local government.

July 3, 2011 - Next American City

Redevelopment Plans Shaken Up as California Cuts Budget

Urban redevelopment plans to slow or stall in California, as Governor Jerry Brown slashes the budgets of redevelopment agencies in the state.

July 3, 2011 - The Sacramento Bee

Comparing the Greening of Cities

A new tool comparing cities in the U.S. and Canada tracks improvements in the way cities are greening, and also highlights areas where improvement is needed.

July 2, 2011 - The Atlantic

Injured Cyclists Team Up to Fund Fix for Heavy Accident Area

An accident-prone section of bike path in Seattle has prompted dozens of lawsuits and resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars in payments to injured cyclists. Now the cyclists themselves are trying to fix the infrastructural problem.

July 2, 2011 - The Seattle Times

Detroit Finalizes Light Rail Route

The City of Detroit has finalized the route of a planned light rail line traveling down one the of the city's main corridors and linking to downtown.

July 1, 2011 - The Detroit News

Abu Dhabi Looks Ahead to 2030

Abu Dhabi has released a new 20-year plan. It planners argue that it will be flexible enough to withstand changes in the global economy, should they come.

July 1, 2011 - Times of Oman

Brazil Hopes to Limit Sports Bodies' Powers Ahead of Mega Events

As Brazil prepares to host the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics, officials are pushing a new law that would limit the powers of the international bodies behind the two major sporting events.

July 1, 2011 - The New York Times

Federal Funds on the Line as Cities Challenge Census Results

The U.S. Conference of Mayors expect the number of challenges to be higher than the 1,200 challenges filed for the 2000 Census because regions claimed to have received low population counts.

June 30, 2011 - Associated Press

The Technology for a Dialogue Between Citizens and Cities

Technology must be harnessed in cities to allow citizens to "talk back" to cities and enable more user-driven change, according to this op-ed from economist Saskia Sassen.

June 30, 2011 - domus

Graying of the Suburban Image

The 2010 Census showed that the baby-boom generation led to the growth of older populations settling in suburbs, which is causing local governments to rethink whom their services should cater to.

June 30, 2011 - The Washington Post

New York City Planning Director Leads the City's Renaissance

The Wall Street Journal profiles New York City Planning Director Amanda Burden, focusing on the populist projects her department has been successful in building in recent years.

June 29, 2011 - The Wall Street Journal

How ARRA Affects the Homeless

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) claims that Obama's economic stimulus bill helped contain the number of homeless people in 2009 and 2010.

June 29, 2011 - CQ Roll Call

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.

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.