History / Preservation

Suburban development in Long Island, NY

What Is Levittown?

Known as the archetypal post-war American suburb, Levittown was the first mass-produced housing development and set a standard for planned subdivisions for decades to come.

April 30, 2021 - Diana Ionescu

McDonald's building, New Hyde Park, Long Island

America's 'Most Beautiful McDonald's'?

The Long Island restaurant is housed in a historic 18th century farmhouse.

April 30, 2021 - Inman News

Washington, D.C. Historic District

Balancing Aesthetics and Affordability

Policies too narrowly focused on design can drive up the cost of construction and prevent the development of affordable housing.

April 20, 2021 - Slate

Cincinnati Over-the-Rhine

Uneven Redevelopment on Cincinnati's Vine Street

While the southern end of the thoroughfare is seeing rapid redevelopment and gentrification, the northern end has yet to reap any benefits from the nearby projects.

April 19, 2021 - WCPO

eviljohnius

A Lost Ancient City Is Unearthed in Egypt

The newly unearthed "golden city" sheds light on everyday life at the height of ancient Egypt's power.

April 19, 2021 - The Washington Post

Washington, D.C. Rowhouses

Transformers Vs. Historical Preservation

A row over two Transformers statues in a D.C. neighborhood lays bare the "absurdities" inherent in historical preservation, one writer argues.

April 12, 2021 - Georgetown Metropolitan

Book in the Park

Fourth Surge May Be a Second Wave

The CDC announced on April 7 that a coronavirus variant first detected in the U.K is now dominant in the U.S. "In some ways, we're almost in a new pandemic," said one prominent public health expert earlier about the more transmissible variant.

April 12, 2021 - The New York Times

CBS Television City, Los Angeles, Caliifornia.

L.A.'s Historic CBS Campus Will Undergo Billion-Dollar Expansion

The Television City revamp will more than double the currently available space and include a multi-modal mobility hub, pedestrian improvements, and a "robust" transportation demand management program.

April 5, 2021 - The Architect's Newspaper

Çatalhöyük, 7400 BC, Konya, Turkey

What Is Çatalhöyük?

Thought to be one of the first major urban centers in human civilization, Çatalhöyük was a Neolithic settlement that, at its height, reached a population of close to 10,000 at a time when most humans still lived in small hunter-gatherer bands of several hundred people.

April 2, 2021 - Diana Ionescu

Tenants' Rights

HUD Has Money for Tenant Organizing. Why Isn’t the Agency Spending It?

HUD can provide $10 million to tenant organizers each year, but the funding has largely gone unspent since the early 2000s. Will that change with a new administration and newly approved HUD secretary?

March 30, 2021 - Shelterforce Magazine

Exclusionary covenant

New Mexico Communities Reflect on Racial Restrictive Covenants

Explicitly racist and exclusionary language remains embedded in many communities' restrictive covenants. State legislators and local leaders want to change that.

March 23, 2021 - High Country News

View of New York City from Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Brooklyn Waterfront Development Unveils Revised Design

The massive River Ring Waterfront Master Plan includes two towers containing 1,050 residential units, a three-acre beach, and 5,000 square feet of community kiosks.

March 23, 2021 - Urbanize New York

Downtown Dallas parking lot

Fixing Decades-Old Parking Regulations in Dallas

Dallas has launched an effort to reform its "burdensome" parking policies, which have been left largely in the hands of local development districts.

March 18, 2021 - D Magazine

San Francisco Street

Opinion: High-Rises Won't Sink San Francisco

The weight of large buildings may not be a major threat to coastal cities, despite recent claims.

March 16, 2021 - San Francisco Chronicle

Women's History Month

History of Trailblazing Women Celebrated at National Parks

Learn about ten national parks that preserve and share the stories of women whose vision, tenacity, and resilience helped them to change history forever.

March 15, 2021 - NPF Blog

Jane Jacobs

Deconstructing Saint Jane

The iconic urban thinker has influenced generations of planners, but how do her ideas hold up in an age of massive upheaval and economic inequality?

March 14, 2021 - Urban Omnibus

Social Distancing

Experts: Fourth Coronavirus Surge Likely More of a Ripple

The worst appears to be over, say most of the more than 20 experts who spoke with NPR's science editor, Rob Stein. If there is going to be a surge, it will be more like a ripple, he suggested. Not everyone agrees.

March 11, 2021 - NPR

Australia

Unlocking the City with Context Keys

The human memory is so powerful that a place on pavement suddenly can trigger a stream of imagery from the distant past, or a meaningful story of something that once happened there. We should champion such keys to the context of a place.

March 10, 2021 - Charles R. Wolfe

Newark

Newark Launches Land Bank to Revive Long-Vacant Properties

The land bank will assess proposals for the sale and redevelopment of 100 city-owned properties in neglected neighborhoods.

March 7, 2021 - Next City

Montana State University, Bozeman

Bozeman's 'Only Racially Diverse Neighborhood' at Risk

Thanks in part to an influx of remote workers, the Montana town faces soaring housing costs and practically non-existent vacancy rates.

March 4, 2021 - High Country News

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.

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.