History / Preservation

Queens New York

Iconic Queens Clock Tower Anchors 915-Foot Skyscraper

In a complex saga involving the MTA, an 88-year-old tower, and a planned 77-story apartment behemoth, affordable housing may be first to fall by the wayside.

April 11, 2015 - New York Times

Preservation and Revitalization in Latin America

Urban city centers have been decaying for years in Latin America, however, with renewed interest by Latin American governments, these city cores are once again being revitalized. Arup Connect spoke with urban design leader Pablo Lazo to learn how.

April 8, 2015 - Arup Connect

'Facadism' Passing for Preservation in Seattle

Lamenting the gutting of historic buildings and leaving them a shell of their former selves.

April 3, 2015 - Crosscut

nyc. subway.

New York Will Phase Out C Train 'Brightliners' By 2017

Once the subway's pride, R-32 'Brightliner' trains that operate on the C line will soon disappear from service. Mid-century promo videos notwithstanding, the line's rolling stock was in dire need of an update.

March 31, 2015 - WNYC: Transportation Nation

Using Urban Observation to 'Ghost-Bust' Cities

Chuck Wolfe champions urban observation, emphasizing "ghosts" that are important to the authenticity of today's urban change, like oral histories among indigenous peoples passing on cultural traditions from one generation to the next.

March 27, 2015 - The Huffington Post

New Orleans street

New Orleans Public Markets Make a Comeback

Plagued by supermarket chains and natural disasters, the public markets of New Orleans could help revive community identity. Here are some of the ways they're getting back in business.

March 27, 2015 - Next City

Union Station

Los Angeles and the Getty Launch Historic Places Database

Confirmed: Los Angeles really does have a rich history. HistoricPlacesLA, a new online database, provides detailed information on the city's historic sites.

March 11, 2015 - CityLab

Teotihuacan

How Ancient and Modern Cities Compare (and Why Planners Should Care)

A new scholarly paper argues that ancient and modern cities can be usefully analyzed in a comparative perspective. But what you do with the comps depends on how much you value similarities versus differences in urban form.

March 9, 2015 - Dean Saitta

Did Augustus Really Transform Rome into a 'City of Marble'?

Caeser Augustus famously boasted "I found Rome a city of bricks and left it a city of marble." An architectural historian and urban designer at UCLA now has the model to prove the veracity of the claim.

March 7, 2015 - UCLA Newsroom

We're All Complicit in Change—Now What?

Be a citizen, not just a consumer.

March 5, 2015 - PlaceShakers

Austin Master Plan to Transform Municipal Cemeteries

Could it be that places for the dead might be a new source of urban innovation? Austin provides an example of new thinking regarding urban resting places.

March 5, 2015 - Next City

Teotihuacan

Study: Ancient Cities Grew Much Like Modern Cities

Scientists from the Santa Fe Institute have discovered basic patterns underlying the way cities have always grown. The mechanics of "urban scaling" may have something fundamental to tell us about how large settlements evolve.

March 1, 2015 - Christian Science Monitor

Shot by Shot, Brooklyn Histories Revealed

To build ties to its neighbors, a young arts organization embarked on a sprawling multimedia project exploring the past and present of Williamsburg's Latino community.

February 20, 2015 - Satellite Magazine

WWII Internment Camp in Hawaii Designated as a National Monument

A detention center that interred Japanese Americans during World War II, once called Jigoku Dani, or Hell Valley, will become a National Monument.

February 18, 2015 - Los Angeles Times

Will Upzoning Destroy the Beaux Arts Legacy of Midtown Manhattan?

A development proposal for a 1,450 glass skyscraper adjacent to Grand Central Station prompted the Architectural Record to wonder whether New York is chipping away the "Beaux Arts heart" of Manhattan.

February 13, 2015 - Architectural Record

Chicago's Pullman Park District to Achieve National Monument Status

President Barack Obama is expected to announce the Pullman Park neighborhood in Chicago as the country's newest national monument. The move is part of a larger effort to recognize more diversity in the country's public lands.

February 10, 2015 - The Washington Post

FLV California train

Is California's High Speed Rail the Transcontinental Railroad of its Time?

Journalist Kathleen Sharp, whose great-grandfather worked on the transcontinental railroad, draws comparisons between that epic achievement and the construction of California's high speed rail in this New York Times op-ed.

February 10, 2015 - The New York Times - Opinion

Stockholm Master Plan 1962

How Planners Use Planning Theory

Andrew Whittmore of the University of North Carolina Department of Urban and Regional Planning identifies planning theory in everyday practice.

February 2, 2015 - JPER

Obama to Open Controversial Atlantic Region to Offshore Drilling

A mere day after the Interior Department announced it would permanently block drilling in much of the Arctic Refuge by designating it as wilderness, it proposed allowing drilling in the Gulf, along Atlantic coast, and surprisingly, offshore Alaska.

January 28, 2015 - McClatchy Washington Bureau

Obama Proposal would Close the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to Drilling

Setting off a political firestorm in the words of one journalist, President Obama proposed to designate most of the pristine Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as wilderness, angering congressional Republicans.

January 27, 2015 - The Wall Street Journal

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.

Senior Manager Operations, Urban Planning

New York City School Construction Authority

Building Inspector

Village of Glen Ellyn

Manager of Model Development

Central Transportation Planning Staff/Boston Region MPO

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.