Housing

Is China's Building Bubble About to Burst?

Peter Day visits Ordos, a largely empty new city in Inner Mongolia, and sees evidence that the great Chinese building boom, which did so much to fuel the country's astonishing economic growth, is over.

March 18, 2012 - BBC News

Bringing Value to Low-Cost Housing

Ron Nyren looks at 10 affordable housing developments across the world completed in the last five years that demonstrate good design and low-cost housing are not mutually exclusive.

March 17, 2012 - Urban Land

The Segregating Effects of the Housing Bubble

Suzy Khimm reports on a new paper that demonstrates that, contrary to widely held beliefs, the country’s top metropolitan areas became more segregated from 1995 to 2006.

March 17, 2012 - The Washington Post

Is Public Outreach Enough to Overhaul India's Slums?

Mukta Naik, a consulting planner with Indian housing firm micro Home Solutions, discovers that grand plans for a 'slum-free India' missed the mark on one key point: the lives of slum dwellers.

March 16, 2012 - The Global Urbanist

Non-Profit Housing Lender Gambled on Luxury Condos, Faltered

Once a bastion of rent-controlled housing for the poor and working class, a New York non-profit recently ousted its CEO following a string of risky real estate investments, Charles Bagli reports.

March 15, 2012 - New York Times

Affordable Living Planned for Orenco Station

One of the country's most publicized New Urbanist developments is diversifying its housing stock, featuring some of the nation's first apartments to be built using Passive House standards, reports Casey Parks.

March 15, 2012 - The Oregonian

Undercrowding Vexes NYC Housing Authority

Elizabeth A. Harris explores the New York City Housing Authority's extensive underoccupied public housing dilemma and how attempts at resolving the issue delicately are failing to address the problem.

March 13, 2012 - The New York Times

Starchitects Struggling?

Vivan S. Toy examines the fate of several condo developments in New York that employed brand name architects to sell their products during the housing boom, and finds mixed results.

March 12, 2012 - The New York Times

San Francisco Grows Less Diverse

Heather Knight reports on a trend concerning officials and family advocates throughout San Francico, the exodus of families with children who can no longer afford housing in a city that is becoming older, whiter and richer.

March 11, 2012 - San Francisco Chronicle

SmartSpace: A Look Inside San Francisco's Newest Microapartments

Kirsten Dirksen reports on one housing developer's 160-square-foot vision for San Francisco singles.

March 7, 2012 - *faircompanies

What is Manhattan's Carrying Capacity?

NYT reporter Amy O'Leary observes Manhattan's ubiquitous construction while suffering through overcrowded sidewalks, stores, and subway trains, and wonders just how many more people the crowded borough can absorb.

March 5, 2012 - The New York Times - Real Estate

Why the "Other" Housing Market is Booming

With the consistent news about declining home values and stagnating sales, its easy to forget that, in effect, there are two housing markets in the U.S. - those for owners and those for renters. Guess which one is booming.

March 4, 2012 - Slate

Redfields: A New Flavor of Infill

Following an ill-fated foreclosure in 2009, a residential project in Libertyville, IL finally finds its way while demonstrating the potential for an emerging field of redevelopment, reports Ann Dillemuth.

March 2, 2012 - APA - Sustaining Places Blog

Is the Shrinking Middle Class Driving the Growth in Home Size?

Lloyd Alter weighs in on the debate over the shrinking, or growing, size of American homes, seeing the influence of affluent homebuyers as driving an increase in size.

March 1, 2012 - Treehugger

Housing: Fundamentals, Imbalance, and Solutions

Is the dream home for the New Era compact, connected and mortgage free?

February 29, 2012 - PlaceShakers

Top Planning Trends of 2011-2012

February 27, 2012 - Jonathan Nettler

Are American Home Sizes Growing or Shrinking?

Remember that trend toward smaller houses widely predicted and reported, well Lew Sichelman sees the inverse in figures recently reported at the annual convention of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) in Orlando.

February 24, 2012 - Urban Land

Is Housing a Human Right?

Advocates around the country, and around the world, think so, and they're making their case from Southern California to Scotland and South Africa.

February 24, 2012 - Shelterforce

Lessons Learned in Providing On-Site Open Space for Multifamily Developments

Bob Bengford, AICP, MAKERS, examines the goals and benefits, notable challenges, and lessons learned in providing on-site open space for multifamily developments, including a comparison of how a few Washington cities regulate this type of open space.

February 22, 2012 - MRSC Planning Advisor

Is Homeownership Liberating or Limiting for Single Women?

As single women buy homes in unprecedented quantities, and much more frequently than men, Kate Bolick asks if female homeownership is liberating or limiting.

February 21, 2012 - The Wall Street Journal

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.