Infrastructure
How China's 'Greenwall' Threatens Your City's Recycling Efforts
The United States' municipal recycling programs rely on China's voracious appetite for plastic trash. But the country's new ban on the import of certain types of solid waste may cause your city a giant, stinky headache.
Consummating the Marriage Between Bikes and Geeks
There may be something to the premise that bike amenities attract young technology professionals. Jayme Moye looks at one Boulder software company that's building on the natural affinity between the two subcultures with a bike-themed hackfest.
Walkable Infill Proves Its Worth
A study of three different development types in Nashville shows that mixed-use infill projects deliver an exponentially greater return on investment than traditional suburban, or even New Urbanist-style, greenfield development.
A Decoder Ring for Those Mysterious Markings on Your Street
Jimmy Stamp decodes the mysterious color-coded markings used by public works departments around the country to indicate underground infrastructure.
As Other Cities Boost TOD, Chicago Falters
A new study of transit-oriented growth in America's most transit-served cities reveals that Chicago lags way behind its peers. The area's enduring pattern of sprawling development is blamed.
L.A.'s Cycling Superhighway: 115 Years Ahead of Its Time
Brian Merchant explores the fascinating history of the California Cycleway, a dedicated bicycling superhighway that was partially constructed beginning in 1897 between Pasadena and downtown Los Angeles.
Are Privately Owned Roads in the Public's Interest?
Eric Jaffe traces the uneven history of private sector involvement in road construction and management. The involvement of public-private partnerships will likely continue to grow, despite the potential pitfalls.
The Bumpy Route to L.A. Road Repair
Ben Poston investigates Los Angeles's "60-year backlog of failed streets." A strategy designed to pave over the disparities between council districts means that the most damaged of the city's 6,500 miles of paved roadway get fixed last.
America's Amazing Lost Markets
Before there were Safeways and Sam's Clubs, public markets served as the cultural and culinary anchors of towns across the United States. Many were also fine pieces of architecture. David K. O’Neil looks at 10 of the best that have been lost to time.
Urban Camouflage: Using Buildings to Disguise Infrastructure
The infrastructure necessary to keep a city's systems running can frankly get kind of ugly. See what some cities have done to help disguise unsightly infrastructure.
The Future of Urban Animation: Biology Infiltrates Design and Construction
Bacterial manufacturing, bio-electric envelopes, robotic swarm construction, biosynthetic design patterns; Chris Arkenberg sketches the future of city design and construction in which "the barriers between biology and technology will start to fall."
Paris's Ring Road Turns 40, Is There Any Reason to Celebrate?
Paris's Boulevard Peripherique is one of the most clogged roadways in Europe, it delivers dangerous pollution to 100,000 people in its vicinity, and this year it turned 40. Lara Marlowe looks at the future for one of Paris's little loved landscapes.
Urbanism 2.0 vs. 'Micro Urban' Communities: Imagining Land Use in 2063
Patrick J. Kiger looks at the global trends that will impact urban landscapes over the next 50 years and explores two competing visions for the future of land use.
Unlocking the Value of Legacy Assets
As cash strapped communities look to maximize their return on investment, a potent argument can be made for leveraging significant investments already made in a city's legacy assets to drive economic development.
Obama Pushes for Rail Investment Renewal - Without New Funds
Yonah Freemark writes about the expiration of the nation's five-year rail investment program that funds the FRA, Amtrak, and freight rail - separate from MAP 21, and suggests that without a new funding source, don't expect to see any increases.
Trucks & Trains Turn Toward LNG to Lower Costs
Just as the power industry turned toward lower priced natural gas and away from dirtier coal, there are signs that trucks and trains are looking to lower priced liquefied natural gas (LNG) to replace diesel-powered vehicles, but there are challenges.
Enterprise or Chaos? Cairo's DIY Urbanism
Michael Kimmelman examines the race to rebuild and redefine post-revolutionary Cairo, where residents are recreating the city and civic society, and reclaiming public spaces, from the bottom-up.
Children of the Past Envision the City of Tomorrow
How did childhood visions of future cities differ for kids growing up in the 1980s when compared to the 1960s or today? Matt Novak shares a short film from 1983 that captures the prescient urban visions of students.
What Is Green Infrastructure and Why Does it Matter?
From traditional stormwater management to storm surge abatement and conserving drinking water and watersheds, green infrastructure improves our cities, explains Adrian Benepe of the Trust for Public Land.
Walking: America's Next Medical Breakthrough
A group of America's leading corporations, health care providers, and government officials are preparing to launch a national walking movement this fall. "If walking was a pill or surgical procedure, it would be on 60 Minutes,” says Dr. Bob Sallis.
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.
City of Thousand Oaks
City of Wisconsin Rapids
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
Northern Illinois Transit Authority (NITA)
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
