Landscape Architecture

Report Details the Long-Term Financial Benefits of Green Design
This report estimates that U.S. cities could save half a trillion dollars by investing in "smart surface technologies." The study takes into account obvious factors like energy use and less intuitive ones like tourism revenues.

Fountain of the Fairs in Queens Ready for a Family-Friendly Makeover
The Fountain fo the Fairs was deigned by Robert Moses for the 1964-1965 World's Fair but it's now in need of a makeover.

Bay Area Design Challenge Takes On Sea Level Rise
For the next several months, nine sites will be the focus of efforts to design for resilience as sea levels rise. Proposals involve "threading nature back into an urbanized terrain."

Addressing Online Retail's Ceaseless Curbside Deliveries
The rise of online retail has come with a flurry of delivery trucks that don't always have good places to stop. Researchers from Amazon's hometown are on the case.

Former Bay Bridge Piers Offer a New Approach to the Water
"Four piers from the old eastern span of the Bay Bridge will live on as a public boardwalk and vista point in Oakland and on Yerba Buena Island," reports Erin Baldassari.

Reexamining Notions of Placemaking
Surveying the public discussion for answers about how to make sense of placemaking.

San Francisco’s Salesforce Tower Opens, Underwhelms
Of the city’s newest, tallest building John King writes, “[it’s] as if the creators were so busy being tasteful they forgot that big buildings can be fun."

Santa Monica to Plan for a Freeway Cap Where the I-10 Meets the Pacific Coast
The terminus of the I-10 freeway is a 7,000-foot concrete trench across the heart of Santa Monica. The city's new downtown plan calls for a cap, and a new master plan will hammer out specifics.

Are Teens Tired of Commuting?
Carole Turley Voulgaris guest blogs about a recent article in the Journal of Planning Education and Research.

Ohio River Greenway Coming Soon—Even Bigger Plans to Follow
A new bike and walking path connecting two cities on the Indiana side of the Ohio River, across from Louisville, could provide a runway for much larger open space ambitions.

The Most Popular Posts of 2017
All the planning news that's fit to print.

Making the 'Case for Healthy Places'
The Project for Public Spaces recently released a new report titled "The Case for Healthy Places: Improving Health through Placemaking."

Gateway Arch Finally Connects to Downtown St. Louis
A $380 million project bridges a freeway and connects the Gateway Arch to downtown St. Louis.

'Splash Pad Urbanism,' Threats to Open Space, and More Landscape Architecture Trends
There was plenty of good to go with the bad from a year of professional and academic practice in the field of landscape architecture.

Shared Street Mixes Pedestrians and Cars—Truly Radical
A new development in Washington, D.C. features the largest "shared space" in the United States.

'Infinite Suburbia' Upends Everything We Know About Suburbia
Joel Kotkin and Alan M. Berger discuss their new book, which analyses what the suburbs are and will become, in both the United States and around the world.

Explained: The Greenprint Approach to Park Planning
An article on Governing aims to spread the word about the Greenprint Resource Hub.

Federal Highway Administration Bureaucrat Says Rainbow Crosswalks Are a Liability
An administrator for the Kentucky division of the Federal Highway Administration informed the city of Lexington that its rainbow crosswalk does not meet federal safety standards.
'High Line'-Type Bridge Proposed Between Crystal City, Reagan National Airport
The High Line in New York City has inspired ambitious projects all over the country. A pedestrian bridge proposed to connect the Arlington neighborhood of Crystal City to the Reagan National Airport provides the latest example.

The 'Deliberately Unkind' Public Art of the High Line
"You could be forgiven for reading the art as a message to less-than-opulent New Yorkers: You’ve lost your place," writes Michael Friedman.
Pagination
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.
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Municipality of Princeton (NJ)
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada