Land Use

The Promise of Pop-Up Placemaking
With the support of its executive leadership, Adelaide, Australia's experimentalist city council has encouraged ephemeral projects to enliven streets. "Splash Adelaide" projects can even override council policy.
Concerns Raised Over Property Tax for Minneapolis' Nicollet Mall Renovation
A debate over a special property tax assessment to fund a James Corner-designed redo of Nicollet Mall in Minneapolis raises questions about public benefit and value capture.

When States Should Blow the Whistle
States regulate local governments too much in some areas, but not enough in others.

Touring San Francisco's Parklet Boom
As the birthplace of the parklets movement, San Francisco and the surrounding Bay Area have lots of parklet eye candy to choose from.
$4.1 Billion Return on Riverfront Parks Investments in Pittsburgh
According to a recent study, $130 million invested in the Three River Park has multiplied into $4.1 billion in development around the riverfront.

Seattle Zealously Protects Its Parkland
Based on a history of park-friendly ordinances, Seattle parks and urban forests are largely off-limits to developers. Landowners who flout these regulations must provide the city with an adjacent and equivalent parcel.
Looking for Someone to Blame for Bad Architecture? Look in the Mirror, Says Op-Ed
Architecture Critic Mark Lamster attended the recent Congress for The New Urbanism annual conference, this year held in Dallas. One panel in particular, "How to Rebuild Architecture," proved informative.
Highlights from CNU 23 Dallas
Having just wrapped up a great CNU in Dallas, April 29 through May 2, a collection of urbanists share some of the ideas that resonated the most.
Washington, D.C.'s Downtown Playground Desert
D.C.'s fast-growing downtown neighborhoods have new restaurants, offices and apartments—but few playgrounds. With thousands of children expected to be born in the District in the next five years, where will they all play?

How to Lead a Walking Tour
Leading a walking tour of your neighborhood can be easy if you focus on the basic differences between types of neighborhoods.

Process and Outcome Best Practices: Interviews with Exemplary Planning Practitioners
Well known planning scholar and theorist Dr. Karen Christensen, from UC Berkeley, introduces her findings from a decade of interviews with exemplary planners in the San Francisco Bay Area.

UN-Habitat Adopts International Guidelines for Urban and Territorial Planning
UN-Habitat has adopted International Guidelines for Urban and Territorial Planning intended to inform the United Nation's New Urban Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals.

Parsing the Urban Landscape
A lot of people think exclusively of plants when they hear the term landscape. Without a common language to effectively describe it, the role landscape plays in the urban realm will remain undervalued.
FEMA Proposes New Flood Maps: 450,000 More New York Houses Included
FEMA has been hard at work since Hurricane Sandy re-evaluating the risk of floods in New York. Newly proposed maps would cast a much wider net for flood risk on private property.
Planning for the Next 20 Years in Unincorporated Los Angeles County
A lot has changed on the ground in Los Angeles County's unincorporated areas since 1980, when the last General Plan directing land use in these communities was written.
Park Advocates Face Uphill Battle Against Obama Library, Lucas Museum
Geoff Edgers details the challenge ahead for park advocates fighting to protect Chicago open space from two powerful forces: the White House and George Lucas.
APA and CNU Get on the Same Page
American Planning Association Executive Director Jim Drinan and Congress for New Urbanism President and CEO Lynn Richards made a video announcing a new era of partnership between the two organizations.
The Bike Highway That Almost Was
In this excerpt from the new book "LAtitudes: An Angeleno's Atlas," author Dan Koeppel tracks the 1899 Bicycle Highway from Los Angeles to Pasadena to discover why it was never finished.

Interview with Indianapolis' Young Gun: Planning Director Adam Thies
The first in the "Planners Across America" series features Indianapolis' Adam Thies, who shares insights into doing more with less, the limits of long range planning at the municipal level, and why planners should be real estate experts.

San Francisco Approves 'Parking Flexibility Ordinance'
A newly approved ordinance in San Francisco will allow new flexibility for the city parking regulations, relaxing parking restrictions in multiple situations that apply all over the city.
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
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions