Land Use

Chicago's First Shared Street Planned for Uptown's Argyle Street

Following one failed attempt at a similar plan, a popular neighborhood for shopping will soon become a shared street project. The effort is part of a trend in Chicago looking for ways to transform streets into pedestrian friendly destinations.

October 7, 2014 - Chicago Tribune

National Institute for Transportation and Communities Releases Complete Streets Design Guide

Principal investigator Marc Schlossberg and co-investigator John Rowell, of the University of Oregon, have complete a guide to help communities of all varieties realize the benefits of complete streets.

October 7, 2014 - Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium

Starbucks to go

What an Innocuous Piece of Plastic Says About Our Suburban Future

Suburban Starbucks models are bumming urbanists out. But they also served as a nice allegory of what the future there might hold. Scott Doyon's latest blog post explains.

October 6, 2014 - PlaceShakers

Evidence of Peak Sprawl in the New York Region

"A new report out of Rutgers University reveals that since 2010, the fringes of the New York region have lost population as the core has grown," according to an article by Stephen Miller.

October 6, 2014 - StreetsBlog NYC

Luxury Condos Saturating New York City's Housing Market

The housing market in NYC has seen a 98.5 percent increase in luxury condo construction since last year. Market experts are concerned there is not enough demand to meet supply, causing developers to build upper to middle-income housing instead.

October 4, 2014 - New York Times

So Why Doesn't CEQA Change?

Developers, public officials and others complain about the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). But the law doesn't change because everyone—even developers and public agencies—has something to gain from the leverage it offers.

October 3, 2014 - California Planning & Development Report

Skateboard Park

Skateboard Urbanism on the Rise

More cities around the country are embracing skateparks as a vital part of park design, leading to a new wave of urban design standards tailored for skateboarders.

October 3, 2014 - Next City

Adapting to Rising Seas in Boston with Venice-Style Canals

The latest example of a coastal city designing urban resilience as both amenity and infrastructure—a plan to build Venice-style canals in Boston.

October 2, 2014 - The Boston Globe

The Look and Feel of 'Inherently Urban'

Greek orators, current solution-based efforts, and 25 photographs remind us of the central role of human opportunity in the urban environment.

October 1, 2014 - The Huffington Post

Madrid to Expand Non-Residential Vehicle Restrictions

Madrid, Spain is taking the next steps in restricting vehicular access to its urban core in the hopes of completely pedestrianizing central Madrid by 2020.

September 29, 2014 - Arch Daily

The American Planners Who Designed the Australian Capital

Eleri Harris offers a graphic account of the historic planning and design of Canberra, Australia—designed and planned by Americans, Walter Burley Griffen and Marion Mahony Griffin.

September 28, 2014 - Medium

Bikelash Halts 22nd Street Bike Lane in Philadelphia

Despite an August repaving of 22nd street in the Fairmount neighborhood, lane markings have yet to appear due to City Council scuffles on whether or not the street will undergo a road diet and add an additional bike lane.

September 28, 2014 - The Philadelphia Inquirer

Underground

Underground: The Next Frontier of Urbanization

With rapidly urbanizing metro areas, some cities are not looking to build up, or spread out, anymore. Rather they have begun to grow into underground spaces.

September 27, 2014 - Bloomberg News

Court Ruling for Beach-Blocking Billionaire Redeems Public Access

Vinod Khosla, the California billionaire who made news earlier this year for blocking access to a public beach, had his day in court.

September 26, 2014 - San Francisco Chronicle

Stockholm Complete Street

TED Talk Pitches a Shift in Street Design

Mikael Colville-Andersen discusses the benefits and methods of designing bicycle infrastructure within a city in a TEDxZurich talk.

September 26, 2014 - Business Insider

Athens Plans Massive City Park in Derelict Olympic Footprint

With an ailing economy and soaring unemployment, the city of Athens, Greece is planning on selling 6.2 million square meters to Lamda Development SA.

September 25, 2014 - This City Life

Ciclavia

CicLAvia: Reclaiming Streets in the Car Capital of America

The second in a series profiling grassroots activism to increase biking among the diverse populations of Los Angeles County. In this installment, Planetizen spoke with Robert Gard, director of communications for CicLAvia.

September 25, 2014 - Maayan Dembo

The Importance of Inter-Urban Walkability

In his third "place-decoding" essay from France, Chuck Wolfe recalls all that we can learn from walking between settled places.

September 25, 2014 - The Huffington Post

Database Reveals Bay Area's Parking Waste

A new tool from TransForm shows where parking is underutilized in the Bay Area, even finding wasted space in a city as notorious for parking difficulties as San Francisco.

September 24, 2014 - Next City

San Francisco's Red Transit-Only Lanes Improving Service

For years, San Francisco has set aside transit-only lanes. However, with a fresh coat of red paint, the city has seen significant service improvements.

September 20, 2014 - Greater Greater Washington

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.

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.