Land Use

Arizona Town Looks for New Water Sources, Insists Development ‘Full Steam Ahead’
While many Southwest cities are looking for ways to conserve water and limit growth as water supplies become strained, one town is pressing ahead with rapid development.

California State Law Calls on Coastal Regions to Create Resiliency Plans
Cities and counties at risk of flooding and erosion from sea level rise can access state funding to implement coastal resiliency plans.

San Francisco Required to Change Restrictive Housing Approval Policies
State agencies want the city to speed up its alarmingly slow permitting process.

Goat Blocks: A Blueprint for Urban Placemaking and Walkability
How one development harnesses placemaking tactics to build community at the street level.

New Riverfront Promenade Opens in Detroit
The East Riverfront now provides 3.5 miles of contiguous parks and trails on the formerly industrial waterfront.

NYC Releases Outdoor Dining Designs
New guidelines for the city’s ‘streeteries’ are set to go into effect next April.

Fort Worth Passes Affordable Housing ‘Roadmap’
The new plan recommends strategies such as legalizing ADUs and creating a land bank for affordable housing development.

Wielding Data to Fight Freeway Expansions in Toledo
A group of resident advocates is challenging the Ohio Department of Transportation’s arguments in favor of a proposed interstate widening.

Former Landfill Doubles as Public Park, Energy Producer
Once the world’s largest dump, Freshkills Park now offers new city park space and powers local households with biofuel.

Repurposing Parking Space With a ‘Pop-up Apartment’
A New York installation highlights how much urban space is wasted on parking.

Rick Steves on Walkability Lessons From Europe
Many of Europe’s pedestrian-friendly, transit-rich cities weren’t always that way.

Santa Barbara Renews Parklet Program
The city updated its pandemic-era on-street dining program with new regulations that limit the locations and design of parklets.

St. Paul Approves Zoning Reforms
The zoning updates will permit multi-unit housing and promote transit-oriented development to boost the city’s housing supply.

Los Angeles Diocese Says ‘Yes in God’s Backyard’
A new California state bill lets churches and other faith-based institutions bypass environmental reviews for proposed affordable housing on their properties.

Opinion: How to Fund Better Houston Parks
Houston’s iconic signature parks mask a major underinvestment in green spaces for most of the city’s neighborhoods, according to a new report.

Parks Departments Try to Build New Green Spaces on Shrinking Budgets
Even as the role of parks and urban green space in public and ecological health becomes more apparent, city budgets are hard-pressed to meet the costs of park construction and maintenance.

How Housing Density Could Help Austin Reach Climate Goals
With housing and transportation as the two biggest sources of carbon emissions, a new report shows how boosting density near transit would accelerate emissions reductions.

Offshore Wind Growing Fast in California
The rush to secure coastal leases for wind energy production is causing some critics to call for stronger scrutiny from regulatory agencies.

New ‘City’ Elysium Planned in Spain
The development proposes a from-scratch sustainable community built on brand new land at the edge of a reservoir.

Opinion: More TOD in the DC Area Could Improve Both Transit and Housing
Converting underutilized parking lots to housing could make transit more accessible and housing more affordable.
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