Land Use

What do we lose when we narrowly associate planning with an 'urban' or 'city' context? The ability to effectively plan for rural, transitional, regional, and even urban areas, says Ruth Miller.

November 1, 2012 - Colab Radio

Tony Barboza discusses how the disappearance of expected funding has dimmed the City of Irvine's vision for turning the decommissioned Marine Corps Air Station El Toro into "the first great metropolitan park of the 21st century."

October 31, 2012 - Los Angeles Times

In a prescient article for the events of this week, John Seo looks at how the global march towards increased density (in technology, land use, and financial markets) has consequences, both beneficial and catastrophic.

October 30, 2012 - Foreign Policy

Pershing Square occupies a special place in the physical and historical landscape of Los Angeles. But the city's first park has been the victim of poor redesigns and a "massive failure of civic vision." Can anything be done to fix it?

October 29, 2012 - Los Angeles Times

Joining a host of other Midwestern cities establishing land banks to help corral, clear, and repurpose their vacant properties, Kansas City will begin transferring 3,500 vacant properties it recently acquired into a city-owned land bank.

October 29, 2012 - The Architect's Newspaper

Planner and urbanist Brent Toderian explains why Halloween is his favorite holiday.

October 28, 2012 - Huffington Post British Columbia

Urban Planning has become increasingly complex with the rise of big data, inflating costs, diverging politics, and the advent of new technologies. To work with all these elements requires an inclusive approach to produce a useful outcome.

October 28, 2012 - Humanitarian Space

Using Baltimore's Memorial Stadium, which was demolished in 2001, as a case study, Keith Eggener argues that the life of a building isn't confined to its physical presence as a whole object.

October 27, 2012 - Places

Economists see America's recovering housing market as a positive indication of the country's economic health. But according to a new study, rising home prices "decrease income mobility and ultimately hurt the U.S. economy," reports Nicole Goodkind.

October 27, 2012 - CNBC

What do all these seemingly unrelated elements have in common? They were just a few of the creative ideas for improving the urban environment showcased at the recent Urban Prototyping Festival held in San Francisco.

October 26, 2012 - Fast Company Co.Exist

Halfway completed, the University of Chicago's $250 million community redevelopment project ditches the oft-contentious town-gown relationship for a strategy of local investment and economic development, to the benefit of both.

October 26, 2012 - The New York Times

Who should be required to take the first step in suburban retrofitting? The city, in the form of providing walkable, bikeable streets, or developers, by conforming to pedestrian-oriented building standards?

October 26, 2012 - PlaceShakers

Christopher Hume delivers a forceful argument for why density is necessary for maintaining a prosperous Toronto in the decades ahead, and why the alternative, sprawl, is environmentally unsustainable and economically ruinous.

October 26, 2012 - Toronto Star

For communities or leaders reticent to buy into bold change, "selling change by the slice" through pilot projects can be a great way to get stakeholders on board with a larger vision. Otis White discusses two key components of pilot project success.

October 25, 2012 - Otis White Blog

This week, NACTO released a preview of its Urban Street Design Guidebook, a document meant to assist local governments in designing their streets on the principle that they're spaces for people and commerce as well as arteries for traffic.

October 25, 2012 - Next American City

A vast expanse of prairies and grasslands, the Great Plains have long been considered a barren wasteland with little potential for growth. A new report by Joel Kotkin, Praxis Strategy Group, and Kevin Mulligan of Texas Tech claims otherwise.

October 25, 2012 - New Geography

With wind turbines, a "daylighting" system, and charging stations for electric cars, Chicago's Greenway Self-Park bills itself as the city's first "earth friendly parking garage." John Greenfield asks, can a downtown garage truly be eco-friendly?

October 25, 2012 - Grid Chicago

Two entrepreneurs and brothers take urban development matters into their own hands. The result? Lured by a contest offering free rent, and the associated buzz, Birmingham's South Avondale finds itself in the midst of a cultural renaissance.

October 25, 2012 - The Atlantic Cities

An ordinance designed to help stop a Walmart "Neighborhood Market" from opening in L.A.'s Chinatown neighborhood fell short of the necessary votes at a City Council meeting held yesterday, reports Alice Walton.

October 24, 2012 - KPCC

Sue Illman thinks so. And in this editorial for The Guardian, she argues that the success of the High Line signifies a new era in which the quality of our parks and public spaces, rather than our skylines, makes our towns and cities stand out.

October 24, 2012 - The Guardian