Land Use

Mike Lydon discusses "tactical urbanism," a DIY approach to planning that is sweeping the nation, and explains how communities are making lasting impacts at the grassroots level.

June 23, 2012 - The Architect's Newspaper

Announced this week by Deputy Mayor Robert Steel, a new program being launched by the Department of City Planning on July 2 will seek to dramatically improve the time it takes a project to traverse the city's land use approval process.

June 22, 2012 - The Real Deal

Championed for over a decade, the LEED certification program has given notoriety to many newly constructed 'green' buildings, but new measures are helping us measure sustainability at the community scale, writes Kaid Benfield.

June 22, 2012 - Switchboard

Amanda Kolson Hurley surveys the innovative architecture and urban planning transforming America's notoriously stodgy capital into a model of progressive urbanism.

June 22, 2012 - The Architect's Newspaper

Mixed-income housing - infusing affordable housing with market-rate units - is relying more on incentives and subsidies, than mandates, to stimulate development.

June 21, 2012 - Urban Land

Hot on the heels of the hard fought passage of a new community plan for Hollywood comes news that the City Council has approved five years of funding for L.A.'s planning department to revise the city's zoning code, for the first time since 1946.

June 21, 2012 - Curbed LA

Announced this week by All Things Considered hosts Melissa Block and Robert Siegel, National Public Radio is launching a new series called the NPR Cities Project and they're asking listeners for their input.

June 21, 2012 - NPR

The demolition of a Tulsa resident's edible garden, deemed "too tall" by city inspectors, has sparked a civil rights lawsuit, and is generating national attention.

June 21, 2012 - Grist

Efforts to alleviate urban food deserts has focused on the proximity of healthy food choices as a correlating factor for obesity. However, a new study concludes that price, rather than proximity, has a stronger correlation to rates of obesity.

June 20, 2012 - The Washington Post

Yesterday, the Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved a controversial new Community Plan for Hollywood, the first update since 1988, that allows increased density around transit stations, to the consternation of some neighborhood groups.

June 20, 2012 - Los Angeles Times

In an opinion piece for The New York Times, Allison Arieff considers the next phase of the "American Dream," as the notion of trading in the ideal of the home as fortress for the home as part of a larger whole gains widespread traction.

June 19, 2012 - The New York Times

Zócalo Public Square has gathered together four accomplished planning and development professionals to give their opinions on which scholar or intellectual of the last 50 years has had the greatest impact on the cities we live in today.

June 19, 2012 - Zocalo Public Square

The Project for Public Spaces has compiled a "how-to" list for re-claiming your community's public spaces.

June 19, 2012 - Project For Public Spaces

The Bay State is terrific at attracting the leading young minds from around to world to its prestigious institutions of higher education. But when those students graduate, high housing prices are forcing them out of the state, writes Edward Glaeser.

June 19, 2012 - The Boston Globe

In his "Dream City" column, Will Doig looks at the attributes making tactical urbanism the hot revitalization trend for municipal authorities across the country.

June 18, 2012 - Salon.com

This past week, the Cato Institute and Next American City played host to an energetic discussion of the role of housing and development policy in controlling the supply of affordable housing in American cities.

June 17, 2012 - Cato Institute

Unveiled earlier this week by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the area around Citi Field in Queens is due to become "the site of historic private investment," as a result of a deal reached with developers Sterling Equities and Related Companies.

June 17, 2012 - The Architect's Newspaper Blog

"Currently in its greatest period of park expansion since the 1930s," New York City has shown a remarkable commitment to expanding its open spaces, but finding the resources to maintain them is another issue entirely, explains Caitlin Blanchfield.

June 15, 2012 - The Architect's Newspaper

CityGardens is an award winning mobile app that can help tourists and residents find hidden parks and gardens in the middle of Paris.

June 14, 2012 - Fast Company Co.Exist

With a year-round temperate climate and a history of widespread urban agriculture, it's a shame that Los Angeles now finds itself ranked 43rd amongst America's 50 largest cities for their support of local food. Can L.A. turn back the clock?

June 13, 2012 - Good