Land Use

How Well do You Know the World?

The Atlantic offers a brain teaser tailor made for the readers of Planetizen.

May 28, 2012 - The Atlantic

Density Reduces Traffic Congestion

An important new study published by the Arizona Department of Transportation indicates that, contrary to claims by critics, urban corridors have considerably less congestion than suburban corridors, despite many times higher densities.

May 25, 2012 - Streetsblog D.C.

Thirty-Four Bold Ideas for Transforming Toronto

The Grid solicited ideas from some of Toronto's smartest people for how to make the city better, no matter what the cost or feasibility. David Topping and Katie Underwood deliver the inventive results.

May 24, 2012 - The Grid

How Do Your City's Parks Score?

A new tool for assessing the quality of the park systems in America's cities was unveiled this week by The Trust for Public Land. Ryan Donahue delivers the rankings.

May 24, 2012 - City Parks Blog

Is Neighborhood Activism Stifling Community Planning?

Roger Valdez gives his take on the new obstructionism that is dominating public participation and holding up much-needed growth in Seattle and elsewhere.

May 24, 2012 - Crosscut

A Manifesto for New Urbanism's Next Movement

Building on one of the reverberating themes from this month's CNU 20 in West Palm Beach, Joe Nickol proposes the path of evolution for a movement that has become the new norm, but may have overlooked some critical issues in the process.

May 23, 2012 - StreetSense

The U.S. Military: The Next Apostle of New Urbanism?

The Department of Defense has released new guidelines encouraging mixed-use, compact, walkable development throughout the nation's military bases, Sean Reilly reports.

May 23, 2012 - USA Today

The Best of the World's Street Art

For your lunchtime dose of inspiration, we bring you an eclectic collection of "70 Amazing Examples of Street Art" from Bored Panda, the "highly visual oddities magazine."

May 22, 2012 - Bored Panda

Profiling the Most Powerful Planning Director in America

Eleven years into a likely twelve-year tenure as director of the New York City Planning Department, Julie Satow explores the accomplishments, and unfinished agenda, of Amanda Burden.

May 21, 2012 - The New York Times

Quality of Place Trumps Density, says Richard Florida

Ten years after publishing of The Rise of the Creative Class, the prominent city-booster says high-rises are “vertical suburbs” and we need “urban environments that stir the spirit.”

May 19, 2012 - Better! Cities & Towns

Can the "Missing Middle" Generate Cincinnati's Thriving Re-Urbanization

Dan Parolek kicks off a series on recent efforts to revitalize the Queen City based on a strong foundation of coveted resources, including a variety of urban housing types.

May 18, 2012 - Better! Cities & Towns

The Changing Face of Urbanism in India

Neha Thirani speaks with Rahul Mehrotra, urban planner and chairman of Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design, about the challenges facing "emerging India," including its parasitic gated communities, preservation, and 392 "urban time bombs."

May 18, 2012 - The New York Times India Ink blog

Detroit Reborn

In the first edition of a new series, Richard Florida introduces us to the inspiring stories of entrepreneurs and artists, designers and musicians invested in the bottom-up effort to revive Detroit.

May 17, 2012 - The Atlantic Cities

Should the Bay Area Have Four Million More Residents?

Noting the Bay Area's relatively slow growth rate over the past two decades, Timothy B. Lee argues that the area's "bad housing policies" are harming business growth and investment opportunities in Silicon Valley.

May 16, 2012 - Forbes

Top 10 Websites - 2012

Our annual list of the 10 best planning, design, and development websites represents some of the top online resources for news, information and research on the built environment.

May 15, 2012 - Abhijeet Chavan

Amman's Subjective Cartography

How do you navigate a city with no street names? This is the question Amanda Erickson sets out to answer in an article on photographer Regina Mamou, who spent a year studying how the people of Amman get around.

May 15, 2012 - The Atlantic Cities

Towards a More Nuanced Understanding of Density

Arguing for the value of historic low and mid-rise, but also dense, areas of Brooklyn, Washington D.C., and New Orleans, Edward T. McMahon asks us to reconsider the pursuit of density as an end in itself, and the high-rise as its fullest expression.

May 15, 2012 - Citiwire.net

Fashioning a New Los Angeles Along Its Boulevards

Christopher Hawthorne begins a series exploring the ways in which L.A. is utilizing its boulevards to try on "a post-suburban identity for the first time", with a look at Atlantic Boulevard, a major north-south spine.

May 14, 2012 - Los Angeles Times

Vermont Towns Battle to Maintain a Sense of Place

Chain store opponents in Vermont battle to preserve the uniqueness of their small towns by pushing against a planned Dollar General Store. While a review board narrowly approved a plan, it also attached a lengthy list of restrictions.

May 14, 2012 - The New York Times

At 20, CNU Gets a Fresh Look

Attending her first CNU conference, Erin Chantry confronts the myths and the maxims attributed to the theology of New Urbanism in this review of the energetic debate between Andres Duany and Daniel Solomon at the conference plenary session.

May 14, 2012 - Tindale-Oliver and Associates Blog

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.