Land Use

The Sacramento, California, region may be witnessing a minor planning miracle: a regional sustainability plan lauded by developers, environmentalists, and civic officials alike.

March 22, 2012 - California Planning & Development Report

David Morley, AICP, asks if growth is a necessary prerequisite for long-term community health and prosperity, and whether it might be possible to rethink "the dominant planning paradigm in the United States."

March 21, 2012 - APA Sustaining Places

Ever wonder why Los Angeles looks the way it does? Jeremy Rosenberg examines 1908's Residence District Ordinance as one of the principal culprits in the newest addition to the "Laws That Shaped L.A." series.

March 21, 2012 - KCET Departures

Lisa McGirr looks at the growing challenge of suburban poverty, which in the last decade has climbed by 25 percent (almost five times faster than cities), and the larger trends that it signifies.

March 20, 2012 - The New York Times

John King writes about an ambitious new regional plan for the Bay Area that looks to accommodate the 1.1 million new jobs and 2.1 million new residents expected by 2040, with relatively little suburban sprawl.

March 20, 2012 - San Francisco Chronicle

Emma Marris reviews a new book by Andrew Ross, a cultural critic at New York University, that tries to understand how Phoenix came to be what it is, and determine whether there's any way it can be turned around.

March 18, 2012 - OnEarth

Consider adding this animated video, which explains how past planning practices created sprawl and how smart growth policies can help solve multiple problems, to your family's Sunday morning cartoon rotation.

March 18, 2012 - Saga City

Kai Laursen argues for satellite cities as a promising alternative to accommodate population growth, while preserving open space and farmland, and minimizing urban sprawl.

March 16, 2012 - Urban Land

Tim Maly analyses a stunning high-resolution map of America’s forests for its lessons on the subtle choices that go into good visual information design for multiple audiences.

March 15, 2012 - Fast Company Co.Design

Julie Ma investigates how one Swedish company is paving the way for a new urban food system that aims to increase one city's self-sufficiency.

March 14, 2012 - Good

The increasing recognition of waterfronts as a recreational and redevelopment asset belies its continued value for trade and industry. Will Doig makes the case for the oft-antagonized shipping industry in the tug-of-war over waterfront real estate.

March 14, 2012 - Salon

Inspired by three books published in the last year that help to elucidate the role of cities and density in making people and countries richer, Ezra Klein compiles some lessons for economic development in the United States.

March 13, 2012 - The Washington Post

Anil Dash examines how public spaces are less valued when they are owned by private companies as evidenced in New York City.

March 13, 2012 - Anil Dash

Emily Badger writes of the traditional process by which developers identify what kinds of new development a neighborhood needs (i.e. by not asking anyone in said neighborhood), and a web tool in unveiled in December aimed at changing this.

March 12, 2012 - The Atlantic Cities

NYU's plans to expand further into Greenwich Village, with the square footage of four new buildings proposed in their strategic plan equivalent to that of the Empire State Building, have raised concerns for the fate of the signature neighborhood.

March 12, 2012 - The New York Times

Fortune has re-published a provocative essay by Jane Jacobs, originally published in the magazine in 1958, as large scale urban renewal projects were taking off in cities across the country.

March 10, 2012 - CNN/Money

Christopher Hawthorne reports from Japan on the many obstacles preventing areas destroyed by the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami from proceeding with rebuilding, as the recovery effort stalls in the cleanup stage.

March 9, 2012 - Los Angeles Times

Lydia DePillis profiles Washington D.C.'s planning director, Harriet Tregoning, and her efforts to reshape the city along smart growth principles.

March 9, 2012 - Washington City Paper

Shriya Malhotra explores the potential for participatory mapping to manage the complexities of cities in the 21st century.

March 9, 2012 - The City Fix

Eric Jaffe reports on the growing use of "health impact assessments" (HIA), which are used in a similar fashion to environmental reviews, to determine the public health side effects of major projects.

March 9, 2012 - The Atlantic Cities