Land Use

New playground designs are shaking up public parks around the world. So long, slides, hello interpretive playscapes.

July 12, 2011 - Dwell

Making urban data available is important, but not as important as presenting that data in a digestible way, according to this piece from Change Observer.

July 10, 2011 - Change Observer

Construction is underway to prepare the Russian resort city of Sochi for its hosting of the 2014 Winter Olympics. But it's not just venues for the games that are being built.

July 10, 2011 - The Voice of Russia

OF the many written works about Los Angeles, Mike Davis' "City of Quartz" stands out, according to this review by Los Angeles Times architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne.

July 10, 2011 - Los Angeles Times

Utopian developments often fail. This post from The Awl ranks the best and most desirable of the failed utopias throughout history.

July 10, 2011 - The Awl

The emergent urbanism of informal settlements has posed problems to governments in the Third World, and some are looking to address equality issues by issuing land titles. But one approach skips the titles and focuses on simple zoning.

July 10, 2011 - Old Urbanist

New parks -- even very small ones -- can have a major impact on the way cities and communities are revitalized, according to this post.

July 9, 2011 - Planet Forward

In a new book, author Iain Sinclair argues against the Olympic redevelopment of London's East End, and argues that the legacy goals its planners are pushing largely already exist.

July 9, 2011 - Metro

Leading urban thinkers weigh-in on a debate of the merits of European and US approaches to urban planning, with a specific focus on the place of automobiles in cities. Ed Glaeser, Ellen Dunham-Jones, and Sam Staley are among the contributors.

July 8, 2011 - The New York Times

A draft report from San Diego reveals that California's SB 375 law, which passed in 2008, was ineffective in reducing sprawl in the long term, Ethan Elkind writes for the UCLA UC Berkeley Legal Planet blog.

July 7, 2011 - Legal Planet

The projects across the country having the biggest impact on the feel and function of cities are more often than not the work of landscape architects, according to the American Society of Landscape Architects.

July 7, 2011 - THE DIRT

New York City's Dept. of City Planning says that it is committed to fostering transit-oriented development. But in neighborhood after neighborhood, the city is downzoning around the corner from the subway, argues Noah Kazis.

July 6, 2011 - Streetsblog

Rust Belt poster child Youngstown, Ohio made waves almost a decade ago with its revolutionary plan for "controlled shrinkage." But progress has been slow in a political system still wired for growth.

July 5, 2011 - Streetsblog Capitol Hill

The center of protest in Yemen's capital city of Sana'a has turned into a massive tent city, with more than 4,000 tents and a variety of services, public spaces and pop-up industries.

July 4, 2011 - Der Spiegel

Communities across the country are trying to reuse contaminated brownfields as sites for the production of clean energy.

July 3, 2011 - Yale Environment 360

A new tool comparing cities in the U.S. and Canada tracks improvements in the way cities are greening, and also highlights areas where improvement is needed.

July 2, 2011 - The Atlantic

Abu Dhabi has released a new 20-year plan. It planners argue that it will be flexible enough to withstand changes in the global economy, should they come.

July 1, 2011 - Times of Oman

As Brazil prepares to host the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics, officials are pushing a new law that would limit the powers of the international bodies behind the two major sporting events.

July 1, 2011 - The New York Times

Officials are estimating that within 30 years, the combined impact of urban development, climate change and a chlamydia outbreak will cause koalas to go extinct.

June 30, 2011 - The Telegraph

A lakefront steel plant on Chicago's South Side that has been abandoned since 1992 is the venue of the Dave Matthew's Caravan July music festival.

June 30, 2011 - Chicago Tribune