Land Use

Beneath Paris is an underground network of tunnels and quarries, long closed to the public. National Geographic takes a tour of this forbidden part of the city, where urban explorers keep tradition alive.

February 3, 2011 - National Geographic

While some cities have focused planning efforts on making their public spaces more accessible for the elderly, some argue that the age group they should be focusing on is kids.

February 2, 2011 - Good

This slideshow from The New York Times looks at a variety of examples of large-scale planning efforts that never materialized.

February 2, 2011 - The New York Times

A new proposal in Washington could help fund urban infrastructure by transferring development rights from rural areas to cities.

February 2, 2011 - Crosscut

Economic crises tend to manifest themselves in specific design trends, especially in the field of architecture. This latest recession has spurred the age of Do-It-Yourself architecture and urbanism.

February 1, 2011 - Places

San Jacinto Plaza is the historic heart of El Paso, Texas. City officials are planning a major redevelopment of the plaza, perhaps even expanding its traditional borders and using New York's Bryant Park rebirth as a model.

January 31, 2011 - The El Paso Times

The Domino Effect is a new documentary film that explores the process of real estate development in New York City to uncover the complex networks of banks, developers, politicians, and non-profit organizations that shape our cities.

January 30, 2011 - L Magazine

Seattle has the political momentum behind sustainable urbanism, but it doesn't seem to have a physical neighborhood example of how sustainable urbanism can work, according to this article.

January 30, 2011 - Sustainable Industries

Suburban Waukesha seeks to be the first city to pipe water from the Great Lakes since the 2008 Great Lakes Pact. But will approval just mean more sprawl in a sprawling region?

January 28, 2011 - Streetsblog Capitol Hill

Beatville is a new "open source, multi-player environment for real cities", which purports to be a useful tool for democratizing urban planning.

January 28, 2011 - Urban Omnibus

China plans to create the world's largest mega-city, which will be geographically 26 times larger than Greater London and double that of Wales.

January 27, 2011 - The Telegraph

The DC United soccer team has identified a few small urban sites in the Washington D.C. area to build a possible new stadium. The density and urbanity of these sites virtually guarantees a "very urban stadium", according to this post.

January 27, 2011 - Greater Greater Washington

MCP student Jeff Tiell says that everyday people finally understand that urban planning is important and interesting, indicating a popularization of, and a deep need for, planning methods and techniques.

January 26, 2011 - Next American City

Planners in Jacksonville are getting behind plans to encourage more infill development by getting rid of an older rule that was seen to contribute to sprawl.

January 26, 2011 - The Florida Times-Union

Getting around Atlanta can be a challenge, according to some in the city. And as growth continues, public transit will need to play a bigger part in moving the city, according to this article.

January 26, 2011 - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

With a downtown largely devoid of trees, Minneapolis is considering a new plan that would add more green life and greenspace to the city's center.

January 26, 2011 - MinnPost

Officials in New York are pushing a plan known as Vision 2020, which is aimed at restoring the city's waterfront areas and creating new public spaces. It also hopes to create preconditions for waterfront industries and businesses to grow again.

January 25, 2011 - The Gotham Gazette

The rural Midwest produces much of our nation's food supply, and yet small towns in the heartland and around America are increasingly and ironically becoming food deserts - places where citizens have little access to fresh, healthy foods.

January 25, 2011 - Grist

Was Jane Jacobs a NIMBY? Did she despise density? These sort of reevaluations of Jacobs' legacy are hot at the moment. Roberta Brandes Gratz explains why the naysayers are off base.

January 24, 2011 - Roberta Brandes Gratz

Streetfilms looks back at Professor Donald Appleyard's pioneering work observing the social life of streets, which proved that streets with less traffic fostered more social interactions than those with heavy traffic.

January 23, 2011 - Streetfilms