Land Use

The Modern-Day Reality of New Deal Utopias

This slideshow from Design Observer takes a look at New Deal-era utopian cities as they exist today.

November 25, 2010 - Design Observer

A Look at the World's Most Walkable Cities

NRDC's Kaid Benfield offers a photographic look at the 10 most walkable cities in the world, as chosen by Frommer's.

November 25, 2010 - NRDC Switchboard

Giant Legs Sculpture Kicks Off Land Use Debate

The WSJ reports on tensions over a 16-foot-tall sculpture prominently displayed in a private yard in the artsy village of Sag Harbor, and the larger debate of whether art should be exempt from traditional land use rules and regulations.

November 24, 2010 - The Wall Street Journal

A Think Tank for an Urban Garden

With new fast food restaurants temporarily banned in South L.A. and few new sources of food coming into the area, one local architecture professor set his students loose to work on ideas for a small urban farm.

November 24, 2010 - Los Angeles Times

Looking at Urban Design Through a Public Health Lens

New York City's Health Commissioner has urban design in his sights as he seeks to improve public health in the city.

November 23, 2010 - Transportation Nation

Grassroots Planning Transforming Waterfront in Corpus Christi, TX

A group of citizens calling themselves Destination Bayfront have led the charge to turn their underused waterfront into a destination hotspot.

November 22, 2010 - Project for Public Spaces blog

Residents vs. Opera-Singing Waiters

Colloseo, a restaurant in San Francisco's North Beach, wants to feature Luca, their opera-singing waiter, as part of the ambience. The Telegraph Hill Dwellers, an influential neighborhood situation, says no.

November 22, 2010 - The San Francisco Chronicle

Top 10 Books - 2011

Planetizen is pleased to release its ninth annual list of the ten best books in urban planning, design and development published in 2010. This year's selection includes some big names, some big ideas -- and a book called "Toilet."

November 22, 2010 - Abhijeet Chavan

Failures in Thailand's Shopping Mall Urbanism

Shopping malls are scattered all over Bangkok. On one hand they create a distinct urban setting in the city, but they also fall far short of creating actual community, according to this post.

November 21, 2010 - This Big City

High Speed Rail Versus Historic Tree

A historic tree near the campus of Stanford University is the centerpiece of a fight to redirect California's planned high speed rail project.

November 21, 2010 - Peninsula Press

An Ecological Urbanism or a New Urbanism?

Urban Omnibus offers a summary of the recent debate that went down over the future of Harvard's Graduate School of Design concerning urban design, landscape urbanism and new urbanism.

November 21, 2010 - Urban Omnibus

Dome City Dreamed for Abandoned Siberian Mine

A Russian construction company wants to build a 100,000-person city in an abandoned diamond mine, and cover it with a dome.

November 20, 2010 - Wired UK

An Even More Urban Future in Japan

Major developments have been popping up all over Japan's heavily urbanized cities. This piece from The Diplomat looks at what urban future lies ahead for Japan.

November 20, 2010 - The Diplomat

Planner Malpractice?

Amanda Thompson, planning director of Decatur, GA, suggests that it is a good thing there isn't such a thing as "designer malpractice" or planners would be sued for the horrible impact their work has had on the public health.

November 17, 2010 - PlaceShakers

Rethinking Detroit

Detroit reporter John Gallagher's new book "Reimagining Detroit" considers what it will take to remake The Motor City into a model that will work for the future.

November 17, 2010 - Model D

The Evolving Attitude of Environmentalists

Passage of a bill in Berkeley that allows taller buildings to be built in the city's downtown illustrates changing attitudes about development amongst environmentalists.

November 17, 2010 - San Francisco Chronicle

Officials Fight to Remediate Contamination Underneath Main Olympic Site

A heavily contaminated site formerly used for chemical storage in East London provides an expensive lesson in urban brownfield remediation for government officials preparing the city for the upcoming 2012 Olympic Games.

November 17, 2010 - The Guardian

Quantifying the Impact of Abandoned Properties in Philly

A new study suggests that Philadelphia's 40,000 vacant buildings reduce home values by as much as $8,000 and cost the city $20 million per year in maintenance.

November 17, 2010 - Philadelphia Daily News

The Not-Quite-20-Minute Neighborhood

Portland wants to create a series of "20-minute neighborhoods" -- places where people can walk, within 20 minutes, to most of the places they need to go and the services they need. Some neighborhoods are already there, but others have a ways to go.

November 16, 2010 - PlanningPool

The Wisdom and Future of Short-Run Transit

By looking at three Los Angeles examples of very short rail lines, writer Alissa Walker suggests that seemingly pointless but fun transit systems could be the best way to use transit to improve urban areas.

November 16, 2010 - Gelatobaby

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.