Land Use

Pilot Projects Are Nice, But Not As Nice As Permanence

Despite the quality of temporary public spaces being created in San Francisco, their use of funding sources and lack of permanence could hurt efforts to build permanent public spaces, according to this piece from the San Francisco Chronicle.

September 28, 2010 - San Francisco Chronicle

A New Waterfront in the Works for Seattle

Seattle is panning to tear down an aging viaduct that runs along its waterfront and replace it with a tunnel beneath downtown. When the viaduct falls, the city is looking to increase public space on a new waterfront.

September 28, 2010 - The Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Warehouses to Urban Farms

Yesterday's infrastructure can become tomorrow's agriculture, says Ed Harwood, by converting underused industrial warehouses and factories to hydroponic and aeroponic growing.

September 27, 2010 - Ed Harwood

Could Classic Hill Towns Be a Model for Town Planning?

In classic hill towns, people showed innovation and dynamic placemaking--lessons learned for urbanism in the new century, says Chuck Wolfe.

September 27, 2010 - myurbanist

Urban Sprawl and Development Threatening Biodiversity in Animals

Habitat fragmentation linked with urban sprawl and development has been shown to negatively impact biological diversity in animals, according to new research.

September 27, 2010 - San Diego Union Tribune

Anger Upstream on the Nile

Egypt runs on the Nile's water. But with a growing population, Egypt's Ministry of Irrigation expects that the Nile will barely be able to meet the country's water needs by 2017. Its neighbors are increasingly angry about its overuse.

September 27, 2010 - The New York Times

A Central Park Emerges in Downtown Los Angeles

Authorities in Los Angeles are working on a grand plan to unify the city's core with a new Downtown Civic Park Project.

September 26, 2010 - Design Under Sky

Celebrating Park(ing) Day 2010

Park(ing) Day, the worldwide event where artists, activists and architects take over parking spaces and transform them into public spaces, happened this week. Wired has pictures from this year's festivities.

September 24, 2010 - Wired

Lawsuit Over Zoning Dismissed, But the Damage is Done

The Town of Kingston, Massachusetts won a lawsuit this week, filed over whether land around the town's commuter rail station was properly rezoned -- but lost the promised developer and a state grant for smart growth in the process.

September 24, 2010 - The Patriot Ledger

From Displacement to Permanent

In Haiti, displacement camps full of people left without homes after the devastating January earthquake are becoming more and more permanent. Deborah Gans argues that these sites should be more carefully planned to foster functioning places.

September 24, 2010 - Places

The Unplanned City

David Knight and Finn Williams ask, "what can we build without planning?" Turns out that a lot of things get built without process, from building extensions to temporary structures.

September 21, 2010 - BLDGBLG

Ownership Undecided on California Naval Base Redevelopment

A decommissioned naval base in Concord, California, is moving steadily towards redevelopment as a mixed use community. But who will own the redeveloped base is still undecided.

September 21, 2010 - The San Jose Mercury News

Indianapolis Plans Street Redesign Ahead of Super Bowl Hosting

The city of Indianapolis is using its hosting duties for the 2012 Super Bowl to rework one of its main streets into a new public space.

September 21, 2010 - The Architect's Newspaper

Community Says 'No' to In-N-Out

Locals in Walnut Creek are up in arms over a proposed In-N-Out Burger. Columnist Tom Barnidge says that while "provincialism often is the catalyst for complaint," there is reason to protest in this case.

September 20, 2010 - Contra Costa Times

The Essential Principles of Brownfields Regeneration

With "brownfield" (former industrial or commercial sites) development on the rise, it is essential for planners to have a clear process for approaching this tricky development type, say Justin B. Hollander, Niall G. Kirkwood and Julia L. Gold.

September 20, 2010 - Justin B. Hollander

Struggling Towards TOD on Long Island

Developers on Long Island are hoping to build transit-oriented developments as a way of keeping young residents on the island and increasing the amount of affordable housing. But some local opposition is standing in the way.

September 20, 2010 - The New York Times

Looking Down on Sprawl

Writing in The New York Times, Geoff Manaugh looks at Christoph Gielen's aerial photography of urban development and sprawl.

September 20, 2010 - The New York Times

Applying "Smart Decline" in Vegas

Las Vegas columnist Scott Dickensheets turns to Tufts planning professor Justin Hollander to ask what Sin City should do to combat plummeting home values and draining population.

September 20, 2010 - Las Vegas Sun

Friday Funny: Man Encourages Neighborhood to Secede

Jim Massey of East Pennsboro Township, Pennsylvania is unhappy about plans to build a new apartment complex in his neighborhood, so he's encouraging his neighbors to secede from East Pennsboro and join a nearby town.

September 17, 2010 - WGAL.com

Creating Livable Cities

This episode of The Diane Rehm Show explores efforts underway to make the world's cities more livable.

September 17, 2010 - The Diane Rehm Show

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.