Land Use
Room for Improvement in Prospective Olympic Host Cities
A new report from the International Olympic Committee has evaluated the four host candidates for the 2016 Summer Olympics and found many places for improvement ahead of its October 2 decision.
REVIEW: Contemporary Urbanism in Brazil: Beyond Brasilia
Susanna Diaz reviews a new book covering the history and thought of urban planning in Brazil, edited by Profs. Vicente del Rio and William Siembieda of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
Berlin Airport to Be Reborn as Public Park
A historic airfield in Berlin will be transformed over the next year into the city's largest park.
Chicago's Olympic Pickle
As part of its bid to host the 2016 Summer Olympics, Chicago has broad plans for a proposed Olympic Village. Preservationists are protesting, as those plans involve the demolition historic architecture by Walter Gropius. A decision has been delayed.
Minaret Variance
Piscataway, New Jersey has a booming Muslim Center that wants to expand, including adding a new parking lot and adding a 45-ft. minaret. Locals are complaining about the impact to traffic, light pollution, and 'parking havoc.'
High Line Assessment District Dropped
Plans to create an assessment district near New York City's new High Line linear park have been dropped.
A Life Creating Community
A review of a new book Building Commons and Community by Karl Linn, a landscape architect and psychologist who worked to create vibrant community spaces in abandoned lots and boring institutional settings.
How Much Room Do You Need?
Dan Maginn proposes some exercises for visualizing how much room you actually need to live, starting with this equation: too big = not good. Small = good. Too small = suck.
Utopias in Miniature
As Germany's elections near, the makers of 'Miniature Wonderland' invite political parties to use their scale models to show the public what their utopia would look like.
A Biological Approach to City Building
Architecture and biomimicry are joining forces. A new city being planned in a flood-prone region of India is using the concept of mimicking nature to build a city that better responds to its environmental conditions.
The Importance of the Informal Playground
Unstructured play is a mainstay of childhood. But dense urban areas offer fewer opportunities for free-form playtime, writes Alex Marshall. Kids have to take what they can get, and often it's not much more than an empty parking lot.
Eco City Structure - From Land Uses Up
The future of architecture is in its expression as city structure, not just as buildings, and in its self-conscious ecological awareness, says architect Richard Register.
Transit-Oriented Asia
Dr. Ming Zhang of the University of Texas at Austin says that Asian cities, despite their density, have a lot to learn from Western transit-oriented development practices.
Shopping Mall Sprawl Hurting City Businesses in Israel
Historic downtowns in Israel are struggling against the growing tide of suburban American-style shopping malls that are developing on the outskirts of town.
Renewable Energy Goes Small and Wide
Small scale hydroelectricity projects are popping up all over the country, especially in remote and environmentally sensitive places.
Wal-Mart Proposed Near Civil War Site Angers Historians
A proposed Wal-Mart retail center near a Civil War battlefield in Virginia has preservationists up in arms.
Larger Apts., Less Density
New "Lifetime Homes" standards in the U.K., which are designed to accommodate people at all stages of life, will lead away from ultra-small flats to larger apartments, says Builder Magazine.
Has Dubai Jumped the Shark?
Some estimate that almost 50% of current projects in Dubai are on hold or canceled. Can Dubai recover from the financial crisis?
The Middle Ground Between Moses and Jacobs
This article from Triple Canopy looks at the unrealized urban planning ideas of former New York City Mayor John Lindsay, which were somewhere in between Jane Jacobs and Robert Moses.
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.
Gallatin County Department of Planning & Community Development
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
JM Goldson LLC
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Jefferson Parish Government
Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Claremont
