Land Use
Watching Urban Change Via Satellite
Recent earthquake response efforts in Haiti showed how comparing satellite imagery could help to identify physical changes in the damaged country and assist rescue workers. That same sort of imagery could play a similar role for urban planners.
National Planning for the Next Century
The United States has a long history of planning at the national level. This article from Professor Robert Fishman details that history, and looks at how national planning may play out over the next 100 years.
Coastal Towns Told to Radically Transform in Face of Sea Level Rise
Cities along the British coast are being warned that sea level rise over the next 100 years will have significant destructive effects. Officials are being cautioned to consider city-altering plans that shift populations away from endangered areas.
A Suburban Bird's Eye View
Metropolis presents a slideshow of photographs by artist Christoph Gielen, who photographs suburban developments from a helicopter.
A Cultural Revolution in Dallas
Dallas is putting its hopes on architecture and art to spur the city's cultural development.
Friday Funny: Toontown Transect
Planner Sam Gennawey applies the Urban-to-Rural Transect concept to Mickey's Toontown at Disneyland.
The City Without a Planning Department
Petaluma, California, made headlines last year when it got rid of its planning department. The Architect's Newspaper takes a look at how the city is adapting to contract-based planning through hired consultants.
New Playgrounds Coming to NYC
NYC's Dept. of Education has committed to building 70 new playgrounds in the five boroughs.
Jane Jacobs and Parks
Anthony Flint, recent author of a book about Jane Jacobs, talks to ASLA's The Dirt blog about her influence on urban design and landscape architecture.
Narrowing Streets to Create Parkspace in L.A.
Planners in Los Angeles are considering a plan to remove two lanes of a strip of downtown street to create parkspace for the formerly light-industrial area's growing populations.
Dongtan Eco-City: A Model of Sustainability?
Dongtan Eco City was planned for completion for the Shanghai World Expo in 2010. By that time, 5,000 people should be living there. However, the planned housing, water taxis, sewage‐recycling plant and energy park all failed to materialize.
Walkability and Housing Values
Walkability is gaining ground in the determination of housing values.
Architecture Doesn't Hide Bad Planning in Dubai
All the architectural wonders of Dubai don't overshadow the city-state's poor urban planning, according to Chicago Tribune architecture critic Blair Kamin.
In Praise of Mid-Century Modern Planning
Richard Reep decries the New Urbanists for ignoring the era from 1945-1955, when cars were part of the landscape but not the dominant force. He believes the planning of that time could be a perfect middle ground.
2000 - 2009: The Decade in Planning
The editors' choice of the most significant stories in the realm of urban planning, design and development of the "aughts" (2000-2009). The decade began with one crash and ended with another, but in between we've learned a lot about making cities.
The Plug-N-Play Factory
In Singapore, where land is precious, new concepts in building are being proposed to create shared resources for different industries in the same space.
New Baltimore Zoning May Nix Downtown Parking Lots
New parking lots and obstructed views of historic buildings would be forbidden under a new set of zoning rules being discussed for downtown Baltimore.
Public Space, Art, and Advertising
An artist collective in New York City is on a mission to blot out advertising in public space, covering it over with their art projects.
Transitioning From Sprawl To Compactness
Regional planning in CA's sprawling Central Valley has turned to the huge challenge of increasing density. Fortunately, SB 375 will facilitate planners' efforts to double Fresno County density to 8 units per acre. Yet institutional obstacles remain.
Small Farming: It Takes A Village
Local food and small farming are part of a growing food trend in the U.S. But, as Steph Larsen writes, the trend is going to need more infrastructure down the supply chain to sustain itself
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority
