Land Use
Moving A City
This piece from Wired looks at the Swedish mining town of Kiruna that is literally picking itself up and moving.
Zoning for Turbines
The city of Cumberland, Maryland is prepping a new zoning text amendment to regulate wind turbines, primarily to create height restrictions on turbines over 150 ft. in height.
California Budget Crisis Derails Open Space Acquisition
With a budget proposal that threatens to close 80 percent of California state parks on the table, Joe Edmiston, executive director of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, explains how the state's budget crisis left the SMMC "dead in the water."
Removing Illegal Signs
On Thursday, the Department of Buildings of New York City took off a billboard which has blanketed the lower floors of the 19th-century Cushman Building, 174 Broadway, at Maiden Lane for several years.
Watch the Land Change Through Google Earth Images
These videos show images of locations that have seen significant change over the past few years as seen through Google Earth images, from Dubai's manmade archipelago to Utah's disappearing Lake Powell.
Making Public Space Hip
The group tasked with reenergizing Bermondsey Square in southeast London see their target audience as "urban safarians."
Histories of No History: Commodification and Urbanization in the American West
Josh Stephens reviews two biographies of cities, The Dallas Myth: The Making and Unmaking of An American City and Reno’s Big Gamble: Image and Reputation in the Biggest Little City.
School Sprawl
The American Academy of Pediatrics has released a new report focusing on the effect of the built environment on children's health. Access to parks, the ability to walk to school, and opportunities for 'incidental exercise.'
Detroit Could Become Countryside, Planners Say
A team of visiting planners suggested that Detroit could evolve into a series of urban villages connected by countryside.
Friday Funny: Planner Breaks Into Song
Pine Lake, Georgia City Council Member Melanie Hammet finds songwriting inspiration in the issues of land use planning.
California Cities Object To Greenhouse Gas Law
California's SB 375 attempts to require cities to develop in a way that reduces greenhouse gas emissions. But some cities say the new law is misguided, and the state should focus on zero-emission vehicles instead.
Is Smart Growth Successful?
The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy has undertaken the first significant study to find out if state smart growth policies are achieving their stated goals.
The Story of the High Line
The Sundance Channel has produced a series of short films profiling the landscape architects, officials, activists, writers, and Ethan Hawke and Kevin Bacon about how the High Line park came to be.
Getting Buy-In On A New Urbanist Vision
Alamo Heights, a suburb of San Antonio, grapples with whether to adopt a "New Urbanist" (but slightly more traditional) approach to its major thoroughfare to improve pedestrian and bicycle access.
Class Project Gains Legs
A proposal authored by Stanford students for a class to create a pedestrian-only zone near campus has gotten the attention of business owners and the community.
Urban Advocates Find New, Public Home
The San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR) has opened new offices with the goal of interacting more with the public and creating an 'urban center'.
The Discarded Landscape of Car Culture
Empty swimming pools and deserted roadside motels feature prominently in No Lifeguard on Duty, a new book of photographs.
Clinton Promoting 'Climate-Positive' Communities
Last week in Seoul, Bill Clinton announced a new collaboration between the Clinton Climate Initiative and the U.S. Green Building Council to go beyond the single LEED building and create new green development models for whole communities.
Pedestrian Planning Coming to Tennessee
Shelby County and Memphis are on the verge of adopting a new smart growth zoning code to slow urban sprawl and breathe reinvigorate urban centers. The county's Main Street Mall will remain car-free. "Pedestrian-friendly" is the new planning theme.
An Aerotropolis for Atlanta
Construction begins on Aerotropolis Atlanta, an unusual "live-work-play mini-city" development going up close to Atlanta's Hartsfield Airport- so close, in fact, that there will be a connecting walkway directly to the new international terminal.
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
