Sometimes, city walks can mean more than just getting from place to place. Author and book critic David Ulin discusses his favorite accounts of that rich experience.
David Ulin reflects on his favorite "city books" and the relationships that can form between cities and writers. His reading list revolves around traversing cities on foot, an act that can be both a physical and psychological journey.
Ulin writes, "Cities, after all, require a double vision, in which past and present, collective and personal, blur. They are shared spaces — not just for the millions who live in them at any moment but also for all those who have ever lived in them — and yet they are individual, as well [...] Like writing, cities are expressions of process, the back-and-forth between our aspirations and our abilities."
Featured books include Frank Conroy's Stop Time (one of Ulin's quintessential New York books), Alfred Kazin's A Walker in the City, and Vivian Gornick's The Odd Woman and the City. Ulin concludes with his book, Sidewalking, which chronicles his own walks through the city of Los Angeles.
Read the full story: Writing the City
10 great urban planning summer reads
Wherever you're going (or staying) this summer, here are some suggestions for books to bring along.
Review: "An Even Better Way to Zone"
Don Elliot’s sophisticated and much-anticipated follow up to "A Better Way to Zone" tackles equity, affordability and provides a better blueprint from theory to application.
Eight Sci-Fi Books That Teach Urbanists the Dos and Don’ts of the Future
Science fiction has long painted a picture of the city of the future. What if it’s our roadmap out of dystopia?
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
Amtrak, CN end decades-long dispute with eight-year agreement
The new operating agreement establishes an updated framework for the companies to work together, including processes to resolve disputes.
Northwest rail fans eager for Sept. 30 debut of Amtrak’s Airo fleet
Get ready for that new train smell and more seats. But they won’t go faster or run more frequently on the Cascades route in Washington and Oregon.
St. Louis Metro to test if single-car trains can reduce operating costs, maintain rider satisfaction
The pilot program will run from October to spring 2027, and begin with one single-car train operating on Metrolink’s Red and Blue lines.
Pennsylvania is building data centers in abandoned mines
Housing data centers in mines provides an alternative to destroying local forests and may spare residents from data centers’ noise and air pollution.
If Corpus Christi can’t revive desalination plant project, it may owe Texas $235 million
Earlier this month, city officials declined to pursue developing the plant for the second time in a year.
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 Thousand Oaks
City of Wisconsin Rapids
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello