A recent study studying the contemporary planning profession's rejection of the cul-de-sac includes a proposal to create more economic disincentives for inefficient street grid patterns.
Kim Hart writes: "The cul-de-sac has been a staple of urban development — and families' real estate wish lists — for the last 50 years. Now some cities are banning them from new developments."
Hart surveys a few recent studies an articles digging into the detrimental effects of cul-de-sacs. A study titled "Global trends toward urban street-network sprawl," published in January by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, documented the ways planners around the world are encouraging denser street grids. A "cul-de-tax" is one of the solutions mentioned in the study.
FULL STORY: Why city planners are killing the cul-de-sac
How to Define the Suburban: HUD Survey Sheds New Light
A new HUD survey could help change the way the federal government defines the "suburban"—a notoriously tricky proposition.
Satellite Imagery of a Decade's Transformation
Trends in land use and development are made obvious with satellite imagery tracking changes during the 2010s.
Uniform By Design: The Similarities of Suburbs
A Vox video digs into the history of how suburbs came to resemble each other.
Rethinking Redlining
For decades we have blamed 100-year-old maps for the patterns of spatial racial inequity that persist in American cities today. An esteemed researcher says: we’ve got it all wrong.
Montreal Mall to Become 6,000 Housing Units
Place Versailles will be transformed into a mixed-use complex over the next 25 years.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
Santa Clara County Dedicates Over $28M to Affordable Housing
The county is funding over 600 new affordable housing units via revenue from a 2016 bond measure.
Why a Failed ‘Smart City’ Is Still Relevant
A Google-backed proposal to turn an underused section of Toronto waterfront into a tech hub holds relevant lessons about privacy and data.
When Sears Pioneered Modular Housing
Kit homes sold in catalogs like Sears and Montgomery Ward made homeownership affordable for midcentury Americans.
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.
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions