Initial research on social isolation as a method to combat contagious disease included a high-school science fair project modeling social networks. Doctors learned that the spread of disease could be decelerated by disrupting these networks.

Most people became aware of social distancing when guidelines and restrictions related to reducing the spread of the coronavirus circulated worldwide. In a New York Times piece, Eric Lipton and Jennifer Steinhauer tell the origin story of the concept of social distancing—a story that began about a decade and a half ago when George W. Bush, concerned by bioterrorism, requested research to ensure that the United States would be prepared in the event of an outbreak of infectious disease.
When Department of Veterans Affairs physician Dr. Mecher and oncologist and White House advisor Dr. Hatchett presented their research on previous pandemic outbreaks, they received what Dr. Mecher politely describes as an "ugly" response.
"When they presented their plan not long after, it was met with skepticism and a degree of ridicule by senior officials, who like others in the United States had grown accustomed to relying on the pharmaceutical industry, with its ever-growing array of new treatments, to confront evolving health challenges," explain Lipton and Steinhauer. Despite resistance, the Bush administration and the Centers for Disease Control adopted the Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions or NPI as official policy.
FULL STORY: The Untold Story of the Birth of Social Distancing

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.

Seattle Safe Parking Site to Close, Relocate
A nonprofit leases lots during permitting stages to erect tiny homes and RV safe parking sites for unhoused residents. But the model means constant uncertainty and displacement.

LA ‘Mobility Wallet’ Increased Quality of Life for Participants
The city distributed a monthly $150 transportation subsidy to 1,000 low-income Angelenos. It dramatically improved their lives.

Texas, California Rail Projects Seek Out Private Funding
In the wake of Trump’s cuts to high-speed rail projects, rail authorities are looking to private-public partnerships to supplement their budgets.
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