How can planners approach the emotions and psychology of urban stakeholders? Planning journalist Josh Stephens speaks with Psychology Today to give psychology professionals a glimpse into how planners think.
"Kids don’t question whether their environment is ideal or whether it was built for the right reasons any more than they question whether their native language or their religion is ideal. Our places are built into us and they influence us so powerfully that we don’t even know they’re influencing us. And hometowns aren’t just buildings and streets. They are also cultural norms: values, customs, ideas, styles, ideologies, and relationships. We approach the rest of the world according to those cultural norms."
"YIMBYism also provides a crucial counterweight to the power of homeowners, which has accumulated unchallenged for decades. Homeowners dominate urban politics because they are relatively sedentary, relatively wealthy, and relatively white (and often benefited from zoning laws and patterns that favor whiteness). They have financial, aesthetic, and sometimes racially motivated interests in maintaining the status quo—meaning under-production of housing. They are the ones who have traditionally dominated public discourse."
FULL STORY: The Psychology of The Urban Mystique
Nature and Nurture: Understanding the Diversity of Biophilia
Biophilia, originally thought to be an innate and universal love for nature, is now understood as a temperament trait with significant individual differences influenced by genetics and experience.
Lonely by Design: How Urban Planning Can Intensify Social Isolation
Walkable neighborhoods, access to parks, and opportunities for social interaction can help reduce the burden of loneliness and promote community. But many of our cities aren’t built this way.
Marrying Urban Identity and Economic Prosperity
A new book posits that truly successful communities have a strong economic base and a firmly rooted sense of place.
Trump Administration Could Effectively End Housing Voucher Program
Federal officials are eyeing major cuts to the Section 8 program that helps millions of low-income households pay rent.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
Ken Jennings Launches Transit Web Series
The Jeopardy champ wants you to ride public transit.
Driving Equity and Clean Air: California Invests in Greener School Transportation
California has awarded $500 million to fund 1,000 zero-emission school buses and chargers for educational agencies as part of its effort to reduce pollution, improve student health, and accelerate the transition to clean transportation.
Congress Moves to End Reconnecting Communities and Related Grants
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee moved to rescind funding for the Neighborhood Equity and Access program, which funds highway removals, freeway caps, transit projects, pedestrian infrastructure, and more.
From Throughway to Public Space: Taking Back the American Street
How the Covid-19 pandemic taught us new ways to reclaim city streets from cars.
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.
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Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
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Harvard GSD Executive Education
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