In this hopeful and frustrating year, contributors to the Island Press Urban Resilience Project celebrate our collective progress and challenges in a new free book of short and sweet articles, op-eds, and interviews. Essential reading for planners!
In 2021, all the good news came with an asterisk.
American democracy survived an unprecedented assault on January 6, but the nation is more bitterly polarized than ever. Lifesaving COVID-19 vaccines were developed in record time, but a substantial swath of the American public refused to get the jab. The Biden administration swept into office on promises to tackle climate change and "build back better," but progress was thwarted by key lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.
In this hopeful and frustrating year, contributors to the Island Press Urban Resilience Project (URP) celebrated our collective progress, while highlighting how far we have yet to go. Those ideas—originally published as articles, op-eds, and interviews—have now been collected in a new e-book Resilience Matters: Opportunities for Action to Strengthen Communities, available at no cost.
FULL STORY: Resilience Matters: Opportunities for Action to Strengthen Communities
Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly
Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
San Francisco Suspends Traffic Calming Amidst Record Deaths
Citing “a challenging fiscal landscape,” the city will cease the program on the heels of 42 traffic deaths, including 24 pedestrians.
Adaptive Reuse Will Create Housing in a Suburban Texas Strip Mall
A developer is reimagining a strip mall property as a mixed-use complex with housing and retail.
Study: Anti-Homelessness Laws Don’t Work
Research shows that punitive measures that criminalized unhoused people don’t help reduce homelessness.
In U.S., Urban Gondolas Face Uphill Battle
Cities in Latin America and Europe have embraced aerial transitways — AKA gondolas — as sustainable, convenient urban transport, especially in tricky geographies. American cities have yet to catch up.
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.
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
JM Goldson LLC
Custer County Colorado
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Jefferson Parish Government
Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Claremont