The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

FEATURE

Sean O'Malley and Andrew Watkins, of the landscape architecture, planning, and urban design firm SWA, describe the benefits of a design process that empowers people and communities to participate.

August 4 - Sean O'Malley and Andrew Watkins

Just over a year ago President Obama's draft Clean Power Plan was unveiled. That proposal has been finalized and the president promoted it at a press event on Monday. The final rule is both stronger and more lenient that the original proposal.

August 3 - The Guardian

This vehicle would be larger than a Hummer, a bus, and even an 18-wheeler. Then again, it would not travel on land. The proposal goes by an appropriate acronym: SF-BREEZE. Think fresh air over the bay.

August 3 - AASHTO Journal

Paterson, New Jersey's diverse immigrant population holds the potential to revive the city's declining economy. Writer Jeff Byles documents key resources the city has and how similar postindustrial cities have harnessed community-driven planning.

August 3 - Doggerel

Toronto, Tokyo, and Helsinki may have little in common, but they all top Metropolis Magazine's list of the world's most liveable cities, as named by an expert panel of designers and urbanists. Eight runnners-up were named in a variety of categories.

August 3 - Metropolis Magazine

A new Transit Center report shows what it takes to enact change.

August 3 - Next City

Caron Atlas has spent decades working to understand and improve the relationship between cities and the arts. As co-director of Naturally Occurring Cultural Districts New York, she advocates for the recognition of artistic activity throughout NYC.

August 3 - Satellite Magazine

The beachfront town known for its surfers and celebrities is collecting data that dig deeper than traditional measures of economic prosperity, and the results may be surprising.

August 3 - Fast Company Co.Exist

Roundabouts, not to be confused with traffic circles, are becoming popular throughout the United States. The Bronx will get the first one in NYC. The insurance industry and FHWA consider them far safer than traffic lights and stop signs.

August 3 - The New York Times - Wheels

Can a neighborhood still call itself Chinatown when everyone living there is wealthy and white? Beset by rapid gentrification, longtime residents of D.C.'s Chinatown fight to keep their homes.

August 3 - The Washington Post

BLOG POST

A new American Automobile Association study argues that efforts to reduce driving by higher-risk seniors threaten their health. This analysis is backward: seniors benefit most from reduced driving and improved transport options.

August 3 - Todd Litman

Yet another climate change side effect: more frequent urban heat waves. And because urban temperatures tend higher than rural ones, cities should be ready to protect the most vulnerable.

August 2 - The Nature Conservancy - Cool Green Science

Two adjacent properties in downtown Durham totaling 18 acres were recently purchased by developers planning for intensive mixed use projects near the former tobacco warehouse district and future light rail station.

August 2 - The Raleigh News & Observer

Motor vehicle crashes claim over 30,000 lives per year, with related costs in the hundreds of billions. While we sometimes view that frightening statistic as inevitable, there are reasons to reexamine speed limits and how we set them.

August 2 - Five Thirty Eight

China's capital city is already one of the largest in the world, but it's about to get a whole lot bigger. As the Chinese population continues to migrate from rural to urban areas, the Chinese government is planning for megacity of 130 million.

August 2 - New York Times

The Senate was hard at work on Thursday, passing not one but two transportation funding bills—first its controversial six-year (funded for three) transportation reauthorization bill, the DRIVE Act, and then, most importantly, the patch bill.

August 2 - The Hill

Local officials are considering a conservancy to preserve the Houston Astrodome, considered an antiquities landmark by the Texas Historical Commission.

August 1 - Houston Chronicle

The Bronx Parking Development Co. was created to build new parking around the new Yankee Stadium, but the glut of new parking has not yet produced a profitable venture.

August 1 - Crain's New York Business

While the vast majority of cities saw an increase—or no decrease—in neighborhood inequality since 1990, nearly 30 regions became more equal. But paper equality can be problematic when the rich simply up and left town.

August 1 - Urban Institute

This piece from the Vancouver Sun advocates using land value capture taxes to fund transit and related improvements. Such a tax would target speculation, the author writes, rather than productive activity.

August 1 - The Vancouver Sun