The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Is Corporate Sponsorship the Solution to Budget Shortfalls?

Inspired by the corporate sponsorship that made New York City's new bike share system possible, Steve Smith believes that public facilities across our cities are ripe for branding.

May 22 - New York Daily News

City Mouse Takes Exception to Country Mouse

Matt Bevilacqua pens a response to a recent opinion piece by author Shalom Auslander in the <em>New York Observer</em> that decries the big city for turning people into "blithering narcissists."

May 22 - Next American City

Biking Saves Billions

A new study released on Friday, coinciding with National Bike to Work Day, finds that bicyclists in the United States save at least $4.6 billion a year by riding instead of driving, reports Tanya Mohn.

May 22 - Forbes

Battling For a Bite of the Apple

Matt Brian explores the incredible lengths retail property owners and local authorities are going to lure Apple Stores to their areas.

May 21 - The Next Web

The Contrasting Forces Behind Downtown L.A.'s Revitalization

With several sporting events of national notice taking place in downtown Los Angeles, last weekend provided a prime platform to showcase the resurgence of the area. However, big-ticket events are just one of the many forces re-energizing downtown.

May 21 - Los Angeles Times


Profiling the Most Powerful Planning Director in America

Eleven years into a likely twelve-year tenure as director of the New York City Planning Department, Julie Satow explores the accomplishments, and unfinished agenda, of Amanda Burden.

May 21 - The New York Times

Might High-Rises Become Uninhabitable?

Steve Mouzon argues that trillions being spent world-wide on skyscrapers could be lost as energy costs rise.

May 21 - The Original Green Blog


Is Public Transit Addictive?

Recent studies seem to indicate that public transportation is habit-forming, and, as Brad Plumer notes, that may not be a good thing.

May 21 - The Washington Post

Battle Over Modernism Comes to Minneapolis

Kathryn Shattuck reports on the fight to save downtown Minneapolis's decaying Peavey Plaza, which was recognized as one of the nation’s most significant examples of landscape architecture merely 13 years ago.

May 21 - The New York Times

Rooftop Greenhouses, Now by Mail Order

A Switzerland-based design group is bringing back the geodesic dome in a big way with an aquaponic greenhouse that can be placed on just about any flat roof, Zak Stone reports.

May 21 - Good

Zaha's Olympic Diss

Architect Zaha Hadid, designer of the £269 million Aquatics Center to be used for this summer's Olympic Games, is unhappy about being overlooked for an invitation to any of the events that will take place in her building.

May 21 - Architizer

Can a City Have Too Much Transportation Network?

Yonah Freemark critiques a planned expansion to Dallas' already-extensive highway network, arguing that it undermines billions of dollars in light rail investment and sets its downtown on a path of stunted growth.

May 21 - the transport politic

Preparing Canada for "Peak People"

To close off the paper's series on Canadian immigration policy, the Globe and Mail's Doug Saunders calls for a dramatic increase in immigrants, arguing that the country's underpopulation harms almost every aspect of national life.

May 21 - Globe and Mail

How to Resuscitate a Foundering Transit System

Stephen Lee Davis investigates a campaign by Baton Rouge community groups to revive its bus service as it teetered on the brink of collapse.

May 20 - Transportation for America

Are Smart Phones Spoiling Our Public Spaces

The smart phones that keep us constantly connected to cyberspace may have detrimental effects on our public spaces, writes Emily Badger.

May 20 - The Atlantic Cities

The Great California Exodus? Not So!

Is it a calamity that more Californians are leaving the state than are migrating there from others? USC demographer Dowell Myers takes a closer look at migration data and finds that most native-born Californians remain there.

May 20 - Zocalo Public Square

What Medellin Teaches Us About Design and Social Engagement

Michael Kimmelman ventures to Colombia's reborn second city to explore what new buildings and infrastructure have brought to the city's residents, what it has not, and what remains to be done.

May 20 - The New York Times

After the Crash: How Will People Live and Spend in the New Economy?

Kathleen Madigan takes a look at new research that considers the shift in America's living situations, and what it means for consumer behavior.

May 20 - The Wall Street Journal

Shining a Light on an Architectural Innovator

Following up on his insightful essay on the politics of architectural reputation seen through the career of Louis Curtiss, Keith Eggener examines the architect's innovations with glass curtain walls.

May 19 - Places

History Repeats Itself in California Infrastructure Debate

As the Golden Gate Bridge approaches its 75th anniversary, John King pens an incisive comparison between the arguments against the bridge's original construction and those that have challenged subsequent high-profile projects.

May 19 - San Francisco Chronicle

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