The Daily Source of Urban Planning News
An Olympic Ghost Town in Rio de Janeiro
Preparations for the World Cup and Olympics are displacing hundreds of families in Rio de Janeiro. One neighborhood next to a major stadium has been turned into a ghost town.
New Yorkers Get Daily Exercise Just By Getting Around
New Yorkers get most of their physical activity from walking to the subway or running errands, not jogging or going to the gym, says a new report from the New York Dept. of Health.
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Food Trends
<!--StartFragment--><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Big Caslon'"><span style="white-space: pre" class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>A comment I hear frequently from planners is that the focus on food and planning is “trendy”. I must admit that this puzzles me quite a bit. Professional planners in rural areas have concentrated on planning for agriculture – food planning – for decades. Before we had professional planners, human populations planned their communities around food, whether they were planning how best to follow herds for hunting, structuring early agricultural societies, or developing the first cities where food proximity and trade were central considerations.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
James Howard Kunstler vs. McDonald's
Kunstler and Duncan Crary debate the merits and drawbacks (mostly drawbacks) of two McDonald's restaurants being proposed for Saratoga Springs and Troy, New York (their respective hometowns).
How Chicago Hides a Skyscraper Jail in Plain Sight
A federal jail, The Metropolitan Correctional Center, is snuggled right into Chicago's Loop. Reporter Roman Mars looks at how the architecture manages to help the building disappear.
Be Your Own Architecture Critic
John King gives readers the tools to critique plans for the new wing of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art <em>before</em> the designs are released next Weds.
High-Speed Rail Funding at Work
Find yourself wondering what those federal dollars dedicated to high-speed rail are actually funding? The Illinois Dept. of Transportation sent cameras out to capture a high-speed rail upgrade in progress near the Twin Cities.
Why Honolulu Tops Best Transit List
Jarrett Walker looks at a recent "Top Cities for Transit" list that ranks Honolulu #1, and says the criteria that the Brookings Institution used are "especially perverse".
Five Different Californias
A new report takes a unique look at quality-of-life issues in the Golden State, measuring social well-being using health, education and income factors. The study concludes that the state is divided into 5 areas with different ecologies.
Community Gardens and Farms as Detroit Renewal Tools
As the city of Detroit struggles with population loss and dwindling industrial jobs, farms and community gardens offer the city a positive nudge.
Data and Maps Aiding Police
Geomapping data is helping police in cities address problem areas, improve unsafe intersections and improve overall efficiency.
Public Space Key in Arab Unrest
At the center of ongoing protests and uproar in the Middle East, iconic and historical public spaces hold political clout.
Rule to Allow More Street Furniture in Mumbai
Developers in Mumbai will be allowed to build street furniture and sell advertising space on it as part of their projects, in accordance with a new law in the city.
Monorails of Yore
Maggie Koerth-Baker digs into the history of monorails, and finds examples in the United States as early as 1876.
Old St. Louis Railroad Trestle May Become a Park
Just as Witold Rybczynski declares New York's High Line un-copyable, St. Louis announces plans for a linear park on top of an old railroad trestle
City Population Change from 1955 to 2015
This interactive map from the <em>BBC</em> tracks growth and urbanization in global cities from 1955 up through 2015.
Winnipeg Offers Model For Detroit to Follow
Detroit should look to a neighbor in the north for advice on rebounding from industrial decline, according to this piece from <em>New Geography</em>, which argues that Winnipeg has already paved the way.
Public Bleakness in Seattle
Seattle is growing more dense, which is underlining the importance of the city's public spaces. But as this piece from <em>Crosscut</em> argues, the city's public spaces are mostly bleak and underused.
A City of Healthy and Unhealthy Neighborhoods
The dividing lines in the cities of today are not so much about neighborhoods, but rather the relative health of those neighborhoods, according to this piece from <em>The Globe and Mail</em>.
London Weighs Transportation Concerns as Olympics Loom
Transportation is increasingly seen as a major concern as London prepares to host the 2012 Summer Olympics. As crowds fill the city, many wonder whether it will be able to handle the load and keep everyone moving.
City of Moorpark
City of Tustin
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions
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.
