The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Looking Down on Sprawl

Writing in <em>The New York Times</em>, Geoff Manaugh looks at Christoph Gielen's aerial photography of urban development and sprawl.

September 20 - The New York Times

New Carrollton: Come and Get It

With three transit stations nearby and ready-made commuters, this DC/Maryland suburb is ripe for development.

September 20 - New Urban Network

Jan Gehl is Pulling New York's Strings

The man behind the plan? Danish urbanist Jan Gehl has been quietly working behind the scenes on New York's transformation to pedestrian paradise.

September 20 - Capital New York

Planning for a High Turnover

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) begins a two-year tryout of new parking technologies.

September 20 - New Urban Network

Neighborhood Design Prompted Speed Hump Homicide

Grist digs deeper into the Virginia Speed Hump murder - showing how the street configuration of the suburban neighborhood may have contributed to the rage, and why it's unlikely to see more neighborhoods like it in the future.

September 20 - Grist


Future of $8.7B New Jersey ARC Project is Uncertain

Governor Chris Christie's moratorium on new contracts may signal trouble even though construction is underway.

September 20 - the transport politic

Applying "Smart Decline" in Vegas

Las Vegas columnist Scott Dickensheets turns to Tufts planning professor Justin Hollander to ask what Sin City should do to combat plummeting home values and draining population.

September 20 - Las Vegas Sun


The Top 10 Most Global Cities

Emily Peck counts down the top ten most global cities now that more than half the world's population is urbanized. The 21st century will be dominated by the city, writes Parag Khanna. “The age of nations is over. The new urban age has begun.”

September 19 - The Wall Street Journal

The Streetcar Solution

In a long excerpt from his new book <em>Seven Rules for Sustainable Communities: Design Strategies for the Post Carbon World,</em> Patrick Condon explains the advantages of streetcars, where they went, and why we should bring them back.

September 19 - The Tyee

Better Place To Create First Oil Free State In Israel

With the support of Israel's government, Better Place is proposing a radical solution to the country's petrol problems and aiming to make the country the first to rid itself of dependence on oil for transportation.

September 19 - The Financial Times

Urban Living Linked To Heightened Risk of Schizophrenia

For some time researchers have noticed more instances of non-affective psychosis in urban populations than in rural groups. Now the American Medical Association has found "certain elements of city living raise the risk of developing schizophrenia."

September 19 - The Atlantic

Cities and Local Govts. Are Key To Halting Climate Change

Grist encourages its readers to look toward cities - big ones, as the place where real progress in fighting climate change is to occur, rather than international treaties and federal legislation.

September 19 - Daily Grist

The State of Iowa: Looking Good

Aaron M. Renn says that Iowa has weathered the recession well, and migration patterns have boosted cities and agribusiness.

September 18 - New Geography

Urbanization Multiplies The Phenomenon of Strangers

Kio Stark, professor at NYU's Interactive Telecommunications Program explains lucidly how strangers and cities are "inherently intertwined."

September 18 - The Atlantic

Dulles Metro Link to Run Nearly $4 Billion

The second phase of a project to connect Washington D.C.'s Metro system to Dulles International Airport will cost nearly $4 billion.

September 18 - The Washington Post

Evolving Tech Takes the Pulse of Bridges

With infrastructure aging, technology is increasingly relied upon to assess the safety of bridges. Many places are finding that simple monitoring devices can help save money.

September 18 - Governing

Touring Olympic Redevelopment in London

Tourists can get a close-up look at the transformation of a formerly depressed part of East London into what will be the site of one of the world's largest spectacles when it hosts the 2012 Olympics.

September 18 - The New York Times

Friday Funny: Man Encourages Neighborhood to Secede

Jim Massey of East Pennsboro Township, Pennsylvania is unhappy about plans to build a new apartment complex in his neighborhood, so he's encouraging his neighbors to secede from East Pennsboro and join a nearby town.

September 17 - WGAL.com

"Hometown Democracy" Amendment Pending, Florida Cities Scramble

A controversial ballot measure in November could put all Florida general plan changes to a public vote. The St. Petersburg City Council is attempting some sleight-of-hand with their land use map to avoid facing the voters.

September 17 - The St. Petersburg Times

Enticing Millennials to a New Suburbia

At a seminar on "Re-working Suburbia" in San Leandro, California, urban designers and planners strategized for ways to upgrade Bay Area suburbs to attract millennials.

September 17 - New Urban Network

Post News
Senior Planner

City of Thousand Oaks

Community Development Director

City of Wisconsin Rapids

Professor of Urban Planning

Harvard University Graduate School of Design

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

100 Most Influential Urbanists

The who's who of urbanism, according to Planetizen readers.

Urban Planning Creators You Should Know

A short list of voices on social, video, and podcasting platforms.

FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?

After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.

Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold

The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.