The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Landscape designer Julie Moir Messervy collaborated with cellist Yo-Yo Ma to design a waterfront park in Toronto. Bach's First Suite for Unaccompanied Cello served as inspiration.

January 4 - ASLA's The Dirt blog

New regulations in Virginia limiting their use may be the death knell for cul-de-sacs. Planners and developers debate their worth, but new studies show they aren't cost effective for cities, or even as safe as assumed.

January 4 - Fast Company

While the U.S. has its infamous Single Room Occupancy hotels, Tokyo has its "capsule" hotels - making SROs appear downright spacious by comparison. This article and accompanying slide show looks at life for one resident of Capsule Hotel Shinjuku 510.

January 4 - The New York Times - Global Business

New London, Connecticut was dealt a major blow when pharmaceutical giant Pfizer announced plans to pack up and leave the heavily city-subsidized building New London had lured the company with. Bill Fulton looks at the impact of the move.

January 4 - Governing

FEATURE

January 4 - Vinayak Bharne

Bryan Finoki looks at the devastated cities of Detroit and New Orleans and finds "blueprints for the manufacture of ruin".

January 4 - Triple Canopy

Preservation groups and land trusts are beneficiaries of the economic recession, as prices on land have dropped low enough for many to buy up land for conservation purposes.

January 3 - The New York Times

This discussion from <em>TED</em> looks at the ancient water engineering techniques used in the Golden Desert of India, and argues that these centuries-old methods offer lessons for water planners today.

January 3 - TED

A growing number of universities are offering programs in urban sustainability studies, including Tufts, New York City College and the University of Colorado.

January 3 - The New York Times

<em>Curbed LA</em> takes an amusing look at the urban planning proposals that bubbled up in L.A. throughout 2009.

January 3 - Curbed LA

After an extended history of favoring rural areas over metropolitan ones, The World Bank appears to be changing course.

January 3 - Citiwire.net

Universities bordering impoverished neighborhoods can do more to improve living conditions, according to the founders of LIFT, a group that trains volunteers. The group is featured on this week's episode of <em>Smart City</em>.

January 2 - Smart City

A group of historians and urban enthusiasts have developed a successful tourist organization that explores the underground structures and spaces of Berlin.

January 2 - The New York Times

<em>Change Observer</em> interviews Casey Jones, the director of design excellence and the arts for the U.S. General Services Administration about green building and sustainability in urban design.

January 2 - Change Observer

Parks officials in San Francisco look to mimic New York City's approach to funding parks through public-private partnerships.

January 2 - San Francisco Chronicle

Portland, Oregon planners are updating the city's zoning to make home improvements for solar panels and eco-roofing easier to do, but some developers think it will actually make things more difficult.

January 2 - Daily Journal of Commerce

Sweetheart deals using public monies to fund stadiums have backfired across the country, causing more drain than gain.

January 1 - The New York Times

The Walled City of Kowloon, Hong Kong was demolished in 1993, but remains a symbol of what happens when a city evolves anarchically. It was known as 'Hak Nam', or 'City of Darkness.'

January 1 - Design Observer

Architect Tushar Advani has designed an iconic new bus station for Detroit, a mandate from transportation planners looking for a symbol of progress for the ailing city.

January 1 - Metropolis Magazine

Architecture critic James S. Russell interviews James Murren, the man behind CityCenter in Las Vegas. It was Murren's idea to hire the six star architects who designed the site. Murren says the Ground Zero designs inspired him.

January 1 - Bloomberg.com