The Daily Source of Urban Planning News
"Circle Less. Live More": Words To Park By
Explaining the mechanics of market-based parking can be pretty dry, if not outright wonkish. SF Park livens up the topic with (bike) bells, horns and cute, animated graphics in a new video.
More Cyclists Means Safer Streets
Studies show that traffic-calming measures and bike lanes increase the number of cyclists on the street and decrease the risk of collisions.
San Francisco Could Learn A Thing Or Two From NYC
San Francisco Chronicle architecture critic John King returns from a trip to New York with a look at several lessons that the City-by-the-Bay could (gasp!) learn from Manhattan.
Hopeful Progress in Brazil's Slums
Redeveloping the slums of Rio de Janeiro has been on the city's agenda for decades. Despite the many challenges, some new efforts seem to be paying off.
Most Successful Urban Planning - Ever?
Public Servant Blog dares to compile a completely subjective list of the Top 20 Urban Planning Successes of All Time, with selections ranging from the obvious (Amsterdam) to the less so (Marimont, Ohio). See if you agree.
NYC's Transit Funding Crisis
New York City's transit system is suffering from a serious lack of funding. Reporter Jake Mooney looks at the reasons, including a lack of tax income from real estate and a political unwillingness to change how MTA is funded.
Clock Running Out on Canadian Stimulus Spending
With some construction projects behind schedule, municipal governments are asking the Harper government to extend their "spend-it-or-lose-it" deadline of March 31 2011.
Cycling in Toronto Leaves Much to Be Desired
<em>Toronto Star</em> architecture critic Christopher Hume blasts the city's lackluster bicycle planning efforts, calling them disjointed.
A City on the Pacific Garbage Patch?
Dutch conservationists are proposing to create a floating community built on top of the patch of garbage swirling out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
History and Heritage Threatened by Chinese Overdevelopment
Chinese cities are destroying their architectural heritage as they rush to urbanize, according to Shan Jixiang, head of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage.
The Past and Future of Urban Agriculture
Urban agriculture is not a new idea. <em>Grist</em>'s Tom Philpott says the renewed interest in the idea should look for good ideas from its past.
Preserving Rurality
Rural areas across America are trying to figure out how they can improve their economies but still maintain their rural qualities.
A Chinese Bubble to Burst
Some economists are warning that China's building boom is actually a bubble that is soon to burst.
An Olympic Gamble for Community Revitalization
East London is the home of the city's poorest and most overlooked neighborhoods. It's also home to the site of the 2012 Summer Olympics, which officials hope will revive the struggling area.
Budget Crisis Taking Toll on City Services
State and municipal governments across the United States are facing an unprecedented financial crisis, prompting many of them to cut back drastically on public services in order to reduce costs.
BLOG POST
Internalizing the Externalized: The Case of Roads
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small">In a </span><a href="/node/44927"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; color: #800080; font-size: small">previous blog post</span></a><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small">, my discussion of externalities, public goods and roads spurred an unexpectedly lengthy set of posts and repostes. In this article, I want to address a trickier topic: Whether road users have effectively shifted the burden for paying for roads to non-users and whether the reason we pay for roads out of general taxes is a result of that lobbying effort.</span> </p>
Downturn Helps Downtown L.A. Avoid Gentrification
The crash of the economy happened at the right time for gentrifying downtown Los Angeles, according to this piece from the <em>Los Angeles Times</em>.
Kazakhstan Utopia Debuts
Japanese architect Kisho Kurokawa designed a utopian vision interweaving the city and nature. Three years after his death, his vision is complete. Rowan More of the Observer pays Astana, the new capital, a visit.
French Utopia Devolves
Born from the 1968 riots, a carefully planned community in France has been steadily taken over by crime and unrest, prompting some to question whether its utopian ideals actually work.
Camden's Public Library System to Shut its Doors
One of the nation's poorest cities is about to become the first major city in America to lose its public library owing to the states' financial crisis.
City of Thousand Oaks
City of Wisconsin Rapids
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
Northern Illinois Transit Authority (NITA)
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
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.
