The Daily Source of Urban Planning News
Ahead of World Cup, Cape Town Shack Dwellers Relocated
Slum dwellers in the suburbs of Cape Town have been forcefully relocated to a shack housing complex out of town -- and out of sight of the hundreds of thousands of visitors expected to descend on the city for this year's soccer World Cup.
Growing Transit in Growing Cities
As urban growth continues, the role of public transit systems will escalate. Though some cities already have the infrastructure in place to adapt to this expected growth, many cities are starting to worry about what they'll do when the people come.
The Rise of Soft Infrastructure
Infrastructure is undeniably important to our cities and places, but a new kind of infrastructure -- soft infrastructure -- is becoming increasingly important.
Binghamton's "War Counter" to Highlight City's Budget Woes
Jo Comerford of the National Priorities Project reports on how one New York state mayor is addressing the interconnections between municipal budget shortfalls and federal spending on warfare.
New York City Takes Over Governor's Island
The City has reached a deal to take over 172-acres of undeveloped land from the State, and redevelopment possibilities are flooding in - public park, high school, commercial buildings, NYU satellite campus, and more.
Solution for Shrinking Cities: Art and Parks
After unification, many East German towns began losing jobs and population. In 2003, the government formed a group to study how these cities could best recover. The results are in.
Sustainable: Buzz Killing the Buzz Word
In his commentary, Rob Steuteville questions whether we should work toward sustaining what we have, or building a more resilient future.
Cities, States Slashing Public Library Funding
States and cities across the U.S. are cutting public library funding at a time when people are relying on them more than ever, writes Art Brodsky.
New Series Highlights the "Shame" of New Orleans
Treme, the new TV series from David "The Wire" Simon, explores the impact of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans.
Roadblocks A'Plenty in Nebraska
Bureaucratic snafus between the Nebraska Department of Roads and the Federal Highway Administration have caused numerous highway, bridge and road projects to be delayed. FHA head Victor Mendez met with local officials to sort out the mess.
Suburbs Exist Because People Want Them
Developers, planners, and city officials haven't been insisting on regulations protecting low-density residential all these years -- the people who live there have, says Kevin Drum at Mother Jones.
Detroit Makes Big Investment in Bike Lanes
In the next year, Detroit will be putting in 30 miles of bike lanes throughout the city. But an ambitious new plan imagines up to 400 miles of bicycling infrastructure.
Killing the Authenticity You Love
The search for authenticity lead Generation Xers to move into gritty, urban environments that their overwhelming numbers managed to kill, says Adam Mayer in a review of Sharon Zukin's book Naked City.
FEATURE
The End of the Automobile Era?
Could this be the end? Two recent events signal a dramatic shift in American attitudes towards transportation and the proper role of transportation in making American cities, says Norman Garrick.
2,029 Urban Gardens
Vancouver set a goal of creating 2,010 food gardens around the city by the time of the 2010 Olympics, and managed to reach that number (and a little more).
BLOG POST
Yes, Zoning Still Encourages Sprawl
<p class="ecxMsoNormal"> A few weeks ago, Randall O’Toole (a leading anti-anti-sprawl commentator) and Matthew Yglesias (a Washington-based pundit who primarily writes about politics, but occasionally veers off into planning issues) had an interesting discussion about the extent to which sprawl is a result of land use regulation.(1) </p>
The Age of Infrastructure
Alex Marshall argues that the previous decade saw a dawning awareness of infrastructure and the importance of investing in it, in the United States and around the world.
Art and the Built Environment
Artist Roberto Mollá finds inspiration in the urbanity of Tokyo, and the isolation of city life.
Cable Cars See Increased Usage As Transit In Developing World
Low-cost, high capacity urban gondolas and cable cars are being successfully used as public transit and tools of urban revitalization in Colombia, Algeria and other parts of the developing world.
Embracing Baltimore's Existing Arts Districts, Not Creating New Ones
Baltimore Mayor Stephanie C. Rawlings-Blake wants to turn the city's west side into an arts district. This article from <em>The Baltimore Sun</em> argues that the city already has enough arts districts and should focus efforts on those.
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.
