The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Approximately 6,000 urban planners arrive in San Francisco for the annual American Planning Association conference.

March 21 - The San Francisco Chronicle

Why are green office buildings becoming popular?

March 21 - Inside Bay Area

Media critic David Abel takes L.A.'s newspaper to task for abdicating its role in civic politics.

March 21 - The Los Angeles Times

Arguments heard to allow or ban public from Great Lakes beaches.

March 21 - Michigan Land Use Institute

Thom Mayne, known for his unorthodox and edgy designs is awarded the architecture profession's most prestigious honor.

March 21 - The Los Angeles Times

San Francisco's Planning Department is searching for a new planning director to fix the city's 'Dysfunctional unit'.

March 20 - The San Francisco Chronicle

Developers of a new urbanist community in western Wilsonville, Oregon want to ask its future residents how much they are willing to pay for using green technologies.

March 20 - Environmental News Network

John Roughan argues that precisely because of Auckland, New Zealand's natural beauty, it is the ideal place for urban sprawl.

March 20 - The New Zealand Herald

New legislation could add the nation's capital to the growing list of cities banning public smoking.

March 20 - The Washington Post

Researchers find possible link between autism and mercury pollution in air and water.

March 20 - The Seattle Times

According to a new poll released yesterday, fuel efficiency ranks up there with apple pie, baseball, and hating liberals as emblematic of American patriotism.

March 19 - Planet Ark

Bombay's cotton mills are an opportunity for regeneration, not an impediment, says INTBAU India

March 19 - INTBAU

The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that drilling in Alaska's pristine Artic National Wildlife Refuge could yield 10.4 billion barrels of oil. Critics says that represents 6 months' supply for the U.S.

March 19 - The Guardian Unlimited

North America's mega mall is migrating northward, with the largest new retail project in North America planned near Montreal.

March 19 - National Real Estate Investor

The city of Charlotte considers introducing trollys to help revitalize troubled neighborhoods.

March 19 - The Charlotte Observer

BLOG POST

I'm in San Francisco this weekend for the annual <a href="http://www.planning.org/2005conference/index.htm">2005 American Planning Association Conference</a>. On Saturday, I'm presenting on a panel, "Computer-Based Decision-Support and Visualization Strategies", organized by Kenneth Topping, FAICP of Topping Associates International.<br /> <p><br /> I'll be releasing my annual list, "Top Five Technologies For Planning, 2005". After the session, I'll post my top technologies here also.<br /> <p><br /> Rumor has it that the Moscone West Conference Center is outfitted with wireless Internet access. If so, I'll blog the presentations, as well as publish a few photos of the event.<br /> <p><br /> <img src="" alt="Conference photo" /><br /> <p><br /> Other presenters include:<br /> <li>Mark Sorensen, University of Redlands: Linkages between knowledge-base, multiple criteria analysis and GIS <br /> <li>Chuck Donley, Donley & Associates Inc.: Using vector data for site selection, land use allocation, forecasting, and visualization. <br /> <li>Ken Snyder, PlaceMatters.com: Using visualization and GIS tools on the neighborhood scale <br /> <li>Dr. Michael Flaxman, Assistant Industry Manager for Design, ESRI: A Conceptual and Technical Framework for GIS-Based Land Use Planning: Alternative Futures for La Paz, Mexico <br /> <p><br /> The official panel description: "Presenters will showcase IT-based approaches to community outreach and decision making. Case studies include redevelopment of Lower Manhattan and other high-pressure planning situations. The enhanced program includes 3-D visualization geared for use in public settings, electronic democracy techniques, scenario-building models, web-based GIS, and multi-media tools. "</p>

March 18 - Chris Steins

BLOG POST

Hey, if any of y'all are going to be in Kobe after April, find out if it's true that the city is running a pilot project to embed Radio Frequency Identification (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RFID">RFID</a>) chips in public places, to be read by anybody's PDA. According to <a href="http://ubiks.net/local/blog/jmt/archives3/003524.html">RFID in Japan</a> (which says the story comes from an article, in Japanese, on <a href="http://japan.cnet.com/news/tech/story/0,2000047674,20081418,00.htm?ref=rss">CNET Japan</a>).

March 18 - Anonymous

Irv Draper fought ten long years to save taxpayers' money and ensure that a community pool would not be built.

March 18 - The Onion

Zoning restrictions can help to explain why house prices continue to rise.

March 18 - The Economist

Developer's dream to build Vancouver second-highest skyscraper suffered a setback

March 18 - The Vancouver Sun