The Daily Source of Urban Planning News
Surprising Census Results Demonstrate London's Bicycle Bona Fides
Move over Amsterdam. A new study of London's road use patterns has found that bicycles account for 24 percent of all road traffic during the morning commute. At nearly a fifth of the areas monitored, bikes actually outnumbered other vehicles.
Midwestern DOTs Struggle to Keep Up With Forward-Thinking Residents
Across America's Midwest, resident revolts have challenged the traditional DOT orthodoxy of continuous highway construction. The most recent battleground is St. Louis, where a growing movement is protesting a highway project first conceived in 1957.
What Would Happen if an American Town Went Carless?
For a possible answer, look to Mackinac Island, Michigan, where cars have been banned for 115 years. Does chaos ensue when the island's population grows to 15,000 during the summer tourist season? Not quite, says Stephen Messenger.
End of the Line for the Sydney Monorail
With the number of serviceable trains dwindling the Sydney Monorail is being scrapped.
Wooden Skyscraper Proposed for Stockholm
In its entry for a competition hosted by Swedish building society HSB Stockholm, C.F. Moller Architects has proposed a 34-story wood-framed apartment tower - which would be the world's tallest wood building if constructed.
Is Urban Planning Effective in the Developing World?
A common question raised by those working in the developing world is whether urban planning is useful in those environments. Since questions often focus on planning of a comprehensive type, they overlook planning's intrinsic value and flexibility.
Bay Area Braces for BART Strike
Unless an agreement between two BART unions and management can be reached, the Bay Area may experience traffic gridlock on Monday if the heavy rail network shuts down, leaving riders in S.F, the East Bay, and Peninsula with considerably fewer options
Healthy Homes: The Latest Luxury Extravagance
Come September, for tens of millions of dollars, you can be the owner of the latest in healthy living - a "WELL-certified condominium" - which promises to deliver improved air, water, light, sleep, energy and nutrition.
What Grade Would You Give Obama's Climate Action Plan?
Two very different grades are assigned, one from David Hawkins, Director of Climate Programs at NRDC; the other from a college senior working on a fossil fuel divestment campaign. Michael Brune of the Sierra Club differs with Hawkins on natural gas.
Stunning Discovery Upends Our Understanding of Pre-Industrial Urbanism
The results of a survey conducted last year of the forests of Cambodia, but just published this month, has found a complex landscape of "low-density urban sprawl" connected to Angkor Wat, upending our understanding of pre-industrial urbanism.
Should USC Axe Its Unique Planning Doctoral Program?
Dr. Clement Lau, a Los Angeles County Planner, describes what the threatened USC Doctor of Policy, Planning, and Development (DPPD) program meant to him and why he thinks it's worth saving.
MTA Commuter Tax Pits New York City Against Suburbs
The 12-county downstate commuter tax is vilified by many living outside New York City - forced to pay a payroll tax to support transit that they may not use. They sued the MTA and won last August, but MTA had the ruling reversed on appeal on June 26.
Researchers Propose an Alternative to High-Density, Carless Sustainable Development
Can we combine our love affair with cars and single-family homes with sustainable growth? Mark Delucchi and Kenneth S. Kurani think so.
Outgoing L.A. Mayor Leaves a City Transported
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has certainly fallen short with some of his ambitious agenda items (including his attempt to take over the city's school district). But when it comes to transportation, the mayor has had a dramatic, and lasting, effect.
Koontz Decision: No Big Deal or Blow to Sustainable Development?
In a forceful op-ed, professor John D. Echeverria argues the Supreme Court's recent "blockbuster" land use decision will "result in long-lasting harm to America’s communities." Not so fast, says Rick Hills, the decision offers an "exit strategy".
An App to Map Free Urban Snacks
A map and website developed by PhD student Ethan Welty and friend Caleb Philip catalogs the cornucopia of edible trees found in the "urban orchards" of two-dozen cities around the world.
Ikea Unleashes its Flat Pack Expertise on Emergency Shelters
A cheap, solar-powered hut designed by Ikea, in partnership with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, promises to revolutionize emergency housing for displaced persons.
Citizens Organize Around Restoring Street Grid in Downtown Oklahoma City
In a challenge to the wishes of the state DOT, a group of citizens has successfully campaigned for the addition of an alternative to restore the downtown street grid in place of a high-speed boulevard in Oklahoma City.
New York Looks to Transform Its Other Unloved Transit Hub
Attention has recently focused on efforts to pave the way for a renovation of NYC's Penn Station. But a study announced Thursday will investigate how to upgrade, or replace, the hulking Port Authority Bus Terminal, the world's busiest bus facility.
UNESCO World Heritage List Welcomes New Destinations
Japan's Mt. Fuji, Italy's Medici Villas and Gardens, and a historical port town in Fiji are among the 19 new additions to UNESCO's vaunted World Heritage List; bringing to 981 the number of cultural, natural, and mixed sites comprising the list.
City of Mt Shasta
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
US High Speed Rail Association
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
Municipality of Princeton (NJ)
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
