The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

As cities across the world expand their infrastructure to support more bicycle- and pedestrian-friendly environments, outdated laws still support the use of streets by automobiles over people.

August 11 - Governing

From Buenos Aires, to Mexico City, to Bogota, cities across Latin America are embracing the bicycle. Across Central and South America, bike lane miles and the numbers of bicycles on the streets are on the rise.

August 11 - The Wall Street Journal

Dogged in advance of the Olympics by fears of transit paralysis, Lauren Collins discusses how London's public transportation network has been the surprise hit of the Games.

August 11 - The New Yorker

Driven by its long-cultivated arts community, development of Columbus, Ohio's Short North neighborhood has defied the economic downturn as investment in the once-downtrodden area continues.

August 11 - The New York Times

Cities across America are catching on to the economic development and placemaking potential of craft breweries, writes J. Katie McConnell.

August 11 - CitiesSpeak.org

Accomplished comic author, and orthodontist-in-training, Grant Snider turns his acerbic attention to his neighborhood, and the wonders of "Suburban Planning."

August 10 - Incidental Comics

On Metropolis P.O.V., Jared Green interviews Mayor Mick Cornett to uncover the keys to Oklahoma City's surprising success.

August 10 - Metropolis

Joel Kotkin looks at a new analysis of Census data by Wendell Cox that may upend the "conventional wisdom" that "talented, highly-skilled and highly educated people" are clustering in America's coastal cities.

August 10 - New Geography

With a multipronged strategy, San Antonio has managed to achieve the nearly impossible - keeping water use flat while accommodating substantial growth - rightfully earning it the title "Water's Most Resourceful City," reports Mose Buchele.

August 10 - NPR

Located adjacent to the nation's 3rd busiest train station, Philly's new multi-use plaza - dubbed The Porch - provides a welcoming entryway to the city and a model for a "lighter, quicker, cheaper" approach to urban improvements.

August 10 - Switchboard

The futuristic sounding "Domain Awareness System," NYC's newest crime fighting tool, utilizes cutting edge technology to further cut down on crime in what has become "one of the safest big metropolitan areas in America."

August 10 - The Guardian

As the fear of more local government bankruptcies rises, William Fulton argues that sprawling development patterns play a key role in leading cities to run in the red.

August 10 - CNN

Modern architecture's infatuation with glass, seen in sparkling residential and office towers rising in cities across North America, has been a bird killer of staggering proportions. Christopher Joyce profiles those trying to solve the problem.

August 10 - NPR

In a city where urban water infrastructure ranges from "insufficient" to "nonexistent," Lagos entrepreneurs have developed a bustling trade in "sachet water." Is it time to focus more attention on regulating the sachet industry?

August 10 - Sustainable Cities Collective

Steven Yaccino reports on the ongoing controversy over the proposed demolition of Prentice Women's Hospital, designed by famed Chicago architect Bertrand Goldberg, as officials continue to skirt the issue.

August 10 - The New York Times

The Guangzhou Opera House was recently recognized by Architectural Record with its "Best Public Project: Honor Award." Larry Speck argues why recognizing this poorly designed and executed building reflects poorly on the Architecture profession.

August 9 - Archinect

With an astounding 6,000 new rental units due to come on the market in D.C. by the end of the year, the city's renters are about to get a welcome respite, report Brady Dennis and Amrita Jayakumar.

August 9 - The Washington Post

Although for seemingly different reasons, Portland-based Alta Bicycle Share is at the center of delays in launching highly-anticipated bike share programs in both Chicago and New York.

August 9 - Chicago Sun-Times

While California's cities continue to be a drag on the country's job growth, cities in the Northeast and the South are doing better than average, says a new report from the Urban Institute.

August 9 - The Wall Street Journal

BLOG POST

<p> Do we sense a subtle shift in the too often pedantic world of planning and design from private conceits to public conscious constructs, and in of all places Los Angeles, as evidenced by the heralded dedication this summer of a new downtown park? </p> <p> To be sure, the first phase of the 12 acre park is a promising space, linking in a series of terraces edged by select plantings and brightly painted seating, from the neomodern Music Center to the west to the neoclassical City Hall to the east. Helping in particular these dog days of summer is a refurbished memorial fountain that invites wading and splashing, as well as the office workers out of the adjacent government buildings. </p>

August 9 - Sam Hall Kaplan