The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

James Bacon examines how in Washington DC's suburbs high-density developments produce significantly more tax revenue per acre than low density developments.

February 20 - Bacon's Rebellion

Researchers are beginning to understand how the human brain is hard-wired to respond to certain patterns, colors, and proportions. The result is "a revolution in the science of design," says Lance Hosey, and "most people...aren’t even aware of it."

February 20 - The New York Times

With more than 10,000 downloads in the U.S., i-Tree calculates the environmental and economic benefits of planting trees.

February 20 - Next City

In the last three decades HOAs have grown six-fold in the U.S. They now cover 20 percent of American homes, and stifle sustainability and expression through “one of the most significant privatizations of local government functions in history.”

February 20 - NRDC Switchboard

BLOG POST

Parks have long been likened to "the lungs of the city." But to better capture the totality of parks' role in our urban milieu a more apt metaphor is necessary.

February 19 - Steven Snell

In January of this year, Tallinn (pop. 423,000) became the first European capital and the largest European city to provide public transit free of charge to its residents. So far, the experiment has proven a success.

February 19 - Euro Cities

L.A. stands at a critical juncture in the city's development, with an opportunity to embrace new patterns of land use that break with its postwar history. To seize this opportunity, the city will have to build incrementally, argues Peter Zellner.

February 19 - The Architect's Newspaper

While parks adjacent to affluent areas of New York City, such as Central Park or the High Line, are benefiting from record levels of private contributions, open spaces in poorer communities are struggling to fund routine maintenance.

February 19 - The New York Times

We solve problems with over-engineered, anti-urban infrastructure schemes even though we have no plan for funding their future maintenance obligations. Howard Blackson uses San Diego as an example, and offers up some pedestrian-oriented solutions.

February 19 - PlaceShakers

Millions of dollars donated by the United Arab Emirates are being used to fund the rebuilding of Joplin, Mo., which was devastated by a tornado in 2011. The handouts represent a "remarkable shift in global economic power."

February 19 - The Washington Post

A carbon tax based on Alaska's Permanent Fund, where tax revenues are returned to residents, is the model for legislation proposed by Senators Boxer (D-CA) and Sanders (I-VT) in response to Pres. Obama's call for Congress to act on climate change.

February 19 - San Francisco Chronicle

High cost of living and lack of jobs are driving urban populations out of cities, and simply increasing density requirements might not be enough to reverse the trend, argues Jim Russell.

February 19 - Sustainable Cities Collective

"Green", "natural", or "organic" dry cleaning; if you live in TriBeCa or have visited an affluent neighborhood recently, you may have noticed this trend. Elizabeth A. Harris looks at the new sign that "your rent is about to rise."

February 19 - The New York Times

In his new book "A History of Future Cities", journalist Daniel Brook visits four cities on the edge of the future: St. Petersburg, Shanghai, Mumbai, and Dubai.

February 19 - Places Journal

At 195 hectares (480 acres), the Nine Elms redevelopment project being planned for the south bank of the Thames River will be "the most important regeneration story in London and in the UK over the next 20 years."

February 19 - The Economist

Montgomery County wants to be the life of the party. To do so, it's establishing a special taskforce to boost its nighttime economy and attract millenials, reports Bill Turque.

February 18 - The Washington Post

Using two paradigms addressing synergies of nature and the city, Chuck Wolfe contrasts gradually merging animal and human habitats in the United States with calculated greening of city spaces overseas.

February 18 - The Atlantic Cities

With women making up only 21 percent of the Britain's registered architects, a percentage far lower than other professions, "insidious" discrimination is common in the field, writes Andrew Hough. Is this harming the nation's built environment?

February 18 - The Telegraph

Facing increasing property prices, Brooklyn's hipsters must decide whether to abandon their lifestyle and recreate it "upstate."

February 18 - New York Times

After more than a century of altering the flow of the Grand River, Grand Rapids' namesake whitewater has been largely eliminated. A new proposal backed by Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder would "put the rapids back in Grand Rapids."

February 18 - The Detroit News