The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Mark Hinshaw writes that back in 2006, developers were snatching up any bit of undeveloped land in Snohomish County, WA. Today, those far-flung projects have suffered much more than inner-city developments.

September 8 - Crosscut

Known for A Pattern Language, his landmark book on architecture and urban design, Christopher Alexander's ideas have had an effect on everything from software and iPhone apps to business management and ecology.

September 8 - Metropolis Magazine

With Missouri's Historic Preservation Tax Credit on the chopping block, Citiography outlines seven reasons the state should keep this program. Creating local jobs is just one.

September 8 - Citiography

Tom Downs says that walking, biking and transit should be considered one mode of transportation, and that the demographic shift is showing a new-found preference for that mode.

September 8 - Citiwire.net

Berkley, California man Gregory Kloehn has taken the dumpster reuse culture to a whole other level with his dumpster house, writes Zak Stone for GOOD.

September 7 - GOOD Magazine

This Big City team looks at "small places of anarchy" in Toyko that has taken root in DIY Gardening, Collaborative Mental Mapping and FIXing the Neighborhood.

September 7 - This Big City

Boston's bike share program Hubway has attracted 2,319 annual subscribers and had 36,612 station-to-station trips after one month of being open, reportst Erick Moskowitz for The Boston Globe.

September 7 - The Boston Globe

The rapid growth of cities is causing concern amongst experts over the effects of urban sprawl. There are 19 megacities in the world today, and 10 more will rise in the next 30 years, reports Marcus Moretti for Yale Daily News.

September 7 - Yale Daily News

BLOG POST

<p> Summer travel took me out of the US and back to Sweden for the first time in five years.  While my initial reaction was that things seemed much the same, I quickly realized that the Swedes had quietly pushed forward a number of projects that, if located in the US, would be on the vanguard of sustainability.  But over there it&#39;s just called urban planning. </p>

September 7 - Walker Wells

Cargohopper is a transportation system in Utrecht, the fourth largest Dutch city, that aims to replace freight trucks entering the city core. Electric trucks powered by solar panels take cargo from freight trucks to retailers in the city.

September 7 - Treehugger

With development-friendly reform sweeping through planning in the U.K., English Heritage is concerned the historic sites and greenfields will get swept away with little to no process.

September 7 - The Telegraph

GOOD compiles a subjective list of the best cities to live a decent life cheaply while you wait for the jobs to reappear. Austin tops the list of "artsy, cheap, liberal oases."

September 7 - GOOD Magazine

BLOG POST

<p> We all remember that day: How we first heard, whom we were with, how we felt as we watched an iconic American cityscape transformed into a burning, toxic wreckage, knowing that  thousands were surely dead, many never to be found. We can all too easily recall how our disbelief quickly turned to horror, sadness and then fear – a fear that the world was now a fundamentally different place, and what that would mean for ourselves and our children.<br /> <br />

September 7 - Michael Dudley

In the aftermath of Hurricane Irene, Fast Company's Boyd Cohen writes how New York City's preparedness for Hurricane's should include enhancing infrastructure in things like the Internet and transit.

September 7 - Fast Company

Beckholmen, an island off Stockholm, has been an industrial and shipping center since the 1600s. Today, the city is looking at ways to revitalize the island while preserving the industry that has dominated it for so long.

September 7 - POLIS

Washington D.C. drivers are the most accident prone out of 200 largest U.S. cities, according to a study by Allstate Insurance Co. The greater a cities population increases the chance of drivers getting into accidents.

September 7 - Forbes

The Globe and Mail looks at the revival of Lower Manhattan since the 9/11 attacks, in terms of being a both a great residential and business environment.

September 6 - Globe and Mail

Bolivia took two million cars off the street in nine cities during the "National Day of the Pedestrian." The event arrived when President Evo Morales' government plans to build a highway through the Amazon rainforest, the BBC reports.

September 6 - BBC

It may not be apparent to American motorists, but the U.S. oil refinery industry is ailing. Reduced VMT, mandated ethanol use, and escalating vehicle fuel efficiency standards caused a decrease of gasoline consumed. Diesel may revive the industry.

September 6 - Houston Chroncle

James S. Russell walks the new memorial at the World Trade Center site, and finds it "a place of quiet dignity" that is saddled with an unnecessary $300 million museum and visitors center.

September 6 - Bloomberg