The Daily Source of Urban Planning News
Real Estate of the Rich and Tyrannical
With Bin Laden's Abbotabad hideaway still in the news, Rob Bear takes us on a tour of despot's palaces and hideaways.
Loved Cities Prosper
When people love a city, it succeeds. That's the semi-obvious conclusion of a recent survey. So why aren't we working hard to make cities people will love?
Preserving Industrial Areas for Jobs
Only 10% of the City of Vancouver, B.C. isn't zoned for residences, and that 10% holds 50% of the city's jobs. Planning director Brent Toderian says it is imperative to preserve the remaining industrial land for employment.
Is the High Line's Success Replicable?
Witold Rybczynski thinks not, saying that the success of the project's "landscape urbanism" is its remarkably dense and urban setting, not the hip design and landscaping.
An Urban Protest Movement Arises in Beirut
A new anti-sectarian political movement has emerged in Lebanon challenging the government. It is mimicking the successful urban strategies of ongoing Arab revolutions, like the occupation of public spaces.
Street Artist JR Turns Stoops Into Portraits
Faces are appearing in Brooklyn, plastered along the slats of front stoops as part of a participatory public art project by famous French street artist JR.
To Beat The Backlash, Expand The Bike Network, Say Planners
Bike lanes have become one of the most controversial topics in all of New York City. For cycling to take hold, the city needs to make sure all groups have equal access to cycling, say a team of Hunter College grad students.
Density Supports Great Retail Environments in Hong Kong
Policy in Hong Kong dictates that development must concentrate on only 25% of the land area, with the remaining 75% preserved as open space. Julia Levitt examines the ingenious density that results.
Emergency Avenue
Your streets could be killing you -- or at least making it harder for emergency services to reach you in times of need.
Investigation Uncovers String of HUD Failures
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has supported roughly 700 affordable housing projects around the country that have never been completed, some stalling out for over a decade.
New York's Unique Storefronts
How to Be A Retronaut features a smattering of photos of New York's unique storefronts, taken by photographers James and Karla Murray. Since the book's release, about a third of the stores have faded from existence.
D.C. Transit Data Now Available on Google Maps
Google announces the addition of D.C.'s Metro and bus routes to their online and mobile maps, including connections to other commuter transit systems.
Downtown Winnipeg's Comeback
Once the site of neglected and abandoned buildings, Winnipeg's downtown is now seeing a host of construction and renovation projects, thanks to its redevelopment corporation, new incentives, a mixed use zoning bylaw -- and a change in perceptions.
Changes in America's Racial Composition
Race and ethnic groups have seen major shifts from the 1990s to today, according to this report from the Brookings Institution.
FEATURE
Gandhinagar Endangered: A Capital's Plan Dismantled
Prakash M Apte, a planner in India, brings us this in-depth and fascinating look at the history of town planning in Gandhinagar, which was developed with an "egalitarian ethos," says Apte, but now it is at risk of becoming "just another suburb."
A 'Gold Rush' in the Wires
Copper demand is on the rise all over the planet. As this post from <em>InfraNet Lab</em> points out, the U.S. has rich deposits -- in its telephone networks.
Making Good Design a National Priority
A growing number of nations are instituting design standards and architecture policies to help make good design a part of the national strategy.
Hong Kong's Unique and Vibrant Retail
Retail shopping in Hong Kong is a diverse experience of density, hidden storefronts and extreme visual stimulation, as this tour of the city's shopping areas shows.
Architect/Planner-Turned-Councilman Offers Thoughts on City's Future
An architect takes a seat on the Wet Hollywood City Council, and offers his thoughts on density and parking in the city and where things went wrong.
The Spectre of Death and Speeding
New speed limit signs will alert drivers that they are going to fast by showing them an image of a skeleton -- an image intended to warn drivers that their speeding could kill.
One Hundred Miles
County of Mendocino
planning NEXT
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
Montrose County
Northern Illinois Transit Authority (NITA)
The Pocatello Development Authority
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
