The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

<p>In India, plans to build the world's largest statue and an accompanying complex dedicated to the Buddha are causing an uproar over concerns that poor farmers will be displaced from their lands.</p>

September 29 - The Globe & Mail

<p>Sao Paulo, Brazil, has recently brokered the first regulated stock sale of carbon credits, collecting more than $18 million in exchange for credits covering nearly 1 million tons of carbon emissions. This may lay the foundation for a carbon market.</p>

September 29 - The Houston Chronicle

<p>In response to the recent decision by Amherst County, Virginia, not to join a regional waste management partnership, this editorial examines why the American system of waste management is ineffective and antiquated.</p>

September 29 - Lynchburg News & Advance

<p>Locally-grown foods and an influx in chefs have brought a dining boom to Portland, Oregon, in recent years, making it one of the nation's best cities for eating.</p>

September 29 - The New York Times

<p>In the 15 years since its inception, San Francisco's Critical Mass bike rides have spread across the country, and helped to change the public perception of cyclists and streets.</p>

September 29 - The San Francisco Chronicle

<p>Pigeon poop is driving officials crazy in towns across the world -- crazy enough to propose putting the birds on birth control to cut down their populations.</p>

September 28 - BBC

<p>Two major development projects for downtown St. Louis were announced this week including plans for a headquarters relocating from the suburbs to downtown and the conversion of the closed St. Louis Centre shopping mall into a mixed use development.</p>

September 28 - St. Louis Post Dispatch

<p>In Manhattan's old Meatpacking District, New York City's Department of Transportation has converted a dangerous and dysfunctional expanse of asphalt into a stylish public plaza.</p>

September 28 - Streetsblog

<p>A new study shows that Victoria B.C. leads Canadian cities in terms of sustainable transportation initiatives. But, overall, Canadian cities are not performing as well as they could be.</p>

September 28 - The National Post

<p>The Americans with Disabilities Act has generally been the subject of much controversy and debate, but especially amongst planners and developers.</p>

September 28 - New Towns

<p>World-renowned environment experts have proposed a system of huge tubes placed in the world's oceans that would cycle nutrients to encourage booms in the population of algae -- organisms that naturally consume and sequester carbon.</p>

September 28 - The Guardian

<p>The U.S. Green Building Council's green building certification system LEED has become the industry standard in recent years, but is the system's intended goal of encouraging environmentally-friendly buildings being limited by its success?</p>

September 28 - Fast Company

<p>From a former hotbed of apartheid has risen a bastion of economic hope. A new shopping mall is part of the economic turnaround in the South African township of Soweto.</p>

September 28 - Time

<p>Will tightening emissions standards be enough, or do we have to cut down on driving, too?</p>

September 28 - California Planning & Development Report

<p>Rapid growth and expansion are bringing economic prosperity to the Chinese city of Shijiazhuang, but it is steadily swallowing the area's water supplies.</p>

September 28 - International Herald Tribune

BLOG POST

<p class="MsoNormal">The newest Texas Transportation Institute <em><a href="http://mobility.tamu.edu/">Urban Mobility Report</a></em> was recently released, stimulating discussion of congestion costs and potential solutions. Here are some things you should know when evaluating these issues.</p>

September 27 - Todd Litman

<p>Years of job losses, the expense of paying for services formerly offered by the Provincial government, and an over-reliance on property tax revenue have left Canada's largest city with a huge deficit.</p>

September 27 - The Winnipeg Free Press

<p>Years of successful growth show little sign of stopping in Idaho, the nation's fastest-growing economy since 2003.</p>

September 27 - USA Today

<p>Japan's population is aging, and could drop by more than one-quarter of its size within 50 years. Many are calling on the government to plan for the diminishing population, and for how it will affect many of the country's cities and suburbs.</p>

September 27 - The Washington Post

<p>Mass demolitions of apartments and housing discrimination are adding to African-Americans' post-Katrina recovery woes.</p>

September 27 - Common Dreams