The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Sacramento's MPO thinks it's time to re-establish the old link between public health and city planning. But is smart growth really healthier? And whose responsibility is it to build healthy cities anyways?

July 12 - The Next American City

As the country's housing preferences shift from the widely spread to the urban and dense, the prevalence of transit-oriented development planning increases.

July 12 - Smart Growth Online

With residential development booming, Vancouver officials are concerned that the downtown is losing its commercial vitality.

July 12 - Governing

As part of a larger, worldwide series, Guardian's architecture critic Dejan Sudjik writes about grand plans for Detroit's turnaround.

July 12 - BBC News

Robert Bruegmann, author of "Sprawl: A Compact History," writes that traffic congestion is caused not by sprawl but by misconceptions about sprawl.

July 12 - The Los Angeles Times

Every day 1,500 new homes rise along the U.S. coastline. National Geographic asks, "Are America's coastlines are in danger of being loved to death?"

July 12 - National Geographic

The South African government has unveiled a new plan to spread its industrial development -- and the jobs it provides -- to poor regions in the country.

July 12 - Business Day

Architect Teddy Cruz shares his philosophy on architectural and urban planning solutions for the problems that proliferate in international border zones.

July 12 - Architecture Radio

A Los Angeles Times special report looks at California's crumbling highway system and identifies the state's worst roads.

July 11 - The Los Angeles Times

Former journalist Anthony Flint discusses his new book, which chronicle of the fledgling smart-growth movement and the challenges it faces. Some see Flint as a moderate voice in the highly-charged debate.

July 11 - Grist Magazine

Architects, artists, urban planners, developers, designers and historians comment on the world's formerly most livable city, why it's lost the title and how to can reclaim it.

July 11 - The Age

Current trends indicate that pedestrian- and transit-oriented developments are becoming more and more attractive, especially to younger people. This smart growth is also turning out to be a profitable investment.

July 11 - CNN

Los Angeles' recent decision to provide over $300 million in public assistance for a new convention center hotel complex doesn't help the city or the taxpayer, says Joel Kotkin.

July 11 - The Los Angeles Times

The Los Angeles City Controller issues a 235-page audit of the city's Department of Building and Safety. While the report appears to be highly critical, a close reading indicates most problems result from chronic understaffing.

July 11 - Los Angeles Business Journal

National Public Radio's Chris Arnold tracks how the green building movement is sweeping the construction industry in the United States.

July 11 - Weekend Edition Sunday, National Public Radio

FEATURE

July 11 - Lainie Herrera

Two leaders of the smart growth movement, former Maryland Gov. Perris Glendening and former New Jersey Gov. and EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman, highlight some of the lessons learned from other states.

July 11 - The Hartford Courant

King County, Washington, offers permanent apartments for "chronic public inebriates" who are allowed to drink in their new homes.

July 11 - The New York Times

In Reason magazine's Joel Miller examines the ways the government causes increases in the price of owning a home. He finds that permit delays "of six months can add nearly $7 per square foot to the price of a house.

July 10 - Reason Magazine

The wealthy, reclusive owner of the Santa Barbara News-Press rebukes editors for coverage of an article about actor Rob Lowe's petition to build a mega-mansion. It's the latest in a series of problems that leads to an 'editorial bloodbath'.

July 10 - The Santa Barbara Independent