The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

FEATURE

Freiburg, Germany has become a stunning model of sustainability, thanks in part to Wulf Daseking, the city's Head of Urban Planning since 1984. Sven Eberlein vists Daseking in Freiberg for this interview.

August 11 - Sven Eberlein

As riots engulf London, the role of technology in cities and crime-fighting comes into the spotlight. Some wonder whether this could usher in the age of facial recognition in cities.

August 11 - Forbes

The U.S. Postal Services is considering a plan to close more than 3,600 of its 32,000 post offices. This piece from <em>New Urban News</em> looks at the impact of those closures on the small towns likely to be affected.

August 11 - New Urban News

Voters in the Atlanta region will vote on a 1-cent sales tax for new transit projects. But one major county could stand in the way if its own project is not included.

August 11 - Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Philadelphia is embarking on a $2 billion, 25-year project to improve the way it absorbs and processes stormwater.

August 11 - This Big City

For a recent contest, <em>Good</em> magazine asked its readers to submit guides to the interesting and unique parts of their city. The winning entry is a guide to Asheville, North Carolina.

August 11 - Good

As the Federal Housing Administration looks for new ways of dealing with the nation's foreclosed homes, more voices are calling for those homes to be repurposed as rentals.

August 11 - Marketplace

Community gardens are popping up all over Detroit. This post from <em>Model D</em> takes a tour through three of them, and explores how they balance art and nature.

August 11 - Model D

Dense downtowns provide more tax revenues for cities than strip mall and big box development on a per acre basis, according to a new study.

August 10 - Glendwood Springs Post Independent

Vacancy has left parts of the Midwest shattered, resulting in an insecurity which invokes a diluted "fight or flight" response. Restoring the psychological landscape of cities is a difficult, but essential, first step, says Richey Piiparinen.

August 10 - Rust Wire

Five architects dissect the role the built environment plays in the riots. Joseph Rykwert says cities incite riots, while Robert Tavernor says that the riots are "a sobering reminder that cities are for people, that people make cities."

August 10 - The Architects'Journal

This interactive map from <em>The Guardian</em> overlays recent incidences of rioting in greater London with levels of poverty.

August 10 - The Guardian

Ethiopia is planning to construct a large hydroelectric dam on the Nile River to supply power for itself and neighboring countries.

August 10 - National Geographic

Public transit is expensive, and most transit agencies don't make money. But Hong Kong's MTR is different.

August 10 - Citiwire

Four thousand FAA workers furloughed and 70,000 contractors were laid off as a result of a congressional disagreement on subsidies to rural airports and a labor provision.

August 10 - Los Angeles Times - Opinion

A neighborhood-based soccer league in Detroit is becoming a new community building effort in the city.

August 10 - The Detroit Free Press

Houston is leading the way in creating new public spaces. This article from The Project for Public Spaces looks at a few of the city's efforts.

August 10 - Project For Public Spaces

Utility boxes are cluttering city streets all over the world. But they're not going away, and cities should start to try to find new ways to blend them into the urban fabric, according to this article from the <em>San Francisco Chronicle</em>.

August 10 - San Francisco Chronicle

Cities across the country are breathing new life into abandoned and disused inner city rail lines.

August 9 - The New York Times

London's King's Cross train station's western concourse showcases a 140-meter wide canopy, the largest single-span station structure in Europe. New technology like solar cells and old infrastructure blend together to enhance the station.

August 9 - The Independent (UK)