The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

More than 20 million Chinese who had migrated to cities for work have been forced to return to the rural countryside as urban jobs dry up.

February 3 - Guardian

New updates to the online visualization program Google Earth add oceans to the image-based virtual version of the planet.

February 3 - The New York Times

This three-part series from the <em>BBC</em> looks at bicycles in the modern world -- from Paris to Uganda to India.

February 3 - BBC

A program known as ‘cash for clunkers’ is being considered for inclusion in the Senate stimulus package to make the U.S. auto fleet more fuel-efficient and stimulate demand for new, cleaner cars. Will the older vehicles will be scrapped or resold?

February 2 - Bloomberg News

The city of Dallas is committing to purchase homes for hundreds of homeless residents, rather than building shelters.

February 2 - Dallas Morning News

Artist Joshua Callaghan paints over utility boxes in his community to make them disappear into their surroundings.

February 2 - Joshua Callaghan

Jones Plaza in Central Houston was redesigned in 2001 to accommodate large concerts and events, but locals objected to the lack of green space. So planners are going back to the drawing board.

February 2 - The Houston Chronicle

Environmental activists and other organizations are using Google Earth to document environmental damage and to promote their various causes.

February 2 - Conscious Choice

BLOG POST

<p> <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Verdana">Paterson</span><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Verdana">?<span>  </span>Yeah <a href="http://www.patersonhistory.com/">Paterson</a>, the City 13 miles to the west of NYC.<span>  </span>Birthplace of American industry, the “Silk City” founded by Alexander Hamilton and designed by Washington DC’s master planner Pierre Charles L’Enfant.<span>  </span>Besides textiles, Paterson was home to the first repeating revolver, first submarine and the Rogers Locomotive Works that, at one time, manufactured 80% of the Country’s locomotives.<span>  </span>Paterson is also home to the second largest waterfall in the northern hemisphere (Niagra Falls taking top honors of course) and a collection of foreign born residents so lar

February 2 - Scott Page

The city of Toronto is considering a plan to fast-track the construction of a new downtown subway line.

February 2 - The National Post

The City of Austin is set to take in a record amount of solar power to advance towards a goal of deriving 30% of local energy from renewable sources by 2020.

February 2 - Austin American-Statesman

Accessory apartments benefit society and the economy, and it's time for tax credits to promote them, according to this oped from Patrick H. Hare and George W. Liebmann.

February 2 - The Baltimore Sun

Republicans are using the budgetary process to roll-back environmental protections, claim environmentalists in California. The state is due to run out of funds in Feb and issue I.O.U.s unless the $18 billion gap is filled for the current fiscal year

February 2 - The Sacramento Bee

FEATURE

Don Elliott, author of <em>A Better Way to Zone,</em> argues that dynamic zoning regulations can help cities grow appropriately and avoid bottlenecks to good development.

February 2 - Don Elliott

The recession is leading to a surge in demand for homeless shelters and services -- but also a dramatic drop-off in normal sources of funding.

February 2 - MSNBC

BLOG POST

<!--StartFragment--><p class="MsoNormal">I am enjoying the last day of my Independent Activities Period (IAP) – the period after winter break in which all students at MIT can take one of many non-credit or for-credit course offerings at MIT, set up a winter externship, or just do nothing.<span>  This amounts to six weeks of bliss!

February 1 - Tamika Camille Gauvin

Mark Gorton, creator of Limewire started developing his GeoServer software in 1999. Recently Portland adopted the software to plan bus routes. Gorton wants to foster a new revolution in participatory planning.

February 1 - Wired Blogs

SF Streetsblog looks at cities that have timed traffic lights on busy bike streets to best suit their pace, and argues that Valencia St. in San Francisco is a prime candidate for retiming. (VIDEO)

February 1 - Streetsblog

As other power cities struggle through the recession and fall from grace, now may be Washington D.C.'s time to shine, according to Joel Kotkin.

February 1 - The Washington Post

BLOG POST

<p> The second semester in planning school at Penn is defined by a major project in which students are broken into groups, given a problem region, and tasked with, in the space of three months, coming up with a plan comparable to what professionals do in 12 to 18 months. Over those three months, the students get intimate with their designated locale, exploring every nook, cranny and underused land parcel. </p> <p> Helloooooooooo, Cherry Hill, New Jersey. </p> <p> There’s an old John Gorka song called “I’m From New Jersey.” It goes, “I’m from New Jersey/ It’s like Ohio/ But even more so/ Imagine that.” I’d bet good green cash he was driving down Route 70 when he wrote that. </p>

February 1 - Jeffrey Barg