The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Two interaction design students in New York are starting a 10-week after school program that is trying to teach high school kids design skills that they can use in their communities.

September 27 - Urban Omnibus

Jan Gehl sits down with Greg Linsday to talk about his new book, <em>Cities for People</em>, if Phoenix could take lessons from New York, and "the needs of the urban habitat of homo sapiens."

September 26 - Fast Company

Around 1,000 applications came pouring in to the U.S. Dept. of Transportation seeking TIGER II grants. If all projects were funded, it would add up to 19 billion dollars.

September 26 - Progressive Railroading

Authorities in Los Angeles are working on a grand plan to unify the city's core with a new Downtown Civic Park Project.

September 26 - Design Under Sky

"Indoor positioning systems" are getting closer to reality, placing products at your fingertips by tracking them down within the store.

September 26 - Directions Magazine

Sochi, Russia, is set to play host to the Winter Olympics in 2014. Preparations are fast underway, with construction work happening practically around the clock.

September 26 - The Voice of Russia

Regional Development Agencies, a U.K. fixture that developed regional strategies for placing affordable housing and creating jobs, are being replaced by "Local Enterprise Partnerships", which, as Alison Killing writes, sounds suspiciously different.

September 25 - WorldChanging

Washington D.C. became the latest city to launch a bike share scheme Monday. "Like bees tumbling from the nest, scores of riders on ruby-red bicycles swarmed from a lot near Nationals Park to establish Capital Bikeshare," writes Ashley Halsey.

September 25 - The Washington Post

As Amtrak seeks to create and expand high-speed passenger train operations in the United States, the company on Thursday named Philadelphia rail expert Albrecht "Al" Engel to head its new high-speed rail department.

September 25 - philly.com

Asrai Ord explicates Rebecca Solnit's belief that "the car has become a prosthetic… for a conceptually impaired body or a body impaired by the creation of a world that is no longer human in scale."

September 25 - The Planning Pool

In 15 years, the number of cars on the road worldwide is expected to hit 2 billion. Dan Sperling thinks focusing on electric vehicles and low carbon fuel standards will allow us to hit number and survive.

September 25 - greentechmedia

Al Johnson's Swedish Restaurant in Wisconsin features a traditional sod roof, complete with grazing goats. The Johnson family lawyers have trademarked the animal/roof combination, and sue anyone who does the same.

September 24 - The Wall St. Journal

Park(ing) Day, the worldwide event where artists, activists and architects take over parking spaces and transform them into public spaces, happened this week. Wired has pictures from this year's festivities.

September 24 - Wired

The growth of George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Continental Airlines' largest hub but also one of he principal destinations away from the coasts for international carriers, has vastly increased passenger traffic and allowed Houston's reinvention.

September 24 - Next American City

Neal Pierce argues that retiring Mayor Daley's achievements in Chicago "stand out as beacons for mayors, American and worldwide, to emulate." He attributes some of his success to sheer political skill, but also examines seven effective policy shifts.

September 24 - Citiwire

The latest issue of Yes! Magazine focuses on local resilience, and how preparing for a Peak Oil era -- through such efforts as the Transition Town movement -- can be a positive force for community building.

September 24 - Yes! Magazine

In the last 2 years, New York's Broadway has given up 3.5 miles of traffic lanes and parking to bike lanes and pedestrian access, and gained a significant improvement in congestion and accident rates.

September 24 - New Urban Network

The Town of Kingston, Massachusetts won a lawsuit this week, filed over whether land around the town's commuter rail station was properly rezoned -- but lost the promised developer and a state grant for smart growth in the process.

September 24 - The Patriot Ledger

In Haiti, displacement camps full of people left without homes after the devastating January earthquake are becoming more and more permanent. Deborah Gans argues that these sites should be more carefully planned to foster functioning places.

September 24 - Places

A new series of films about Detroit go beyond the "ruin porn" that has flooded the media in recent years and focuses on the good things happening in the city.

September 24 - Grist