The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Rural areas across America are trying to figure out how they can improve their economies but still maintain their rural qualities.

August 10 - Citiwire

Some economists are warning that China's building boom is actually a bubble that is soon to burst.

August 10 - Der Spiegel

East London is the home of the city's poorest and most overlooked neighborhoods. It's also home to the site of the 2012 Summer Olympics, which officials hope will revive the struggling area.

August 10 - CTV

State and municipal governments across the United States are facing an unprecedented financial crisis, prompting many of them to cut back drastically on public services in order to reduce costs.

August 9 - New York Times

BLOG POST

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small">In a </span><a href="/node/44927"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; color: #800080; font-size: small">previous blog post</span></a><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small">, my discussion of externalities, public goods and roads spurred an unexpectedly lengthy set of posts and repostes. In this article, I want to address a trickier topic: Whether road users have effectively shifted the burden for paying for roads to non-users and whether the reason we pay for roads out of general taxes is a result of that lobbying effort.</span> </p>

August 9 - Samuel Staley

The crash of the economy happened at the right time for gentrifying downtown Los Angeles, according to this piece from the <em>Los Angeles Times</em>.

August 9 - Los Angeles Times

Japanese architect Kisho Kurokawa designed a utopian vision interweaving the city and nature. Three years after his death, his vision is complete. Rowan More of the Observer pays Astana, the new capital, a visit.

August 9 - The Guardian U.K.

Born from the 1968 riots, a carefully planned community in France has been steadily taken over by crime and unrest, prompting some to question whether its utopian ideals actually work.

August 9 - The New York Times

One of the nation's poorest cities is about to become the first major city in America to lose its public library owing to the states' financial crisis.

August 9 - Salon.com

FEATURE

Is there an ideal model for a city's circulation, a "supermodel"? Fanis Grammenos reviews a new paper that proposes the use of organic forms first recognized by Christopher Alexander.

August 9 - Fanis Grammenos

After years of preparation, San Francisco has implemented a new system that will adjust the price of parking spots according to supply and demand.

August 9 - Good

Major hubs of transportation and logistics are planning major capital investments in Southern California over the next several years.

August 9 - The Planning Report

Senator Dodd's Livable Communities Act passed a milestone on August 3 by passing the Banking Committee on a party line vote: 12-10. Known as a "smart growth planning" bill, it would integrate transportation with housing and economic planning.

August 9 - Mobilizing the Region

A 4-year legal battle over whether SF's bike plan was in compliance with the state's environmental law has been settled - the city has the go-ahead to resume planning and implementing new bike facilities designed to increase bike riding.

August 9 - San Francisco Chronicle

The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture says that there has been a dramatic increase in the number of farmers markets in the United States, with a 214% increase since 2000.

August 9 - Grist

Tom Madigan asks: "is it still possible to promote new bicycling and walking options in harmony with vehicular traffic? Or as city space gets more limited, will planners have to take sides?"

August 8 - National Journal Transportation

BrightSource Energy wants to build three solar thermal plants in San Bernardino County, California which would produce 392 megawatts of electricity. A state energy commissioner released a 576-page report that approves of the plan.

August 8 - The San Jose Mercury News

The word "squaw" is considered a racial slur by Native Americans. In 2001, women from the Warm Springs Tribe convinced Oregon lawmakers to take the word out of state place names, but little has happened so far.

August 8 - The Oregonian

This year China will add 17 million people to its urban population. To house them, places like Guangzhou and Shanghai are constructing 'instant cities.' Christoph Gielen traveled through these developments, documenting the expansion.

August 8 - New York Times

Mark Gold, president of Heal the Bay, says that the Los Angeles Regional Water Control Board is the least environmentally friendly board in decades.

August 8 - The Planning Report