The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

More than 100 photographers were set out on the streets of New York as part of a six month project to document the changes the city has gone through over the past decade.

June 5 - The Architect's Newspaper

Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, was planned by the Russian government in the 1950s with extensive infrastructure and lush city parks. That infrastructure is deteriorating, while more of the nomadic population move to the city to survive.

June 4 - POLIS

A new study by the American College of Sports Medicine says so, due to low rates of diabetes, obesity and several other factors. Oklahoma City is not OK, however; it's at the bottom of the list.

June 4 - Health News

With the departure of department head Adolpho Carrion, the role of the new Office of Urban Affairs is in question. With a small budget and a staff of four, can Urban Affairs make an impact?

June 4 - The Architect's Newspaper

Chicago is using pervious pavements and reflective materials on its 1,900 miles of alleys to reduce flooding, cut demand on storm sewers, and decrease the city's urban heat island effect. The program is so successful that they are expanding it.

June 4 - Public Roads

A new report from PolicyLink presents strategies for keeping out bad land investment, such as when buyers "mothball" the property -- holding on to it without improving it -- bringing down the quality of the community.

June 4 - Next American City

A new report about how New York City should react and adapt to climate change raises ideas and questions about what other large cities should do to prepare themselves for a changing climate.

June 4 - Fast Company

Search giant Google has mapped the location of every WiFi network in Britain. Some say the collection of this information is a violation of privacy.

June 4 - Telegraph

BLOG POST

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-size: small; font-family: Calibri">One of the most widely cited numbers in contemporary transportation media coverage and policy discussions is the cost of congestion estimates that Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) annually produces as part of the Urban Mobility Report series. <span> </span><span> </span>The 2009 version of that report (</span><a href="http://mobility.tamu.edu/ums/)"><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Calibri">http://mobility.tamu.edu/ums/)</span></a><span style="font-size: small"><span style="font-family: Calibri"> <span> </span>shows an estimate of the cost of congestion of $87.4 Billion for the top 439 U.S.

June 4 - Steven Polzin

This post from <em>The City Fix</em> looks at some of the new public transit systems that have been built in South Africa ahead of this year's World Cup.

June 4 - The City Fix

To help change the pattern of development in Russian cities, free courses are being offered to local architects about solving the problems facing the countries growing urban areas.

June 4 - The Moscow Times

Boyce Thompson of Builder Magazine says that the newer floor models from homebuilders purposely understate their amenities to create the perception of value.

June 4 - Builder Magazine

BLOG POST

<!--StartFragment--><p class="MsoNormal">I have to admit, listening to Peter Lovenheim talk about his book “In the Neighborhood, The Search for Community on an American Street, One Sleepover at a Time”, spiked my planner’s radar. In his novel, the journalist, quite intentionally, well, the title is self-explanatory isn’t it? It sounded a bit hokey and contrived at first, as did the interview. Lovenheim explained that the only way to truly get to know someone and develop a real sense of intimacy and bond was to sleep in their home and shadow them for the day. But the real story is about the loss of intimacy and comfort among neighbors.

June 3 - Melissa Hege

Cities around the world are trying to undo decades of car-oriented planning. Lester Brown takes a look at the trend and finds some models for other global cities to follow.

June 3 - Grist

A new video from <em>Urban Omnibus</em> explores life in five New York neighborhoods, delving into the daily interactions between people and the built environment.

June 3 - Urban Omnibus

Haitians displaced from their home by the devastating earthquake in January have set up camp along a highway median.

June 3 - NPR

Although overall household driving is down, the number of miles families log for shopping continues to climb, according to new federal data.

June 3 - New Rules Project

Cisco is contributing technology to Songdo City in South Korea, a brand new and complete city for a million people. China plans to build hundreds of these "cities-in-a-box" as a massive rural-to-urban migration occurs there.

June 3 - San Jose Mercury News

After backing down on a campaign promise to remove a U.S. military installation from the prefecture of Okinawa, Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has been forced to resign.

June 3 - The New York Times

<em>National Journal</em> asks its panel of transportation experts whether mass transit agencies really deserve $2 billion in emergency operating aid.

June 3 - National Journal