The Daily Source of Urban Planning News
Fighting High-Speed Rail With Lunch Boxes?
Taiwan's North-South high-speed rail line has attracted a lot of customers away from a traditional commuter rail line. The traditional line is playing the nostalgia card by bringing out old-fashioned railway box lunches.
Least Favorite Transit Commuters
A Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) rider calls out her least favorite fellow commuters, from inconsiderate people in the handicapped spots to the person munching their fries while everyone is headed home and hungry.
Do You Have $600 Billion For A New Transportation Bill?
DOT Secretary Ray LaHood is taped while speaking at a community meeting in Manhattan's Chinatown expressing enthusiasm for 'tolling', though it's not clear what roads or bridges would be tolled, which was clarified in a subsequent email.
Blind Eyes on the Street
Philip Kennicott decries the growing number of "windows" in new buildings that are covered from the beginning with advertisements, eliminating their usefulness as "eyes on the street."
The Kinetic City
Mumbai architect and MIT Professor of Architecture Rahul Mehrotra says that Mumbai is misunderstood as two distinct areas, the "formal" and "informal" city, instead of as a "kinetic" model.
Are San Francisco Planners Going Too Far?
Architects in San Francisco say that the Planning Department has gotten increasingly involved in design decisions over the past two years, favoring traditional projects over contemporary designs.
Richard Florida Calls for a "Spatial Fix" in Toronto
Richard Florida says that his city of Toronto needs to implement some real, physical changes to inspire economic recovery.
A Fake Door in Paris
Four years ago, artist Julien Berthier put up a fake business front on a blank wall in Paris. Today the door is still there, one of a handful of fake storefronts in the world, says Geoff Manaugh.
Creative Funding for Pop-Up Park
In Philadelphia, a recent planning school graduate and his friends are attempting to create a pop-up park in East Passyunk using social media and contest winnings as funding tools.
Derelict Detroit Home Used as Architecture Studio Project
Five young architects have taken over a derelict home in Detroit and are using it as a full-scale studio for new design ideas.
BLOG POST
You Still Have to Fight in Planners’ Paradise—You Just Fight for Better Stuff
Scandinavian countries are often praised for the forward-looking planning practices associated with social democracy. Urban planning there includes lots of enviable features, but a tour of a high-profile project outside Oslo, Norway was a reminder that even an urbanist’s paradise includes political fights, squabbles among interests, and embarrassing delays familiar anywhere else. Progressive politics encourage progressive plans, but the process and pitfalls remain the same.<br />
Paint Shortage Slows Road Projects
Though funding is usually the limiting factor in road projects, the current shortage of a chemical is creating a sharp undersupply of the paint used to paint road lines.
FEATURE
Tear Down the Corviale! New Urbanism Comes to Rome
Nikos Salingaros presents the case for demolishing a modernist eyesore in Rome and replacing it with a high-density, mixed-use New Urbanist neighborhood.
Transport Revolutions
Lester Brown explores how bus rapid transit systems and other innovations are transforming transportation in cities across the world.
The Downfall of Disney's America
Planner Sam Gennawey goes deep into the details explaining how the Disney Corporation's awesome corporate power was thwarted from building an America-themed park in suburban Prince William County.
HUD Announces $3 Billion for "Location-Efficient" Projects
At this week's Congress for the New Urbanism, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan would score new grant applications on transportation access and residential density.
Remaking Southern California Cities
A video created for the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) presents a serious look at what infill development would look like in Ventura and Fullerton.
What's missing in the mixed-income units?
A wish for stronger community ties and social interaction is prevalent among mixed-income Chicago residents, study finds.
Urban and rural, both just as dangerous for children
Urban children are no more likely to die from gunfire than rural youth
The Architecture of Trash
Architect Juliette Spertus has assembled a new exhibit called "Fast Trash! Roosevelt Island's Pneumatic Tubes and the Future of Cities" that peels back the layers of the city to look at the infrastructure underneath.
City of Moorpark
City of Tustin
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
