The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

The 1939 New York World's Fair painted a picture for Americans of what they future would look like that continues to influence how the country develops. Wired has a photo-essay.

May 2 - Wired

Alternative energy cars: will they be our salvation, or will they perpetuate auto-dependency? Jan Lundberg critiques the Sierra Club's longstanding priority on increasing fuel efficiency.

May 2 - Culture Change

The concept of "livability" seems to be catching on -- both at a local level and up in the federal government. This is especially true in the Department of Transportation. That could mean bad news for the road building lobby.

May 2 - Center for Public Integrity

<em>GOOD</em> points us to a new project that harnesses the power of citizens to create a census of trees in San Francisco.

May 2 - Good

Developers in Egypt are looking to bring mixed-use developments to Cairo's sprawling suburbs.

May 2 - Zawya

A new web video series called American Makeover aims to find "the antidote to suburban sprawl." The first episode, now online, looks at Atlanta.

May 1 - American Makeover

Anthony Flint looks at how cities around the world are preparing for the predicted rise in sea level due to global warming, and how the Dutch experience with building dikes could be essential.

May 1 - Citiwire.net

It may be one of the worst food deserts in the country, but Detroit has enough open land in the city's 103,000 vacant lots to become self-sufficient in terms of food production, argues Mark Dowie.

May 1 - AlterNet

Tax breaks and incentives helped spur a rash of development in Portland's South Waterfront district. But the development has struggled to lure residents.

May 1 - The Portland Mercury

Trains across the former Soviet Union have peculiar staff: kids. <em>Wired</em>'s <em>Autopia</em> blog explains.

May 1 - Wired

Cartoonist Ben Katchor has an obsession with the built environment. In this cartoon, an architect finds inspiration in an olive, but struggles with developers who have their own ideas.

April 30 - Metropolis Magazine

A new report from U.S. PIRG reveals how special interests tilts the playing field toward the construction of new and ever-wider highways at the expense of repair and maintenance.

April 30 - Road Work Ahead: Holding Government Accountable for Fixing America's Crumbling Roads and Bridges

Victoria Beach, an independent architect, says that going by a recent definition by lawyer Lawrence Lessig, the entire profession of architecture is ethically corrupt.

April 30 - Design Intelligence

Montgomery County, Maryland, could become home to a new "science city" development that creates a hub of scientific research institutions and thousands of jobs.

April 30 - The Washington Post

In this video report from CNN, Detroit politicians and residents voice both opposition and support for the plan to demolish up to 3,000 abandoned homes and densify remaining housing.

April 30 - CNN

Does your car sit unused for long periods of time? A proposed law in California would allow you and your car to be part of a unique car-sharing system.

April 30 - Streetsblog San Francisco

Downtown Sacramento's 'K' St. has been one of the city's most notable economic failures. Banning cars while providing the light rail an undisturbed path never fulfilled the hopes that urban planners had for the pedestrian mall. Now cars will return.

April 30 - Capital Public Radio

Broad thinking about the future may mean focusing on smaller, technology-based planning solutions, according to this essay from Regional Plan Association Executive Director Thomas K. Wright.

April 30 - Regional Plan Association

Marcelle Cerny describes her family's so-far-fruitless quest for an affordable, suburban-sized home in an urban area close to public transit and amenities.

April 30 - The Globe and Mail

The desert nation of Qatar is trying to win hosting duties for the 2022 World Cup. A new plan to build temporary stadia is helping to increase the country's chances.

April 30 - Guardian