The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Blogger and landscape architect Lisa Town gathers a few D.I.Y. tables and chairs designed for creating instant public seating space for street food, including a hydrant tabletop.

January 13 - Inspiration Wall

A patent filed by Google in 2008 illustrates a process where ads could be placed on buildings, marquees and billboards in Google Street View.

January 12 - ReadWriteWeb

NPR interviews the AP reporter who conducted an analysis of stimulus spending in one particular area - road construction. His finding was that in addition to having no effect on total unemployment, it didn't improve construction employment either.

January 12 - NPR: All Things Considered

Dongtan Eco City was planned for completion for the Shanghai World Expo in 2010. By that time, 5,000 people should be living there. However, the planned housing, water taxis, sewage‐recycling plant and energy park all failed to materialize.

January 12 - The Urban Reinventors Online Urban Journal

New video game-like programs are enabling the U.S. military to train for deployment in the middle east. One program is modeled off the urban planning computer game SimCity.

January 12 - The Atlantic

The cruise ship Utopia will be a $1.1 billion dollar party boat that includes 200 homes for sale for $3.7 million and up. That is, if they can get enough buyers in a tough market.

January 12 - Los Angeles Times

The latest Census data indicates that Americans are moving less than they used to. <em>The New York Times</em> asks a group of experts in demographics, sociology and urban issues why.

January 12 - The New York Times

Negotiations between the states of Georgia, Alabama and Florida can remain secret, according to a recent federal ruling.

January 12 - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A passenger train line across the Balkans had been closed for 18 years. As it reopens and reconnects the region to the rest of Europe, there are signs of improved relations in the war-torn region.

January 12 - The New York Times

A neighborhood development group in Seattle is working with convenience store owners to add healthier food choices to their inventories.

January 12 - KUOW

Walkability is gaining ground in the determination of housing values.

January 12 - The New York Times

California is on the verge of approving the country's first state green building code, but some environmental groups are trying to stop it, arguing the code does not go far enough.

January 11 - Los Angeles Times

Artist Richard Ankrom got tired of the chaos created by bad signage for the Interstate 5 exit near Pasadena. So he created and mounted his own sign.

January 11 - GOOD Magazine

All the architectural wonders of Dubai don't overshadow the city-state's poor urban planning, according to <em>Chicago Tribune</em> architecture critic Blair Kamin.

January 11 - Chicago Tribune

Richard Reep decries the New Urbanists for ignoring the era from 1945-1955, when cars were part of the landscape but not the dominant force. He believes the planning of that time could be a perfect middle ground.

January 11 - New Geography

The United States has been the largest market for automobile sales since the advent of the Model T. But in 2009, China's demand jumped a whopping 46 percent over the year before, as the American market slumped.

January 11 - Bloomberg.com

Prof. Sharon Zukin argues that Jacobs had "a gentrifier’s appreciation of urban authenticity" in her new book, <em>Naked City.</em>

January 11 - New York Post

FEATURE

The editors' choice of the most significant stories in the realm of urban planning, design and development of the "aughts" (2000-2009). The decade began with one crash and ended with another, but in between we've learned a lot about making cities.

January 11 - Nate Berg

A system of escalators in Hong Kong, installed in 1993 to create a new connection between districts, has become an unusual and popular way to commute Hong Kong's steep streets.

January 11 - BBC

Residents and visitors to downtown Portland have long enjoyed taking buses, LRT, and streetcar within a perimeter known as Fareless Square at no cost. While the MAX and streetcar will remain 'fareless', the bus will cost you. New name: Free Rail Zone

January 11 - OregonLive.com