The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Construction is underway on Saadiyat Island. The atoll off the coast of Abu Dhabi is seen by developers as a new artistic oasis in the middle east. But some question whether the plan will pay off.

August 26 - Telegraph

BLOG POST

<p> <span><span style="font-size: x-small">One reason why buses are less popular than trains is buses&#39; lack of &quot;legibility</span></span><span><span style="font-size: x-small">&quot;</span></span><span><span style="font-size: x-small">: the ability of an occasional passenger to figure out how to get somewhere by bus. While subway or light rail passengers can look at a system map (which is usually present on a station wall) and figure out that a train to destination X shall arrive at their station reasonably soon, bus passengers typically have to invest time in getting schedules, and then pray that the schedule has not changed.<br /> </span></span> </p>

August 26 - Michael Lewyn

<em>Smithsonian</em> explores micronations, tiny utopian city-states that strike out on their own - whether or not their current government recognizes their independence.

August 26 - Smithsonian

Small scale hydroelectricity projects are popping up all over the country, especially in remote and environmentally sensitive places.

August 26 - The Wall Street Journal

Plant life is taking over the abandoned houses of Detroit. These photos from James D. Griffioen offer a tour.

August 26 - Sweet Juniper

Samoa is readying itself for a countrywide transition that is shaking up the island country's roughly 200,000 people. Beginning September 7th, Samoans will be required to drive on the left side of the road.

August 26 - The Wall Street Journal

The ailing auto industry has many manufacturers in the Midwest transitioning to the renewable energy market, opening factories to build wind turbine parts and solar panels.

August 26 - The Christian Science Monitor

BLOG POST

<p> &nbsp; </p> <p> In 1979, the City of San Diego launched a plan to steer new development into the craftsman-lined neighborhoods close to downtown.   The idea was sound:  scatter higher density housing throughout existing smart growth communities. 

August 25 - Diana DeRubertis

HUD has established new rules limiting the percentage of units in a building that can get FHA loans. Developers cry foul, calling it a bias against affordable housing and density.

August 25 - San Diego Business Journal

The goal is to increase California's use of clean, renewable sources of electricity so as to meet the state's climate protection goal. Two bills are being debated that will require that 33% of electricity sources be composed of renewables by 2020.

August 25 - The Sacramento Bee

An online publisher set out to show that urban farming could be profitable. In her fourth year, she brought in $68k from her half-acre plot in Philadelphia.

August 25 - Governing Magazine

A proposed Wal-Mart retail center near a Civil War battlefield in Virginia has preservationists up in arms.

August 25 - NPR

The Fed's passenger rail stimulus program kicked opened its doors on Monday, and states were ready with a slew of funding requests. California submitted 42 applications, totaling $1.1 billion.

August 25 - The Wall St. Journal

The Whole Village in Ontario, Canada is an environmentally sustainable co-op made up of architects, doctors and teachers instead of draft dodgers and dropouts.

August 25 - The Montreal Gazette

New "Lifetime Homes" standards in the U.K., which are designed to accommodate people at all stages of life, will lead away from ultra-small flats to larger apartments, says Builder Magazine.

August 25 - Building

The Los Angeles Conservancy has been building a coalition to preserve the Century Plaza Hotel after developers announced plans to replace the hotel with new mixed use development.

August 25 - The Planning Report

Short sea shipping involves moving freight on the sea around the coast without crossing an ocean. The City of Miami is looking at extending the process to relieve traffic pressure, getting some big rigs off the freeway.

August 25 - Miami Today

The box office hit "District 9" was shot in a real Soweto slum, and now the residents are hoping that the popularity of the film will lead to real improvements to the settlement.

August 25 - The Globe and Mail

Some estimate that almost 50% of current projects in Dubai are on hold or canceled. Can Dubai recover from the financial crisis?

August 24 - Fast Company

In an odd twist of the urban vs. suburban debate, here's an interesting nuance - bank robbers are finding the open atmosphere of suburban banks to be more appealing than the bulletproof glass-protected tellers that one often sees in busy urban areas.

August 24 - The New York Times - N.Y/Region