The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Subsidies Spurn Public Transit Riders

After two brief, magical years in which public transit riders were treated as equals with drivers, the federal government is once again playing favorites.

January 18 - GOOD Magazine

California High Speed Rail Could Use Some Spanish Lessons

Tim Sheehan investigates the lessons -- both successes and mistakes -- that can be learned from Spain's 20-year history with high speed trains.

January 18 - The Fresno Bee

Rewiriting Our Mental Image of the City

Kevin Lynch be damned, a new study by a team of German psychologists reaches some surprising conclusions regarding the ways in which our brains navigate the city.

January 18 - The Atlantic Cities

Denver Debates Closing the Beltway

The 102-mile circle that would become the Denver beltway sees no sign of completion as one city--one of Colorado's oldest--vociferously opposes it. But, at a regional level, it may be too late to curb decentralization and sprawl.

January 17 - The New York Times

China Officially More Urban Than Rural

On Tuesday, China's National Bureau of Statistics announced that China has, for the first time ever, more urban than rural dwellers.

January 17 - The Telegraph


England's First Planned Community - More than a Century Onwards

An inspiration for Ebenezer Howard and the first urban planning conference in Britain or America, Amanda Kolson Hurley looks at how Bournville has evolved.

January 17 - The Atlantic Cities

America Hits the Brakes on High Speed Rail

President Obama's 25 year vision for a nationwide revolution in High Speed Rail is stuck in the station.

January 17 - The Washington Post


The Hidden Underlying Value of Historic Reuse

Urban Land explores examples of recent projects where historic assets serve as unlikely catalysts for master-planned community development and economic growth

January 17 - Urban Land

Uncovering the Lost Cities of the Amazon

Stunning archaeological discoveries made in Brazil in recent years have upended conventional wisdom about the forests of the western Amazon.

January 17 - The New York Times

Stay of Execution for California's Redevelopment Agencies?

The Supreme Court decision to approve the elimination of California's redevelopment agencies late last year set February 1st as the date of dissolution. A new bill in the state senate would slow down the clock.

January 17 - California Planning & Development Report

Empowering Civic Engagement

Tools for civic engagement -- there's an app for that. The Knight Foundation announces Engagement Commons, a comprehensive catalogue of civic engagement software.

January 17 - Knight Blog

Detroit Auto Show Highlights New EVs - But Where Are The Buyers?

The EPA's new fuel efficiency standards have auto makers scrambling to produce electric and hybrid vehicles, but the higher prices of these vehicles deter buyers.

January 17 - The New York Times

The Geography of Popular Music via Coachella

Is Stockholm the world capital of music? Richard Florida maps the geography of popular music using the announced lineup for the 2012 Coachella Music Festival.

January 17 - The Atlantic Cities

Are Plans for Detroit's Light Rail Back On Track?

Just three weeks after the city announced it was cancelling plans for a 9.3-mile light rail line, a truncated version may be built, but with some key caveats.

January 16 - the transport politic

Thinking About Your City as A Startup

An increasing number of cities, often led by entrepreneurial mayors, are thinking and acting like startups. The qualities that make a startup company and a city successful, are "remarkably similar".

January 16 - Tech Cruch

Long Beach out to Prove that Bikes are Good for Business

Long Beach is leading California's bicycle revolution in many ways, perhaps most creatively in establishing bike-friendly shopping districts.

January 16 - Grist

Returning Big Ideas to Planning in New York

Urban Omnibus declares the visionary work of the Speculation Studio at Columbia University an overdue evolution in architectural education.

January 16 - Urban Omnibus

FEATURE

Mapping Transportation and Health in the United States

What is the relationship between car travel and health outcomes in the United States? Ariel Godwin and Anne Price challenge the claim that more time in the car decreases your health by looking at the impacts of education, income, and employment rates.

January 16 - Anne Price

Drunk? Is it Safer to Drive or Walk?

Robert Steuteville takes issue with a recent report on NPR's <em>Marketplace</em> by noted Economist Steven Levitt that concluded that driving while drunk is safer than walking while drunk.

January 16 - Better! Cities & Towns

Bjarke Ingels' Architectural Response To 'Singularity'

Joerg Haentzschel interviews the young architect Bjarke Ingels. Through offices now established in Copenhagen and New York, Ingels is slowly pushing his 'pragmatic utopian architecture' into the mainstream.

January 16 - 032C

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