The Daily Source of Urban Planning News
New LEED Draft Singles Out 'Location and Transportation'
A draft of new LEED requirements has been released for public comment, and it includes a new category that accounts for location and accessibility.
A Small Nebraska Town Responds to Being Bypassed
Like many other towns, Hooper, Nebraska (pop. 827) started to die when a bypass was built around it. To bring folks back to the town's core, residents and business people of Hooper came together to remind the world of Hooper's existence.
Long Topped By AC, DC is Key to Renewable Energy
Alternating current (AC) beat out direct current (DC) because it worked well over short distances. But direct current is significantly easier to control on a smart grid and travels better, says Herman J. Trabish.
Should Retrofitting Our Suburbs Take Center Stage?
In this opinion piece from <em>The Huffington Post</em>, Alex Becker argues that retrofitting suburban landscapes with denser development trumps all other sustainability agendas as the single most important path to a more sustainable future.
Redefining "Smart Growth" for the 21st Century
Kaid Benfield of the NRDC thinks it is time to add more specifics to the definition of smart growth. He prescribes a set of six new focus areas, including equity and health, that he argues should be emphasized in the 21st-century smart growth agenda.
Hong Kong Struggles To Hold On To Its Roots
Hong Kong's oldest living resident, the banyan tree, once lined entire streets in the city and provided an iconic presence that many enjoyed and many felt classified as a nuisance. Now, due to urban expansion, only a cluster of twenty trees remain.
In Planning for the Future, "Integration Is A Key Means of Moving Towards Sustainability"
Jonna McKone details her case for integrated, systematic approaches to problems in the realms of urban mobility and sustainability. Can seamless connectivity between sectors such as planning, business, and energy create better long-term solutions?
Philadelphia Plans to Green 500 Acres by 2015
Today Philadelphia Mayor Michael A. Nutter announced the ambitious 'Green 2015' plan to turn approximately 500 acres of city land into public green space over the next five years, with a focus on bringing parks to currently underserved communities.
How Can Montreal Curb Sprawl?
Officials and thinkers from all over came together to brainstorm with Montrealers on how to go about reigning in decades of sprawl. A new Quebec law requires the city to come up with a land use plan by next year.
Can A Tranportation Bill Pass Without Earmarks?
Transportation bills are notorious for being chock full of earmarks, and with new attention being brought to curbing them, how will good policy get passed? A handful of experts are discussing the problem over at the National Journal.
Slow Going for Light Rail in Dallas
A new 28-mile expansion makes the city's system is the largest in the nation, but is it actually changing travel habits? Yonah Freemark investigates.
Looking for a Revival in Gary
The newly formed Gary Region and Investment Project (GRIP) hopes to bring about a turnaround for the struggling Indiana city.
Satellite Crash Jeopardizes Russian GPS Program
Russia has been developing a $2 billion alternative to the American GPS system. This week, a programming error sent 3 critical satellites crashing into the Pacific Ocean.
Urban Planning Musical Takes the Stage in Brooklyn
A new musical comedy, "In the Footprint: The Battle Over Atlantic Yards," brings song and dance to the conflict over the redevelopment of the Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn. <em>The NY Times</em> reviews it as "fresh, inventive"...and "entertaining."
Britons Move Towards A New Era of "Civilized Street Design"
Designers and "movement specialists" in Great Britain are pioneering various street designs that aim to bring traffic speeds down to teens, which they claim is the speed range that allows vehicles to safely share a space with pedestrians.
A Giant of a Book on Urban Design
Ben Brown reviews Dhiru Thadani's new book, The Language of Towns and Cities. Weighing in at 800 pages, this encyclopedic urban design dictionary defines planning terms with extensive graphics.
Can Web-Aggregated Data Improve Society?
In an experiment in social data gathering, Slate's Michael Agger suggests that there is a host of ways we could be contributing our personal data to help make better policy decisions.
Urban Agriculture Craze Boon to Farmers in Japan
Japan's yard-less city dwellers are increasingly drawn to "weekend farming" plots rented from commercial farmers on the urban fringe. Could it help the country's struggling agriculture sector? Kenji Hall reports.
FEATURE
Walkable Cities, Walkable Neighborhoods
New neighborhood-level data from the walkability rating website Walk Score has broadened the view of what it means to live in a walkable city.
'Aerotropolis' Takes Off in Michigan
Officials hope to attract shipping and transportation companies to a new 60,000 acre development near the Detroit Metro and Willow Run airports.
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.
