The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

'Waste heat' is a hot area of research as an alternative energy source. Providers say they can turn excess heat produced by machines in factories into clean electricity.

May 4 - greentechmedia

<em>Toronto Star</em> architecture critic Christopher Hume writes that a recent controversy in the city over a proposed waterfront sports complex highlights why Toronto will never be a great city.

May 4 - The Toronto Star

The incredible pressures at work three miles below the ocean may prevent capping or relieving the oil gusher in the Gulf of Mexico. If it continues for months or years, the scope of the disaster could be global, warns James Moore.

May 4 - Huffington Post

More than a third of the rolling stock in South Africa's urban rail network will go out of service within the next three years, creating a looming rail catastrophe across the country.

May 4 - Daily News

The government of Shanghai was ahead of the curve with preservation, creating 12 historic preservation zones in the city in 2004.

May 4 - The New York Times

Today IBM is releasing a new video game called CityOne that reportedly is like SimCity but with more serious environmental and economic issues at stake. And yes, the gamer plays the role of a city planner.

May 4 - Fast Company

Los Angeles developer Barry Shy commissioned a muralist to paint an "urban jungle" in the lobby of his new residential high-rise. He got lions and waterfalls snuggled up against the downtown LA skyline.

May 4 - Curbed

Local authorities throughout Ireland have rezoned ag land into residential at a ridiculous rate, according to a recent study that shows a demand for fewer than 300,000 units where 800,000 units are now allowed.

May 4 - Irish Independent

Pennsylvania's Transportation Advisory Committee says the state desperately needs to boost its budget for transit, roads and especially bridges by $3 billion.

May 4 - The Philadelphia Inquirer

The budget crisis in California, as elsewhere, has forced planning departments statewide to bid farewell to valuable staff members and come up with creative ways to handle caseloads.

May 3 - California Planning & Development Report

Stacy Mitchell of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance summarizes some of the key positive trends in re-localization.

May 3 - Yes! Magazine

Stan Cox and David Van Tassel point out that skyscraper farms will never work as promised because of their inability to provide natural sunlight.

May 3 - AlterNet

In April 2008, the NYS Assembly rejected NYC Mayor Bloomberg's congestion pricing proposal for Manhattan. A subsequent attempt to toll the free East & Harlem River bridges also failed. Bruce Schaller (NYC-DOT), involved in both efforts explains why

May 3 - TOLLROADSnews

Neal Peirce looks at the new concept of "comprehensive community development," which expands the scope of affordable housing to include jobs, schools and public safety.

May 3 - Citiwire.net

Richard Florida writes that Canadians great love for homebuying (with a greater home ownership rate than even the U.S.) could be economically instable.

May 3 - The Globe and Mail (Toronto)

Boston's Rose Kennedy Greenway is an urban park built over the "Big Dig" highway tunnel, and as Robert Campbell of the Boston Globe puts it, "a design disaster."

May 3 - Project for Public Spaces blog

BLOG POST

<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: Courier; font-size: x-small">On Earth Day the US Department of Transportation released an important new, 605-page report, </span><a href="http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/32000/32700/32779/DOT_Climate_Change_Report_-_April_2010_-_Volume_1_and_2.pdf"><span style="font-family: Courier; font-size: x-small">Transportation&#39;s Role in Reducing U.S.

May 3 - Todd Litman

Geoff Manaugh of BLDBLOG proposes that the future of building could include a permanently-installed 3D printer, constantly churning out new rooms.

May 3 - BLDBLOG

BLOG POST

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-size: small; font-family: Times New Roman">I’ve spent much of the last </span><a href="http://reason.org/news/show/china-mobility-project"><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Times New Roman">three years working on transportation finance and planning issues in China</span></a><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Times New Roman">, and Reason Foundation now has transportation policy projects up and running in the cities of Chongqing, Xi’an, and Beijing.

May 3 - Samuel Staley

With no US government or private funding available, the Canadian government has announced it will pony up the remaining funds for a new toll bridge connecting their country with Detroit, which they see as a jobs creator.

May 3 - TOLLROADSnews