The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

WorldChanging argues that more leadership from architects, landscape architects and planners is needed in a review of progress on Ed Mazria's 2030 Challenge, which calls for all buildings to be carbon neutral by 2030.

June 11 - THE DIRT

FEATURE

Stimulus money is available for a variety of energy efficiency projects, but many understaffed cities are having trouble meeting the impending deadlines. Jessica Millman, Joe Schilling, and Kathryn McCarty have found a loophole that can help.

June 11 - Joe Schilling

Amsterdam has taken its smart grid live, installing solar panels and 300 electric car recharging stations throughout the city.

June 11 - Business Week

BLOG POST

<p>The conference bags handed out to the attendees of the 2007 National Planning conference in Philadelphia had four words printed on one side: value, choice, engagement, community. The words echo the <a href="http://www.planning.org/apaataglance/mission.htm">long mission statement</a> of the American Planning Association, evidence of what I <a href="/node/34936">described</a> last year as the pragmatic position of the profession that refrains from making a larger argument about the form of the city. Here&#39;s a taste:</p><blockquote> &quot;Our collaborative efforts will continue to result in great success for APA and the vital communities we strive to support, and APA members will continue to help create communities of lasting value. We value choice and community engagement, diversity, inclusion and social equity.&quot;</blockquote><p>Since then, a new program from the organization and other evidence may suggest a subtle shift in professional values now underway.</p>

June 10 - Robert Goodspeed

In Phoenix, human traffickers are using foreclosed homes to hold illegal immigrants hostage.

June 10 - The Wall St. Journal

In preparation for CNU 17 in Denver, the hometown paper published three op-eds on the importance of new urbanism, how it is changing development throughout the country, Denver's stellar role in it, and examples of it being put to use in the region.

June 10 - The Denver Post

For low-income people in the Mankato, Minnesota area, there might be no hope for assistance from government vouchers.

June 10 - The Free Press

A segment of New York City's High Line elevated park is set to open this week. <em>New York</em> Magazine looks at the real estate and architecture booms that's accompanying it.

June 10 - New York

The second passenger rail tunnel beneath the Hudson River will link New Jersey with New York and will also double the capacity on the nation's busiest rail corridor.

June 10 - CNN

A walking tour of tamford downtown development projects started at the Government Center.

June 10 - Connecticut Post

Planners in Park Slope have been experimenting with adjusting the price of on-street parking during peak hours on busy Fifth Avenue.

June 10 - Streetsblog

With what some are calling the worst classroom conditions in the nation, California is trying to solve the problem by replacing all of its portable classrooms with green buildings.

June 10 - Good

City officials in Houston are set to consider plans to incentivize broad pedestrian walkways near existing and planned light rail stations within the city.

June 10 - The Houston Chronicle

A new 350,000-person eco-city is being planned in China, this time with cooperation from Singapore. Planners are hopeful that it can serve as a sustainable model for development in countries with high population growth.

June 10 - Guardian

Italian car designer Pininfarina has announced that it will release a fully-electric, partially solar-powered car in Europe in 2010.

June 9 - Inhabitat

Boulder's open space planners are calling for the intervention of different interest groups, including dog lovers, equestrians and hikers, to set rules for the city's most popular trails.

June 9 - Daily Camera

Less than a week after Times Square became an outdoor lounge, it is already hard to find a seat there.

June 9 - The New York Times

Though they are still striving for social tolerance, mobile homes have managed to achieve a certain legal acceptance.

June 9 - Virginia Lawyers Weekly

BLOG POST

<p> <em>&quot;Buyers value the dollar per square foot, and the builder responds by delivering as many square feet of conditioned space as possible for $X. If he can deliver 100 more square feet than the competition, most buyers think it&#39;s a better value.&quot;</em> </p> <p> <em>-Ron Jones, Green Builder Magazine, in <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/06/AR2007040600934.html" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a>.</em> </p>

June 9 - Tim Halbur

A roundtable discussion on the projected growth in the Bay Area of California, and the planning tools being unveiled that will help mitigate the projected increase of an additional 2 million inhabitants to the region by 2035.

June 9 - KQED.org