The Daily Source of Urban Planning News
Is LEED's Success Demeaning Its Value?
<p>The U.S. Green Building Council's green building certification system LEED has become the industry standard in recent years, but is the system's intended goal of encouraging environmentally-friendly buildings being limited by its success?</p>
Economy On The Rise In Former Apartheid Hotbed
<p>From a former hotbed of apartheid has risen a bastion of economic hope. A new shopping mall is part of the economic turnaround in the South African township of Soweto.</p>
Can We Treat Global Warming As An Air Pollution Problem?
<p>Will tightening emissions standards be enough, or do we have to cut down on driving, too?</p>
Rapid Growth Dries Up Water Supplies
<p>Rapid growth and expansion are bringing economic prosperity to the Chinese city of Shijiazhuang, but it is steadily swallowing the area's water supplies.</p>
BLOG POST
Comprehensive Evaluation of Congestion Costs and Solutions
<p class="MsoNormal">The newest Texas Transportation Institute <em><a href="http://mobility.tamu.edu/">Urban Mobility Report</a></em> was recently released, stimulating discussion of congestion costs and potential solutions. Here are some things you should know when evaluating these issues.</p>
Is Toronto 'Headed For The Welfare Lines'?
<p>Years of job losses, the expense of paying for services formerly offered by the Provincial government, and an over-reliance on property tax revenue have left Canada's largest city with a huge deficit.</p>
Idaho's Growth Consistently Leads Nation
<p>Years of successful growth show little sign of stopping in Idaho, the nation's fastest-growing economy since 2003.</p>
An Aging Population Leaves Future Of Cities Uncertain In Japan
<p>Japan's population is aging, and could drop by more than one-quarter of its size within 50 years. Many are calling on the government to plan for the diminishing population, and for how it will affect many of the country's cities and suburbs.</p>
NOLA Demolitions Exacerbate Housing Discrimination
<p>Mass demolitions of apartments and housing discrimination are adding to African-Americans' post-Katrina recovery woes.</p>
German Mag-Lev Line Edges Closer To Reality
<p>In Germany, the governor of Bavaria has announced that financing has been secured for a 23-mile mag-lev train from downtown Munich to its international airport. But others say the funding is less-than secure.</p>
Senate Approves Water Bill, But Veto Looms
<p>A major water bill that would authorize future spending on infrastructure projects -- especially in Louisiana -- is drawing heat and threats of a presidential veto because it does little to reform the highly-criticized Army Corps of Engineers.</p>
To Park Or Preserve?
<p>A plan to demolish a historic nightclub to make way for a 20-space parking lot in Toronto is "lunacy", writes Christopher Hume.</p>
BLOG POST
A Guide to Taser-Free Public Meetings
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman">We all saw it on the Internet—the fellow at a public meeting being hauled away from the microphone before getting wrestled to the floor and tasered during a Q&A with John Kerry. Fortunately, silencing argumentative speakers with a taser is not a common occurrence at most public meetings. While I might confess that there have been meetings where, in retrospect, one might have secretly wished one was armed with a stun gun, facilitators generally try to avoid confrontation. Yet there’s no denying that sometimes people show up at public meetings looking for a fight, begging for outrage, and hoping to irritate and inflame.
PM Brown Boosts Eco-Town Efforts
<p>New British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has announced plans to double the development of carbon-conscious "eco-towns" in an effort to reduce the country's emissions and expand its strained housing stock.</p>
Forget Dubai, Abu Dhabi's Got The Plan
<p>With an environmentally-conscious plan and ambitions to lure some of the world's most well-respected institutions, the emirate of Abu Dhabi is on a forward-thinking path and should be watched more closely than its extravagant counterpart, Dubai.</p>
Suburban Boston Lashes Out Against McMansions
<p>Residents and planners are just about fed up with McMansions in the Bsoton suburb of Wellesley, and they are looking to impose strict regulations on housing size and give a residential board oversight on proposed houses.</p>
Why Idaho Shouldn't Pay Per Mile
<p>This editorial from the <em>Idaho Statesman</em> says that a proposal to switch from a per-gallon gas tax to a per-mile taxing system is flawed.</p>
Will Amsterdam Turn Off The Red Light?
<p>In a move to clean up the world-renowned district of ill-repute, a $35 million dollar buyout will cut more than one third of the prostitution rooms in Amsterdam's famed Red Light district.</p>
Could Planning Decisions Form A New Climate Change Policy?
<p>Land use, housing location, and the "everyday decisions" of planners are the backbone of a new way of looking at climate change policy, according to this article from the <em>Los Angeles Times</em>.</p>
Schools To Be Built Near Freeways Despite Health Threat
<p>Recent studies have shown that locating homes and schools near freeways increases the rate of asthma and other diseases in children, but the Los Angeles Unified School District has plans for 7 more school within 500 feet of freeways.</p>
City of Moorpark
City of Tustin
Tyler Technologies
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Chaddick Institute at DePaul 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.
