The Daily Source of Urban Planning News
Toxic Time Bomb: Katrina Environmental Impact
Sewage, toxic chemicals and decaying corpses will have an immense environmental impact not only on New Orleans, but on the Gulf of Mexico as well.
The Growing Popularity Of 'Farm Vacations'
City slickers go on farm vacations to get respite from modern life.
Reviving Bollywood's Home
With an extended population of 17 million, Mumbai is one of the world's most populous metro areas. An economist offers a solution for reviving the commercial capital of India.
New Orleans' Toxic Tide
Chemicals leaking from cars and factories will cause one of costliest environmental cleanups ever.
Gentrification and Resistance in New York City
Three recent studies imply that gentrification does not cause displacement. Not so, argues an article in Shelterforce Magazine and outlines what it takes to help people stay when the community improves.
The Big Easy vs. the Last Frontier
Reason's Tim Cavanaugh says it is time to remove the pork from the transportation bill to help rebuild New Orleans and other areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina.
Students Design Alternate Housing For Katrina Victims
Auburn University Design/Build students design an inexpensive alternative for providing temporary housing after a disaster.
The Greatest Atlas Ever Published
Eclectic book publisher Taschen reprints Joan Labeu's 1665 "Atlas Maior", one of history's finest examples of mapmaking. [Includes 6 photos.]
Learning from Ground Zero in New Orleans
In order to create a new New Orleans, we need to re-evaluate the role of government in housing the poor, redefine what we mean by homeland security, and learn to love our cities again.
New Orleans' Looming Environmental Disasters
Officials try to get grip on post-Katrina environmental problems that are likely to begin cropping up.
Two Storms: The Political Impact Of Hurricane Katrina
A look back at past disasters and the political turmoil that followed.
Scientific American Predicted New Orleans Flood
Scientific American releases its prescient article from 2001, titled "Drowning New Orleans." The article predicts "a major hurricane could swamp New Orleans under 20 feet of water, killing thousands," as a result of land use policies.
Issaquah, WA, To Invest In A Streetcar
Community looking to streetcar to ease downtown gridlock, connect tourist attractions and encourage development.
'Dirty Harry' Approach To Rebuilding
Most of California and the country would be unpopulated if we didn't rebuild on risky terrain. Instead, most communities use the 'Dirty Harry College of Urban Planning' motto, 'Do I feel lucky?'
Former New Orleans Planning Director Speaks
Kristina Ford discusses what went wrong and how New Orleans should rebuild.
Metropolitan America in the New Century
A new analysis of Census data using new geographic definitions finds that the bulk of large central cities added population so far this decade.
BLOG POST
The New York Times on the Life and Death of Cities
Two stories in the <em>New York Times'</em> science section today relevant to our game here. First, Dennis Overbye takes a historical trip to cities that died, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/06/science/06lost.html">here</a>. Good bits:<br /> <br /> <blockquote>"Cities rise and fall depending on what made them go in the first place," said Peirce Lewis, an expert on the history of New Orleans and an emeritus professor of geography at Pennsylvania State University.<br /> <br /> Changes in climate can make a friendly place less welcoming. Catastrophes like volcanoes or giant earthquakes can kill a city quickly. Political or economic shifts can strand what was once a thriving metropolis in a slow death of irrelevance. After the Mississippi River flood of 1993, the residents of Valmeyer, Ill., voted to move their entire town two miles east to higher ground.<br /> <br /> What will happen to New Orleans now, in the wake of floods and death and violence, is hard to know. But watching the city fill up like a bathtub, with half a million people forced to leave, it has been hard not to think of other places that have fallen to time and the inconstant earth.</blockquote>
Mies Resurrected
A modernist masterpiece by architect Mies van der Rohe's reopens after the most radical restoration of its 50 year history. A photo essay on the restoration includes a discussion of its legacy.
What Can New Orleans Learn From San Francisco's 1906 Earthquake?
Columnist John King examines the lessons about rebuilding a city that can be learned from the San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906.
New Orleans Will Be Rebuilt, Here's Why
George Friedman outlines the role of New Orleans in the global economy. The US fought wars over the site and it remains essential and irreplaceable.
Smith Gee Studio
City of Charlotte
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
Municipality of Princeton (NJ)
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.
