The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

It's going to cost Brazil more than $42 billion in infrastructure costs to host the 2014 soccer World Cup, according to a recent report.

July 24 - Associated Press

A recent report from <em>The Brookings Institution</em> examines unemployment trends in the urban and suburban areas of the top 100 metropolitan areas in the U.S., mainly by looking at the demand for "safety net" services.

July 24 - The Brookings Institution

The drama over water between Florida, Alabama and Georgia is heating up, as a U.S. District Court ruled recently that Georgia's withdrawals from Lake Lanier are illegal. It's going to have to find a new source of water -- and inter-state cooperation.

July 24 - Associated Press

Witold Rybczynski provides an illustrated history of airport architecture on Slate [Slideshow].

July 24 - Slate.com

These two posts from Richard Florida look at how housing is faring during the economic recession. He looks at home prices in 300 metro areas, and how things have changed between the peak in 2006 to today.

July 24 - Creative Class Exchange

Preservationists and developers are deep in a dispute over the Century Plaza hotel in L.A. On the drawing board are two high rise towers, but defenders of the site argue the hotel's historic value trumps the benefit the new project would bring.

July 24 - The New York Times

As the U.K. experiments with building environmentally-friendly "eco-towns", Peter Hetherington of The Guardian argues that they should also be greening up Britain's vast suburbs.

July 23 - The Guardian U.K.

The City Council of Vancouver recently gave developers the ability to create smaller units attached to condos for buyers to use as rental property.

July 23 - Metro Vancouver

While the Comedy Show's Jon Stewart can't get too excited about “Cap & Trade,” Secretary of Energy Steven Chu does his best to explain the importance of the Waxman-Markey climate legislation to him.

July 23 - The Daily Show

Author Chris Steiner looks at the public health and public safety ramifications of higher gas prices.

July 23 - Forbes Magazine

This piece from <em>Triple Canopy</em> tracks the development of megachurches in America and the similar trajectory of corporate headquarters from dense city areas to vast exurban campuses.

July 23 - Triple Canopy

Transportation planners in San Francisco are proposing "parking benefit districts" where residents control pricing and boundaries to make parking easier in the congested city.

July 23 - San Francisco Chronicle

This piece from <em>The Atlantic</em> looks at the emerging concept of "geoengineering" -- a set ideas that seek solutions to climate change by manipulating the environment.

July 23 - The Atlantic

Vancouver's development for the 2010 Winter Olympics will be a long-term benefit for the city, according to Olympics advisers. Some say the positive impact is already being seen.

July 23 - The Vancouver Sun

While HUD's budget has decreased by 4%, the Federal Railroad Administration is up 35%. This is just one of the revelations to be found in this interactive graphic of the Obama Administration's proposed federal budget for 2010.

July 23 - wallstats.com

FEATURE

Streets aren't just for driving, and cities are starting to realize it. Amber Hawkes and Georgia Sheridan explain why street design matters and where we are today in terms of designing the "street space."

July 23 - Amber Hawkes

Museums are transitioning from niche cultural sites to community hubs, and expanding their engagement with their cities.

July 23 - Christian Science Monitor

The gush of an uncapped fire hydrant in the summer is a welcome relief for urban dwellers, but the water loss is staggering. Landscape architect Adrienne Cortez decided to find a solution to keeping people cool and similarly activating public space.

July 22 - Urban Omnibus

<em>Dumpster diving</em> takes on new meaning as a New York-based design firm reinvents vacant lots as mini-resorts by converting old trash bins into swimming pools.

July 22 - ABC News

After five years of preparation and testing, members of the US Green Building Council (USGBC) and the Congress for the New Urbanism will begin balloting in late July on whether to authorize a full-fledged LEED-Neighborhood Development program.

July 22 - New Urban News