The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

L Train

Chicago 'L' Train Celebrates 125th Birthday

The 'L' train has survived calls to be disbanded and a tumultuous century and a quarter to become a, sometimes unreliable, city icon.

June 9 - Chicago Tribune

Orchard Station RTD Light Rail

Denver Suburb Rejects TOD at Light Rail Station in Special Election

Tuesday's mail-in vote by residents of Greenwood Village to overwhelmingly reject a city-council approved plan to allow mixed-use development at a light rail station is a major setback for smart growth proponents.

June 9 - The Denver Post

Norba, ancient roman town in Lazio, Italy

Friday Eye Candy: Ancient Rome's Maps, Reimagined as a Transit System

There are surprisingly few maps of ancient Roman roads, and many fewer maps of ancient Roman roads that resemble big-city subway maps. An intrepid student has improved upon that situation, however.

June 9 - CityLab

New York City

BLOG POST

What's the Matter With the Upper East Side?

In a free market, the richest neighborhoods would ordinarily be the most popular. But some well-off urban neighborhoods are actually losing population. Why?

June 9 - Michael Lewyn

Security cameras on a building

When Surveillance Cameras Pay the Cost of New Street Lamps

Are the energy and money savings from modern street lamps worth the proliferation of surveillance technology around the city? San Jose, California is considering just such a quandary.

June 8 - The Mercury News


Nightime view of San Diego skyline

San Diego Activists Form Coalition to Respond to Homelessness, Housing Crisis

A diverse coalition of social justice, labor, and environmental groups have come together under the name Build Better San Diego to troubleshoot and advocate for affordable housing, writes affordable housing developer and advocate Murtaza Baxamusa.

June 8 - UrbDeZine

Miami Mall

Top 5 Retail Shopping Center Trends

As the face of retail continues to evolve, tremendous opportunity exists for out-of-the-box concepts and creative retail strategies.

June 8 - Modern Cities


NYC Subway Construction

Why U.S. Infrastructure Is Too Expensive: Localities Have Too Little Control

Charles Marohn responds to Noah Smith's article asking why American Infrastructure is so expensive and delivers a plan to attack the problem.

June 8 - Strong Towns

Melting Ice

Green Building Advocates Want Pennsylvania to 'Unfreeze' the State's Energy Codes

Two icehouses have arrived in Harrisburg on a mission from the Central Pennsylvania chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council.

June 8 - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Embarcadero

Report Ranks the World's Leading Cities: Now and in the Future

New York is the most important city in the world, but San Francisco is best positioned for the future, according to AT Kearney's "Global Cities" report.

June 8 - World Economic Forum

United Nations

Urban Planning Agencies and the UN's Sustainable Development Guidelines

A new report from France shows how to deploy urban planning agencies in the pursuit of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals adopted by 193 countries in 193 nations in 2015.

June 8 - Citiscope

Uber Self-Driving Car

Trump Administration Preparing to Rewrite the Rules for Self-Driving Cars

Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao spoke publically about the need for the federal government to regulate a way forward for the deployment of automated vehicle technology.

June 8 - The Wall Street Journal

Portland Weird

FEATURE

How Not to Solve a Housing Crisis

More trouble in River City, as Portland and Oregon struggle with rising housing costs and come up with a puzzling solution.

June 8 - Michael Mehaffy

Frank Lloyd Wright

Celebrate Frank Lloyd Wright's 150th Birthday Today

June 8 marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of Frank Lloyd Wright, and Dezezen has rounded up 10 ways to celebrate nationwide.

June 8 - Dezeen

Cross-Laminated Timber

Nation's Tallest Wood Building Coming Soon to Portland

Portland, Oregon lives up to its reputation as a testing ground for urbanism innovation by approving what will become the nation's tallest wood framed building.

June 7 - The Oregonian

Hartsfield Jackson International Airport

Infrastructure Week Begins With Air Traffic Control Modernization

Infrastructure Week 2017 kicked-off Monday with the announcement that the president plans to privatize air traffic control. It won't be the first attempt at modernizing the antiquated system. Additional events planned Wednesday through Friday.

June 7 - Vox

New Jersey History

New Jersey Mosque Beats 'Discriminatory' Zoning

A proposed mosque in Bernards Township will move forward, after the DOJ sued the town for using zoning ordinances to undermine Muslims' religious freedom.

June 7 - The Atlantic

Pedestrian Barriers Installed on London's Bridges Endanger Cyclists

In the wake of two terrorist attacks on London bridges that killed pedestrians, concrete barriers were installed on three crossings to prevent repeat rampages. The only problem is that they were installed in bicycle lanes.

June 7 - London Evening Standard

Free School of Architecture Launches in Los Angeles

Peter Zellner's experimental, tuition-free architectural school is officially in session.

June 7 - Archinect

San Jose, California

Google Planning Massive Expansion in San Jose

The city of San Jose is working with tech giant Google to plan a massive expansion into the Diridon Station district. Millions of feet of development and thousands of new jobs are at stake.

June 7 - The Mercury News

Post News

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

100 Most Influential Urbanists

The who's who of urbanism, according to Planetizen readers.

Urban Planning Creators You Should Know

A short list of voices on social, video, and podcasting platforms.

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.