The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Even if our warming planet wasn't threatened with environmental catastrophe, the case for reducing fossil-fuel use is an easy one to make. A new study shows that reduced air pollution from cutting emissions would save millions of lives by 2100.

September 24 - The Atlantic Cities

As of 2010, the U.S. had a shortfall of 5.1 million housing units affordable to low-income renters. As the demand for such housing increases, preserving affordable units that exist is a much more cost effective solution than constructing new ones.

September 24 - HUD: Evidence Matters

New York's lengthy waterfront was once dotted with an extensive array of piers, reaching like tentacles from the city's shores into the surrounding harbor and rivers. As the city again embraces its waterfront, those that remain are getting new life.

September 24 - Urban Omnibus

Competing ballot measures in San Francisco's upcoming election will help decide whether a developer will be allowed to build a mid-rise luxury condo project along the city's waterfront. The Board of Supervisors approved the project last year.

September 24 - San Francisco Chronicle

An unprecedented study is tracking the behavior of drivers in the U.S. using cameras and sensors to observe how they interact with their vehicle and the road. Researchers hope to better understand the causes for collisions, and how to prevent them.

September 24 - Governing

Many planners might dream of how they'd change their communities if they were able to run things. In Compton, just south of Los Angeles, new mayor Aja Brown is hoping utilize her planning experience to help turn around the struggling city.

September 24 - Next City

Gabrielle Esperdy explores the development of an online encyclopedia of American architecture — and argues that metadata is a crucial tool for future historians.

September 24 - Places Journal

What does the "Happiest Place on Earth" have to teach the "Capital of the World"? How to better manage the flow of people, for one.

September 24 - The New York Times

In order for new coal power plants to meet the EPA's new rules for reduced emissions, they will have to rely on unproven carbon capture and storage (or sequester) technologies, putting the legality of the rule in doubt.

September 24 - The New York Times - Energy & Environment

While the successes, and travails, of bike share systems in cities like New York, Washington D.C., and Chicago get most of the attention, several smaller cities across the U.S. have managed to establish such systems without much fanfare.

September 24 - Momentum Magazine

Seeking to stabilize healthy neighborhoods and revitalize others, Philadelphia is planning to establish a land bank to "consolidate its inventory of distressed real estate," reports Jon Hurdle. The plan could become a national model.

September 23 - The New York Times

The Ovarian Psyco Cycles Brigade is making inroads in changing Los Angeles's male-dominated cycling culture and altering traditional concepts of Latino women.

September 23 - Los Angeles Times

If an upscale mall in Shanghai is any indication, Prada and Gucci may have a new competitor to contend with: a storefront farm, complete with seasonal produce and a pig pen.

September 23 - Inhabitat

In this era of federal government disfunction, cities have been able to innovate, cooperate, and tackle our biggest challenges. It behooves nation-states to see investment in cities as nation-building, and adjust their policies accordingly.

September 23 - Meeting of the Minds

Utah's San Rafael Swell is the scene of an energy showdown between conservationists who want to preserve this unique landscape (potentially a national monument), private oil and gas companies that want to drill there, and the BLM that has to decide.

September 23 - The New York Times - U.S.

In another sign that efforts to reduce childhood obesity may be having an impact, a new study published in the journal Pediatrics has found increases in physical activity and the consumption of healthy foods among 11 to 16-year-old Americans.

September 23 - USA Today

The battle over whether to allow a proposed Jack Spade store to open in San Francisco's Mission District points to the incongruities of a city desperate to maintain its retail diversity while it loses its residential diversity.

September 23 - The New Yorker

It goes without saying that cycling entails a degree of risk - but are they unduly discussed to the point that it reduces ridership? Cyclicious blogger Richard Masoner gave the issue thought when he heard of a cyclist fatality in a familiar area.

September 23 - Cyclicious

A warehouse, electricity substation, and brutalist apartment complex are among the buildings recently granted heritage protection by the British government. Heritage designation for post-war architecture, however, remains contentious.

September 23 - The Guardian

Build more lanes, improve operations, let cars do the driving: Are these the best ways to reduce traffic congestion? Richard Mudge thinks a more effective route may be to offer financial incentives to keep people off the roads.

September 23 - Eno Brief Newsletter