The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Mexico City's emergence as a "commuter's paradise" due to a focus on people and places, rather than cars and driving, has earned the city this year's Sustainable Transport Award from the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP).

January 18 - National Geographic

A new book on the subject argues that we shouldn't be so quick to discount China's increasing instances of architectural mimicry. The practice reveals much about 'the hopes, dreams and contradictions of China's middle class.'

January 17 - The Atlantic Cities

This week, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a two-part bill to fund the recovery from Hurricane Sandy. In an essay written prior to the vote, Rob Young criticizes the rush to approve rebuilding the entire coast as it was before the storm.

January 17 - Bloomberg

With yesterday's announcement that Interior Secretary Ken Salazar will soon step down, the three top environmental posts in the federal government are waiting to be filled. The vacancies are further muddling the administration's second term agenda.

January 17 - The Washington Post

In a preview of his statewide transportation plan, Mass. Gov. Deval Patrick unveiled an ambitious agenda and an appetizing menu of potential funding options on Monday. The final plan released yesterday has some wanting to send their meals back.

January 17 - Streetsblog

While the wind energy credit was extended thanks to the fiscal cliff deal, don't expect to see a flurry of wind projects built and certainly it won't match last year's production. Much uncertainty remains for this renewable power industry.

January 17 - The Wall Street Journal

Kaid Benfield proposes not only more walkable neighborhoods in the United States, where a pedestrian is struck by a vehicle every 7 minutes, but also more walking to reverse the country's alarming obesity trend.

January 17 - NRDC Switchboard

Yosh Asato compares the current dot-com and housing boom around South of Market (SoMA), the heart of San Francisco's tech industry, to previous booms that resulted in inevitable crashes. Is there an optimistic future for the city this time around?

January 17 - Metropolis Magazine

Earlier this week, a rail-company cleaning lady in Stockholm was able to take a commuter train on a late night joy ride through the city. The joy, however, ended when she crashed the train into a tony apartment building.

January 17 - The Daily Mail

What do three-pack-a-day smoking habits, triple-decker cheese burgers and sprawl have in common? They all offer immediate gratification and deferred consequences. But now the bill's coming due. Ben Brown lays out some ways to face the music.

January 17 - PlaceShakers

From roof mounted gas-powered generators to emergency floodgates and watertight mechanical rooms, developers and their designers in New York are already incorporating preventative measures into new and revised designs for their buildings.

January 17 - The New York Times

Ryan Holeywell discusses a new report from researchers at the University of California, Berkeley that examines the top reasons people stop using public transit. Frequent, consistent service is most important to riders.

January 16 - Governing

New high-rise towers spreading throughout central London are threatening the character of the city's most important historic sites, reports Martin Bailey.

January 16 - The Art Newspaper

As waves of gentrification sweep through the poor and middle class neighborhoods of New York City's outer boroughs, Stephen Smith argues that conservative, and outdated, zoning codes are to blame for the unequal balance between supply and demand.

January 16 - The Atlantic Cities

Employing material gathered for his forthcoming book, Chuck Wolfe argues for layered, historical illustrations of how people relate to built and sociocultural communities around them, and offers 5 principles and companion lessons for placemaking.

January 16 - myurbanist

Facing federal regulatory action for violating Clean Water Act standards, the L.A. County Board of Supervisors will consider a parcel tax weighted towards a property's amount of impervious pavement to fund programs to reduce stormwater pollution.

January 16 - The California Report

The ambitious plan to transform the auto-oriented D.C. suburb of Tysons Corner into vibrant, walkable Tysons will require building a culture of public transportation, and buses are seen a central piece of that effort, reports Luz Lazo.

January 16 - The Washington Post

Over the next few decades, half of global economic growth is predicted to come from the slums of developing world cities. Gaia Vince believes the key to the coming urban revolution is how these shantytowns evolve.

January 16 - BBC

Why are Google, Apple, Nokia, and Microsoft funneling significant resources into creating the best digital maps? "[A]ll share the same hunch that maps sit at the core of our digital future," writes Farhad Manjoo.

January 16 - Fast Company

Lafayette Park is a thriving and diverse neighborhood of high rises and townhouses designed by Mies van der Rohe. This unique modern architecture success story in Detroit is showcased in a new book "Thanks for the View, Mr. Mies."

January 16 - Fast Company Co.Design