The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Armed with lessons learned from Singapore’s successful urbanization experience, the Urban Land Institute (ULI) has published a new report that identifies ten principles for creating liveable high density cities.

January 25 - ULI

When the new headquarters for the Bullitt Foundation opens this April in Seattle, it will be among the first to meet the Living Building Challenge - "the most stringent green standard around." But getting there isn't easy, and may be illegal.

January 25 - Architizer

A new report documents the tremendous growth of Toronto's core, as it outpaces the surrounding suburbs. Downtown's growth is welcome news, but it won't come without substantial challenges.

January 25 - The Toronto Star

A proposed 2,700-acre development appears to conflict with the regional plan that complies with SB 375, a 2008 landmark law meant to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by reducing vehice-miles-traveled. The decision rests with the Board of Supervisors.

January 25 - Sacramento Bee

Roberta Brandes Gratz examines the many differences, and few similarities, between the two most devastating urban storms of recent memory. Among the most elemental differences: one devastated neighborhoods, one a city; one was man-made, one natural.

January 25 - Citiwire

Steve Jobs said, "People don’t know what they want until you show it to them.” So why do planners keep asking people what they'd like to see? Scott Doyon believes it's time to dig deeper.

January 25 - PlaceShakers

Jonathan Watts reports on the transformation of the Vidigal favela in Rio de Janeiro. With drug gangs kicked out, wealthy buyers have moved in, and rental prices have surged. But has the neighborhood changed for the better?

January 25 - The Guardian

William Fulton examines the likely outcome of a takings case that went before the U.S. Supreme Court last week. Oral arguments seemed to indicate the justices were leaning towards a surprising outcome.

January 24 - California Planning & Development Report

As the structure of China’s urban shopping malls evolves into large-scale, multi-use “lifestyle complexes”, so too does their role in the social and cultural fabric of metropolitan society.

January 24 - China Daily

A recent survey gives statistical heft to what many already believe - that despite the rhetorical exuberance of anti-bicycle and anti-transit types, the supposed "war on cars" is just a tired trope that is "wearing a bit thin."

January 24 - The Atlantic Cities

A draft long-range Strategic Plan for Washington D.C.'s Metro aims to adapt one of the nation's busiest transit systems to the needs of a growing region, at a cost of $26 billion.

January 24 - The Washington Post

"Canada is getting hotter faster than ever before and at a faster rate than almost any other country," reports Anna Mehler Paperny, and the country's infrastructure, public health, and economy are vulnerable to unforeseen impacts.

January 24 - The Globe and Mail (Toronto)

In the first entry in an eight-part series, Aparna Piramal Raje explores the challenges facing an urbanizing India that lacks sufficient planning to ease the country's transition from a nation of villages.

January 24 - Live Mint

San Bernardino was the third city in California to file for bankruptcy last year. Within the past year it has descended from a model of crime reduction to a crime-plagued city.

January 24 - The New York Times

James Sallis, this year’s winner of the Bloomberg Manulife Prize for the Promotion of Active Health, discusses the obstacles to increasing opportunities for physical activity in our communities, and how to overcome them.

January 24 - National Post

Advocates of inclusionary zoning have something to smile about. A new report from the Rand Corporation confirms that the housing produced by these zoning policies does in fact create or preserve affordable housing in areas of low poverty.

January 24 - Shelterforce Online

"Autonomous" and "driverless" cars are surely the next frontier for automakers, as recent announcements by Audi, Toyota, and Google indicate. But are visions for the potential impact of these innovations on cities overly optimistic?

January 24 - Next City

Once controlled by "industrial behemoths", Christine H. O'Toole examines the role that Pittsburgh's three rivers - its genius loci - have played in spurring the redevelopment of the city's downtown.

January 23 - The New York Times

Although Britain's sporting successes make it out to be a nation of cyclists, only 2.2% of Britons use a bike as their main mode of transportation. Peter Walker looks at how a pioneering parliamentary inquiry hopes to get more people on bikes.

January 23 - The Guardian

Cartographic Grounds, a recent exhibition at the Harvard Graduate School of Design — now online at Places — seeks to "reconcile the precision and instrumentality of the plan with the geographic and territorial scope of the map."

January 23 - Places Journal