The Daily Source of Urban Planning News
Can the Bay Area Grow Up Without Growing Out?
John King writes about an ambitious new regional plan for the Bay Area that looks to accommodate the 1.1 million new jobs and 2.1 million new residents expected by 2040, with relatively little suburban sprawl.
New Chinese Eco-City Aims to be Practical, not Perfect
Malcolm Moore reports on Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco City, the world's largest eco-city, where residents will be guinea pigs as planners experiment with the city around them.
Harvard Researchers Map the World's First Cities
Nate Berg reports on the new findings published by a team of Harvard researchers looking to uncover the genesis and shape of the world's first cities in "the Cradle of Civilization."
Mapping the Myth of Affordable Housing
The National Low Income Housing Coalition has recently released a map showing their state-by-state findings on housing affordability. And, in no state was a 40-hour work week at minimum wage enough to pay for a two-bedroom unit at Fair Market Rent.
Oil Drilling Myths Exposed By Paul Krugman
New York Times economics writer and Nobel laureate Paul Krugman analyzes two major reasons for increasing oil drilling - reducing unemployment and lowering gas prices, and describes why it does neither.
Santorum Picks a Fight with Urban America
Sarah Wheaton and Richard A. Oppel Jr. report on a new line of attack against the urban favoring economic policies of his own party, being utilized by Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum in an effort to motivate his followers.
Pushing Americans to Get Smarter About How and Where They Build
Greg Hanscom reports on efforts by FEMA and the Green Building Council to incorporate "climate resiliency" into green building certification criteria in recognition of the increasing effects of climate change.
City Hacking Goes Mainstream
Within the last six months, two forward thinking American cities have created new positions for Chief Innovation Officers, with a mission to connect city hall with a new generation of problem-solvers outside of it, reports Emily Badger.
China Provides Architecture Stimulus
China's unrelenting building boom has proven an irresistible lure for hordes of architects from around the world whose jobs disappeared during the Great Recession, reports Brook Larmer.
Is Controversial Megacasino the Best Cure for a Spanish City's Economic Woes?
As leaders in Madrid and Barcelona slug it out to lure a new megacasino to their cities, some are questioning the economic, environmental, legal, and moral compromises being offered.
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Finding an Undergraduate Planning Program
Undergraduates face special challenges and one of them is in finding a planning-related program. The following tips may make the search easier.
Silence Under Threat
With even the most remote parts of the world subjected to the "human din" of an internal combustion engine daily, Kim Tingley ventures to Denali National Park to find out if, in fact, silence is going extinct.
The Next Mass Global Killer: Urban Air Pollution
Fiona Harvey delivers the findings of a new report from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), that predicts urban air pollution is set to become the biggest environmental cause of premature death in the coming decades.
Tech Boom is Feuling Another Bay Area Real Estate War
Unlike the prior generation of tech executives who spent their lavish earnings on wealthy neighborhoods and Silicon Valley suburbs, a new generation of dot-com profiteers are driving up housing costs in grittier parts of San Francisco.
Harvard Study: Cheap Natural Gas Decreased 2009 Climate Emissions
A new report attributes a 9% decrease in greenhouse gas emissions from the nation's power plants in 2009 to the relatively cheap price of generating electricity from natural gas versus coal.
Exclusive: Urban Planning Reaches Out to "Dummies"
<em>For Dummies</em>, the ubiquitous reference series, has recently released its first book dedicated entirely to Urban Planning. Planetizen spoke recently with author Jordan Yin about the book, its audience, and what he hopes to provide for readers.
Is China's Building Bubble About to Burst?
Peter Day visits Ordos, a largely empty new city in Inner Mongolia, and sees evidence that the great Chinese building boom, which did so much to fuel the country's astonishing economic growth, is over.
Branding Kansas City through Graphic Design
Sharon Gochenour explores the ways in which the evolution of graphic communications – from building signage to official logos – represent various aspects of Kansas City's identity.
Should Phoenix Exist?
Emma Marris reviews a new book by Andrew Ross, a cultural critic at New York University, that tries to understand how Phoenix came to be what it is, and determine whether there's any way it can be turned around.
Tracking Artists and the Next Big Neighborhood
The days of creeping gentrification are over. Contance Rosenblum reports on the New York artists who "rush about pell-mell in search of fresh terrain to colonize" and blows the cover on three of their up and coming territories.
Borough of Carlisle
Smith Gee Studio
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
Municipality of Princeton (NJ)
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.
