The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

The National Journal has created a large, zoomable map of the world showing the footprint of humanity on the Earth.

April 18 - National Journal

The original layout of New York's street grid took advantage of the natural elements like light, wind and good soil to effectively encourage greenery in the city. Alec Applebaum says the city could do well to hearken back to the original plans.

April 18 - The New York Times

FEATURE

The excesses of the "landscape urbanism" aside, Michael Mehaffy believes landscape architects are well positioned to lead the way towards positive change in the urban landscape. Here's why.

April 18 - Michael Mehaffy

Indiana State Sen. Luke Kenley thinks the state's redevelopment agencies have too much freedom to approve spending on large projects and has proposed a bill to curb their power, but the state House has refused to hear the bill.

April 18 - The Indianapolis Star

U.S. Green Building Council has launched another refinement of its certification system aimed specifically at green building for healthcare.

April 18 - Earth Techling

Andres Duany, the most vocal of New Urbanist, says that the critiques of the "ism" he helped create brand it as a "rustic version of starchitect culture" when it is in actuality an "expanding web of ideas, techniques, projects, and people."

April 18 - Metropolis Magazine

A group calling itself the "Detroit Mower Gang" has gone rogue on the city's poorly maintained playgrounds, attacking them with weed wackers and riding mowers to get them back into shape for the city's kids.

April 18 - The Hub (Detroit Regional News)

The Atlanta Regional Commission has delivered a massive wish list of 436 transit and transportation projects to be funded by a new sales tax increase. Ariel Hart reports that the proposal indicates that the region is clamoring for mass transit.

April 17 - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Architect Vishaan Chakrabarti writes that Japan's urbanism should serve as a model to the rest of the world for its density and the "urbane society" it creates.

April 17 - Urban Omnibus

Former Maryland Governor Parris Glendening says that in some ways the economic downturn in the U.S. has been a good thing because it gave the state a chance to reevaluate development patterns.

April 17 - South Maryland Newspapers Online

Revitalizing American manufacturing is widely-acknowledged as vital to our country’s economic recovery and long-term prosperity, but it is equally essential to understand the changing of this sector in order to make smart policy decisions.

April 17 - Brookings Institution/Pratt Center for Community Development

The FBI's Chicago offices are LEED certified, but the 10-story building is also a killer: at least 10 birds a day careen into its windows. A conservation group helped the Feds get bird-friendly.

April 17 - The Chicago Tribune

Manhattan's pedestrian plaza's are associated with increasing vitality, reducing congestion, and now this new study shows, improving air quality be reducing concentrations of nitrogen oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2)

April 16 - Gothamist

Washington D.C. has built the most "green" buildings within its greater region, according to a new survey.

April 16 - The Washington Post

As funding falters in the private sector, some privately- or university-driven design centers are still pursuing new ideas is urban design and development. <em>Places</em> profiles one at the University of Arkansas.

April 16 - Places

The case of Buchanan v. Warley, decided in 1916, set an important precedent: it forbade zoning restrictions based on race.

April 16 - PDI Advisor

BLOG POST

Living public figures, whether they be Lockyer, Haggarty, Sarah Palin, or Mummar Gaddafi generate their own fanfare. They do not need a building, an airport, or a trail to speak for them.

April 15 - Josh Stephens

In Toronto, a developer is balking at the zoning that would force him to build a podium-style building out to the sidewalk, and wants to build a park with a tower instead. Can open space and density coexist?

April 15 - The Trust for Public Land

Urbanist Aurash Khawarzad writes that Chinese cities are unfortunately making America's mistake of bringing their freeways directly into and through their urban centers.

April 15 - Patter Cities

A House bill in Maryland that would have created overlay districts around train stations failed to pass, but N.J. Slabbert writes that the ideas were solid and should find new life in a different form.

April 15 - The Baltimore Sun