The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Shanghai Expo Closes With Focus On "Development through Development"

The Expo’s stated theme was “Better City, Better Life,” and organizers boasted it was the first World’s Fair devoted to the contemplation of cities.

November 6 - Fast Company

Generation Y Increasingly Uninterested In Car Ownership

New analysis from the CNW group shows that the percentage of new cars sold to 21-34 year-olds hit a high of nearly 38 percent in 1985 but decreased to 27 percent today. The shift is changing life in our cities and manufacturers marketing strategies.

November 6 - MSNBC News

Elections Could Sabotage L.A.'s 30/10 Plan

Christopher Hawthorne at the L.A. Times says that the Republican rise to power will likely spell doom for Mayor Villaraigosa's request for a federal loan to speed up transit construction. Still, he writes, the work will go on.

November 5 - The Los Angeles Times

"Urban Renewal Was Never Really A Planner's Idea"

So says APA President Mitchell Silver, AICP, in a recent interview. "...but planners were the agents, they had to implement it."

November 5 - Model D Newsletter

New Republican Midwest Govs Not Of Same Mind On Rail Investments

While new Wisconsin and Ohio Republican governors are not supportive of high speed rail and my try to steer their state's high speed rail awards for road purposes, the new Republican governors of Iowa and Michigan appear to be Amtrak supporters.

November 5 - The Wall Street Journal - U.S.


The Future of Surfaces

Recent visualizations of "augmented reality" portray a future of surfaces alive with advertising overwhelming useful information. Design company BERG has created a video to show a much more fun and friendly vision of our information-rich future.

November 5 - BergBlog

Columbus Developers Hope to Move Transit Riders

Business interests on a downtown commercial street complain a transit mall is making the area less attractive for retail.

November 5 - Streetsblog


Nigerian Urban Renewal Project May Leave 200,000 Homeless

A waterfront redevelopment project in Port Harcourt is drawing fire from human rights advocates.

November 5 - The Guardian

Florida Voters Reject Sweeping Land Use Amendment

On Tuesday, balloters issued a resounding 'no' on Amendment 4, which would have required voter consent to change comprehensive land use plans at the city, county and state levels.

November 5 - Daily Business Review

Does Smart Growth Lead to More Expensive Housing?

Wendell Cox believes so. In this article, he quantifies the effect of land use regulation on the cost of new home construction, which he says leads to

November 5 - New Geography

The Economic Impact of Energy Efficiency Retrofits

Cary Lowe, Los Angeles-based attorney and advocate for energy efficiency, makes the case for the economic benefits of energy efficiency retrofits to the state of California.

November 5 - The Planning Report

The Big Picture for 311 Data

Steven Johnson examines how officials in New York and other cities can leverage information collected from public call centers to build better cities.

November 5 - Wired

U.S. Hispanic Population Growth Transforms Urban Planning

Jonna McKone looks at how Hispanics are transforming urban spaces and how city planning and transportation policies respond.

November 4 - TheCityFix

Andres Duany Uncovers Landscape Urbanist Takeover

"Landscape Urbanism," a school of thought that argues that landscape and natural forms are more capable of shaping cities than architecture, is gaining ground in the U.S. Andrés Duany reports that to his dismay, it's also taking over Harvard.

November 4 - Metropolis Magazine

Environment and Clean Energy Not Behind GOP Surge

U.S. Environmentalists say that despite a Republican rout in the recent election, the rejection by voters of California's Prop. 23 (which would have suspended enviro regulation if unemployment was over 5.5%) shows that wasn't the issue.

November 4 - The Christian Science Monitor

Trouble in Masdar City

Kiran Stacy looks at some of the challenges facing what is intended to be the world's first carbon-neutral city.

November 4 - Financial Times

Suburban Civics in the Age of Facebook

The recently retired Don Waldie, an impassioned observer and critic of metropolitan Los Angeles, spent his career finding ways for residents to participate to the civic process.

November 4 - The Planning Report

Two Major Projects, Some Trouble in Kansas City

Two major projects underway in Kansas City will make a significant impact on the city's downtown and skyline, but problems with one may delay its completion.

November 4 - The Architect's Newspaper

London's West End Plans for Sidewalk Fast Lane

A group of West End business owners plans to direct slower moving foot traffic to walk along storefronts.

November 4 - The Wall Street Journal

London Underground Gets Wireless Connection

A six month trial will bring Wi-Fi Internet access into test locations within the London tube system, part of an effort by the city to bring Internet access to the entire system in time for the 2012 Summer Olympics.

November 4 - BBC

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