The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

The Fear of Transit

Fear of crime and uncertainty about safety keep many people from using public transit, according to a new study. But how should transit agencies react?

November 1 - Next American City

The Future of Australian Cities

Anton Roux and John Stanley of ON LINE opinion outline the future for Australian cities.

November 1 - ON LINE opinion

NYC Building $80 M Recycling Center

The city recently broke ground on a new facility designed to collect all of the city's metal, glass, and plastic recyclables and reduce collection trucking by 260,000 miles each year.

November 1 - Inhabitat

BLOG POST

Deconstructing A Tea Party Muse

<span style="font-size: 6.5pt; font-family: Verdana; color: black">For some lucky candidates, tomorrow’s election will have a storybook ending. Unfortunately for anyone who understands architecture, planning, and land use, that storybook will, in many cases, turn out to be <em>The Fountainhead</em>.</span> <p style="background-image: none; background-attachment: scroll; background-color: white; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat repeat" class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-size: 6.5pt; font-family: Verdana; color: black">The train wreck of ideologies that is emerging this election season is too much for anyone to categorize.

November 1 - Josh Stephens

Looming Transoceanic Highway Worries Some in South America

Officials in Peru and Brazil are hoping for a 2011 opening to the Transoceanic Highway between the coasts of the two countries. But some locals worry about what the road will bring once it's completed.

November 1 - Los Angeles Times


FEATURE

Evidence-Based Urban Planning

In a field such as planning that is rich with quantifiable data, why there so little focus on evidence rather than opinion?, wonders researcher Martin Laplante.

November 1 - Martin Laplante

California Carbon Trading Program Released - But Election Could Kill It

CA Air Resources Board announced some of the important elements of the carbon trading scheme they developed for the 500 largest stationary emitters in the state. Of course, if Proposition 23 should pass on Nov. 2, forgetaboutit!

November 1 - The Sacramento Bee


Roosevelt Island Parking Sensors Will Point the Way to Smart Parking

By providing real-time data about what actually happens in on-street spaces, the sensors can help enforce parking laws, move toward smart and flexible curbside pricing, and prevent cruising and traffic congestion.

November 1 - Streetsblog

Car-Crazy in Canada

A mere 4% of rush hour commuters in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan use public transit, and car-pooling is "non-existent", according to reporter David Hutton. But with traffic at a standstill, transportation planners are changing tack.

November 1 - The Star Phoenix

World Series Cast Shadow On Parking Lots Behind AT&T Stadium

Just beyond McCovey Cove, where kayakers await home run balls hit from AT&T Park, sit vast parking lots that Giants bigwigs are proposing could be a great location for a Golden State Warriors stadium.

November 1 - The San Francisco Chronicle With Bloomberg

Little House on the Laneway

Vancouver's liberalized laneway housing zoning is seen as a cost-effective and easy way to densify, make housing more affordable and reduce the city's carbon footprint. But not everyone is on board.

November 1 - The Globe and Mail

Aging Water Infrastructure Carries Huge Costs

With America's water infrastructure graded as a D-minus by the American Society of Civil Engineers, officials are recognizing the need to upgrade the system. A $6 billion infusion by the federal government, though, is just a drop in the bucket.

November 1 - Infrastructurist

Metros Across The Country Seek Financial Help From Embattled States

Across the country, a growing number of towns, cities and other local governments are seeking refuge in havens that many states provide as alternatives to federal bankruptcy court.

October 31 - New York Times

BLOG POST

Planning Processes: Some Resources

<span><span style="font-size: small"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman">Over the last six months some of my blog entries have highlighted plans and places. This month I turn to processes that are important in planning. This is a bit trickier than plans and places as the web presence of processes tends to be dominated by project examples and how-to instructions. It’s also hard from the web to get a sense of how processes have developed over time—for example what passes as rational comprehensive planning today, complete with numerous participatory processes and evaluation strategies, is quite different from the much criticized technical model of the 1950s and 1960s. Of course that’s a good reason to go to planning school.

October 31 - Ann Forsyth

Political Cleavage Intensifies Debate On A More Connected LA

Christopher Hawthorne, the architecture critic at the LA Times the contradictory evidence surrounding LA's machinations toward becomming a post-suburban city. He finds public opinion fractured as the MTA finalizes plans for two Westside subway lines.

October 31 - Los Angeles Times

India's Economic Growth Is Reflected In Smaller Cities

Economists and government officials have long acclaimed India’s so-called second-tier cities as new founts of prosperity and incubators of India’s growing middle class. Now even smaller cities in India’s most prosperous states are booming too.

October 31 - New York Times

Israel's Only Subway is a Mountain Climber

TheCityFix's Jonna McKone profiles one of the most interesting subways in the world — Haifa's Carmelit funicular — and the city's BRT system.

October 31 - TheCityFix

San Francisco to Launch Bike Sharing Program

The city's bike sharing program is expected to launch with a 1,000 bikes next year. But it won't be limited to the city.

October 31 - San Francisco Chronicle

Delhi Looks at Major BRT Expansion

Officials in Delhi are proposing a major expansion of the city's new bus rapid transit system, suggesting an additional 345 kilometers.

October 30 - Times of India

The Not-So-Good Impact of Goods Movement

A group of researchers and activists met recently to discuss the role of goods movement and logistics in and around ports, and how the industry contributes to local pollution problems and skews highway spending.

October 30 - Streetsblog

Post News

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

100 Most Influential Urbanists

The who's who of urbanism, according to Planetizen readers.

Urban Planning Creators You Should Know

A short list of voices on social, video, and podcasting platforms.

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.