The Daily Source of Urban Planning News
Fighting Mumbai's Demand for Car Ownership
The demand for personal transportation is quickly growing in Mumbai. This post from <em>The City Fix</em> looks at what the city will need to do to prevent the negative impacts of what could be a growing storm of car ownership.
Obama's Infrastructure Grade: A-
A year ago, the Brookings Institution offered a series of suggestions to the Obama Administration for addressing infrastructure problems. Some advice was followed, other suggestions weren't. The Institution gives the Administration an A- for 2009.
Despite Praise, Portland Has Room for Improvement
Portland, Oregon, is held high on a pedestal for innovative urban planning and development. But the city has its drawbacks and needs to face them, writes Aaron M. Renn.
A Car Street Undesired
While in Copenhagen for climate talks in December, U.S. officials got a taste of Danish-style bicycle planning. Some of them liked what they saw, but translating that infrastructure here in the States is no easy task.
The Food Court, R.I.P.
The "food court", staple of malldom and home of Hot Dog on a Stick, is dead, say retail architects and designers. Higher-end restaurants and softer surfaces are replacing the shiny plastic tables and Orange Juliuses of the past.
EPA Recognizes Land Use/Global Warming Connection
For possibly the first time, the EPA has issued a report the directly links climate change mitigation with local land use strategies, says Patty Salkin.
Reacting to LaHood and 'Livability'
The National Journal Online talks to three transportation experts about the recent statements by DOT Secretary LaHood that the agency would begin using livability-based funding guidelines for major transit projects. Will it work?
TODs With Juice
New Energy Hubs is a proposal to focus alternative energy production around transit-oriented developments to create synergistic benefits.
Transportation Officials Pool Knowledge for Bicycle Planning
The National Association of City Transportation Officials has launched an initiative to help members better plan for and implement infrastructure for cyclists.
Free Transit Opens in Baltimore
Despite the downward trend in public services like transit, the city of Baltimore in opening a free transit line.
The New Prefab
A group of green architects in Philadelphia are creating new ways to use pre-fabricated elements, using digital design to distance them from the prefab of yore.
Congressional Deaf Ears Over Transportation Concerns
America's transportation system is in trouble, according to many experts. But action at the congressional level doesn't seem to recognize the importance of the problem, writes Neal Peirce.
Disparity Between Success and Failure Widening in U.K. Cities
The difference between success and failure in the U.K. has gotten worse with the recession, with ailing cities getting worse and successful cities are coming out even stronger.
Improving City Services Through Technology
This infographic from <em>GOOD</em> looks at how city departments can use technology to better share data, and improve communication with citizens and streamline city services.
Give Cap & Trade Revenue To....The People?
A key committee has recommended a novel approach to distributing revenue from a forthcoming cap & trade scheme, the key strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by the CA Air Resources Board in order to meet the reductions mandated in AB 32.
BLOG POST
The Country's Best Urban Bike Commute?
<!--StartFragment--><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana">More than two years years ago I chronicled my <a href="/node/26876">daily bicycle commute in Miami</a>. The 8-mile trip was as representative of Miami's built and socio-cultural landscape as it was harrowing. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana">While that city has surely made progress in the pas two years, I'd be lying if I didn't disclose that I partially moved to New York City because of the progress being made in designing livable streets infrastructure. Quite simply, it feels good to be in a city that "gets it." </span></p>
Las Vegas Monorail Bankruptcy: An Omen For Private Transit?
Railway Age advances the notion that private transit is simply not feasible in the U.S. due to economic fluctuations, as shown by the declaration of bankruptcy of the not-for-profit Las Vegas Monorail Company.
How Should Port-au-Prince be Rebuilt?
With Haiti's capital city in ruins, and emergency response still underway, rebuilding efforts are a ways off. But the rebuilding following recent disasters may provide guidance, writes Mark MacKinnon.
Portland Learning from Los Angeles
An interdisciplinary team of urban designers, architects, and analysts have proposed a neo-retro-futurist scenario for making downtown Portland nearly car-free by 2050.
Good Bones
That's what a consultant told Robert L. Hubbard, city director of planning and community development of Gardner, Massachussetts, about the city's infrastructure. Gardner intends to build on those bones with an urban renewal plan.
Pagination
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions
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.