Ensuring that America's technologically-reliant but vulnerable cities can survive natural disasters and other disruptions may mean that Americans have to look beyond their traditional value of "self-reliance" -- and possibly redefine what it means to be a
"Hurricane Katrina and other substantial natural disasters of the past year...remind us that the physical world still has the power to crash our computerized, digitized, climate-controlled party. Our technology cannot always save us.
"But our neighbors just might. And, happily, we retain the power to shape and revise our communities...How do the growth patterns of our neighborhoods, towns and cities reinforce economic disparity? Make us more dependent on cheap fossil fuel? Irrevocably change the character of the land we depend upon? How do our individual preferences and conveniences make others’ lives more difficult, marginalized, poorer? How do the technologies we use increase our community’s susceptibility to chaos or hardship during times of crisis?"
Read the full story: What to Take From the Flood
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
‘Going backwards:’ Baltimore mayor, students rally against state's transit funding plan
Maryland's proposed six-year plan provides no funding for Baltimore’s BMORE bus program and reduces its road maintenance funding.
Detroit to transform waterfront with $2.2 billion investment
Developers will convert about 18 acres of unused parking lot space into civic spaces.
Planned $2 billion courthouse in MA sparks tension with local government
Springfield owns an essential piece of the land developers intend to build on, and some city officials do not want to see the project come to fruition.
Californians can now transform balconies into power generators
Gov. Gavin Newsom has legalized plug-in solar technology, which allows residents to plug solar panels directly into their outlets
This 85-year-old ranch is Texas’ newest state park
The 650 acre ranch is one of the largest parcels of land along Lake Palestine.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Thousand Oaks
City of Wisconsin Rapids
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
Northern Illinois Transit Authority (NITA)
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello