Suburban growth patterns are among a host of factors considered detrimental to public health in several recent stories featured in the Australian media.
"The results are nearly in. Half a century of postwar growth - driven by escalating production, and flavoured by hard-core consumption and mass migration to cities - is yielding a consistent global pattern."
Living in cities can be deadly.
"Cities are hymns to hyper-consumption, and from this year, for the first time, more than half the world's population will live in one. But Australia is well ahead of that trend. Three-quarters of us live in cities, says the Australian Bureau of Statistics, and the urban population is gaining four times as many people annually as regional Australia. Sydney alone gains 30,000 residents a year."
"Cities are only there because they're supposed to be useful to people. When they start to have more negatives to people than positives you have to stop and think," says Pieta Laut, the executive director of the Public Health Association of Australia. "We can sustain human life in some of the cruddiest environments, and always have. We need to get beyond what we can survive in, but what's good for a community...cities will not become untenable but they'll get nastier and nastier."
Thanks to D. A. Varnado, AICP
FULL STORY: Killer Cities

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

Chicago’s Ghost Rails
Just beneath the surface of the modern city lie the remnants of its expansive early 20th-century streetcar system.

Amtrak Cutting Jobs, Funding to High-Speed Rail
The agency plans to cut 10 percent of its workforce and has confirmed it will not fund new high-speed rail projects.

Ohio Forces Data Centers to Prepay for Power
Utilities are calling on states to hold data center operators responsible for new energy demands to prevent leaving consumers on the hook for their bills.

MARTA CEO Steps Down Amid Citizenship Concerns
MARTA’s board announced Thursday that its chief, who is from Canada, is resigning due to questions about his immigration status.

Silicon Valley ‘Bike Superhighway’ Awarded $14M State Grant
A Caltrans grant brings the 10-mile Central Bikeway project connecting Santa Clara and East San Jose closer to fruition.
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.
Caltrans
City of Fort Worth
Mpact (founded as Rail~Volution)
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
City of Portland
City of Laramie