Australian urban planning critics are casting planning as the 'villain' in destroying the rapid suburbanization that has fueled a home-ownership dream. But this is a dangerous view, writes urban management professor Brendan Gleeson.
"Now the fists are shaking at planning from the federal watchtower. Planning is cast as the principal villain in a simple tale of Aussie battlers betrayed; of the great Australian home-ownership dream shattered by grasping, interfering state governments, egged on by tree-hugging home wreckers and crypto-Stalinist planners. By slowing the stampede into the paddocks, planning has ended the glorious suburban gold rush that promised wealth for all.
...The Prime Minister and the Treasurer have joined a children's crusade against planning launched by sections of the development industry. Perhaps they're seeking to deflect attention from the fact commonwealth taxes and policies (including immigration) are a large part of the present housing affordability pressures in cities (another inconvenient truth).
The anti-planning push is high-risk politics. Do its proponents know how much they are gambling? The intoxicating simplicity of its rationale and crudeness of its ambition suggest a mug punt.
The attack threatens to unravel the near consensus among most planners, developers and environmentalists, who support a compact city model as a guiding vision for our cities."
Read the full story: Urban sprawl pushed to the limits
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
Amtrak, CN end decades-long dispute with eight-year agreement
The new operating agreement establishes an updated framework for the companies to work together, including processes to resolve disputes.
Judges permit Denver to divert 77,000 acre feet from the Colorado River for reservoir expansion
Overuse and climate change have caused the Colorado River’s water levels to plummet.
How ‘post-disaster gentrification’ alters neighborhoods after natural calamities
After hurricanes, fires or other calamities, the original residents of a community are often replaced by younger, wealthier residents.
Maryland local governments examine if they should have more power to raise property taxes
Maryland’s housing market is out of reach for the majority of moderate-income residents.
Northwest rail fans eager for Sept. 30 debut of Amtrak’s Airo fleet
Get ready for that new train smell and more seats. But they won’t go faster or run more frequently on the Cascades route in Washington and Oregon.
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.
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
KFH Group Inc.
Greater Baltimore Committee
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello