Welcome To Planetizen Interchange

Greetings Planetizen readers! I'd like to welcome everyone to our new blog -- called Planetizen Interchange. This is our latest effort to provide exposure to new ideas, encourage discourse that cuts across disciplinary boundaries, and bring together allied professionals.

1 minute read

February 16, 2007, 8:35 AM PST

By Christian Madera @cpmadera


Greetings Planetizen readers! I'd like to welcome everyone to our new blog -- called Planetizen Interchange. This is our latest effort to provide exposure to new ideas, encourage discourse that cuts across disciplinary boundaries, and bring together allied professionals.

For this effort, we've brought together a diverse group of leaders, writers, scholars, and practitioners to regularly contribute their thoughts and opinions on the newest and most exciting ideas, trends and events that span the fields of city planning, architecture, real estate, landscape design and more.

Over the next few weeks, you can look forward reading thought-provoking contributions from the group as we ramp up towards our goal of publishing new posts on a daily basis. In addtion, we plan to continually fresh faces to our group of contributors, to provide valuable new perspectives on the many issues important to the planning, design and development community.

We hope you'll find Interchange a welcomed addition to the regular news on Planetizen. Please feel free to let us know your thoughts by posting a comment, or sending us your comments in an email at [email protected].


Christian Madera

Christian Madera was managing editor of Planetizen from 2006 to 2008. He currently lives and works in Hong Kong.

Christian has written about urban planning, policy and technology issues for the Los Angeles Times, Planning Magazine, The Southern Sierran, and Next City Magazine, where he was a 2010 Urban Leaders Fellow. His past experience includes working as a community planner and the web and new media manager for the National Capital Planning Commission in Washington, DC, as well as a policy analyst for a non-profit housing developer in Los Angeles.

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Cover CM Credits, Earn Certificates, Push Your Career Forward

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

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

July 2, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Aerial view of town of Wailuku in Maui, Hawaii with mountains in background against cloudy sunset sky.

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly

Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

July 1, 2025 - Honolulu Civil Beat

White and purple sign for Slow Street in San Francisco, California with people crossing crosswalk.

San Francisco Suspends Traffic Calming Amidst Record Deaths

Citing “a challenging fiscal landscape,” the city will cease the program on the heels of 42 traffic deaths, including 24 pedestrians.

July 1, 2025 - KQED

Blue and silver Amtrak train at small station.

Amtrak Rolls Out New Orleans to Alabama “Mardi Gras” Train

The new service will operate morning and evening departures between Mobile and New Orleans.

July 3 - New Orleans City Business

Large spinning swing ride at Chicago's Navy Pier.

The Subversive Car-Free Guide to Trump's Great American Road Trip

Car-free ways to access Chicagoland’s best tourist attractions.

July 3 - Streetsblog Chicago

Aerial view of downtown San Antonio, Texas at night with rotating Tower of the Americas in foreground.

San Antonio and Austin are Fusing Into one Massive Megaregion

The region spanning the two central Texas cities is growing fast, posing challenges for local infrastructure and water supplies.

July 3 - Governing