Built in 1820s and 1830s, the arcades in Paris were the first enclosed retail centers protecting shoppers from the elements as they browsed a variety of shops.
"Diminutive cathedrals to commerce and leisure, the arcades offered unheard of amenities to the emerging class of bourgeois consumers. Gas lighting, heated shelter from rain and mud, a panoply of goods and services in a contained space, cafes and restaurants where you could rest and observe fellow lingerers - these were a decided plus over the shopping experience of hunting and gathering all around town." Later in the 1800s, the department store in Paris signaled an end to the arcades' success. However, several arcades have been recently restored featuring a variety of retailers from the stamp and postcard stores and immigrant retailers of The Passage des Panoramas to chic boutiques of The Passage Jouffroy.
"The German literary and cultural critic Walter Benjamin spent the final 13 years of his life (he died in 1940, running from the Nazis) trying to fashion a theory of modernity based on the arcades. In their spatial ambiguity - visitors are both indoors and walking on an extension of the street - and in the bright scattering of impressions they presented to consumers, he thought he had found a secret history of the 19th century."
FULL STORY: Making a Pilgrimage to Cathedrals of Commerce

Good Planning Under Bad Leadership
Planners must sometimes work under bad leadership. Here are suggestions for responsive planning in challenging political environments.

Legendary Parking Guru Donald Shoup Dies at 86
Urbanists are mourning the loss of a dynamic voice for parking reform and walkable cities.

Amtrak Cascades Line Breaks Ridership Record
The route linking Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver, BC served nearly one million riders in 2024.

Over 71K Office-to-Apartment Units in the Pipeline for 2025
Adaptive reuse projects are continuing to bring thousands of new housing units onto the market as demand for office space remains low.

How Houston Can Be a Model for Housing Reform
The city builds more new housing than almost any other and has dramatically reduced homelessness, yet low-income families struggle to find affordable housing.

Delivering for America Plan Will Downgrade Mail Service in at Least 49.5 Percent of Zip Codes
Republican and Democrat lawmakers criticize the plan for its disproportionate negative impact on rural communities.
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.
City of Brookings
City of White Salmon
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service