Tokyo is rapidly developing -- and redeveloping. One of the unique characteristics about the city is the temporal nature of its buildings and spaces, which are often replaced after very short lives with new visions of the city's future.
"But glimpsing the future in Japan isn't just about first sightings of cool gadgets. It's also about seeing a city change -- fast -- as if photographed in time lapse. The city is shockingly unstable. Buildings disappear, replaced by new ones. Entire districts come and go, seemingly overnight. Roppongi is the hot district just now, with a new art museum and the massive Tokyo Midtown complex drawing people to the formerly sleazy neighborhood. Other districts, like Odaiba, rise spectrally and speculatively from Tokyo Bay on artificial land."
"Tokyo is a city where yesterday's tomorrow is constantly being replaced by today's. Down the block from where I'm staying stands the Nakagin Capsule Tower, the world's first stackable capsule building, constructed in 1970 by Metabolist Kisho Kurokawa, and now overshadowed by Shiodome and scheduled for demolition. If Kurokawa had succeeded in his mayoral bid earlier this year, the building might have been reprieved (I personally think it should be a UNESCO World Heritage site). But that just isn't the Tokyo way. The Tokyo way is to try stuff, trash it, then try something else. Whether it's the legacy of earthquakes or Buddhism, everything here is understood to be temporary. It's best not to get too attached. The spirit of what you lose will probably pop up somewhere else."
FULL STORY: Tokyo, Living Lab of Possible Futures

Trump Administration Could Effectively End Housing Voucher Program
Federal officials are eyeing major cuts to the Section 8 program that helps millions of low-income households pay rent.

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

Ken Jennings Launches Transit Web Series
The Jeopardy champ wants you to ride public transit.

California Invests Additional $5M in Electric School Buses
The state wants to electrify all of its school bus fleets by 2035.

Austin Launches $2M Homelessness Prevention Fund
A new grant program from the city’s Homeless Strategy Office will fund rental assistance and supportive services.

Alabama School Forestry Initiative Brings Trees to Schoolyards
Trees can improve physical and mental health for students and commnity members.
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.
Ada County Highway District
Clanton & Associates, Inc.
Jessamine County Fiscal Court
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions
Salt Lake City
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service