Just getting started here, so I hope you’ll give me time to set my voice and you will tune in to provide a thoughtful dialogue. Like many of you, I am an urban planner with a distinguished background. My current emphasis is on new community development that will begin to emerge in the United States by 2013. Over the past two years, I was lucky enough to have a patron who sent me all over the world to see and record the best places, and meet with experts in energy efficiency, health care delivery, workplace transformation, learning and transportation demand reduction.
Just getting started here, so I hope you'll give me time to set my voice and you will tune in to provide a thoughtful dialogue. Like many of you, I am an urban planner with a distinguished background. My current emphasis is on new community development that will begin to emerge in the United States by 2013. Over the past two years, I was lucky enough to have a patron who sent me all over the world to see and record the best places, and meet with experts in energy efficiency, health care delivery, workplace transformation, learning and transportation demand reduction. Money was not an object and being pretty resourceful, I was only limited by my own research, access and imagination. My goal was to collect relevant information and form strategic relationships with global companies interested in building seven new communities in Texas and New Mexico that would truly enable families to lead better lives. In summary, I learned three important lessons:
-
Complexity Theory - All our problems are interrelated and if industries stay within their own silos of expertise then change becomes difficult, if not impossible. By intertwining, innovation and efficiencies emerge almost immediately.
-
Practically all of the products and services that we need to build sustainable communities already exist today - and are affordable, if implemented on a community scale.
-
The United States is not the leader in new community development compared to England, Germany, Australia, Netherlands, Japan and Korea.
Therefore, my blog is about sharing what I learned. Throughout, I kept a journal from which I will remember my experiences and blog from. I am hoping to learn more from you along the way, to exchange ideas and discuss how to build better communities for people to live, work and stay healthy.
How Orphan Oil Wells Threaten West Texas Communities
Abandoned and orphaned oil wells in West Texas are causing costly environmental hazards like sinkholes and leaks, prompting urgent calls for increased funding and regulation to address a growing statewide and national crisis.
Building a Cleaner Future: Financing the Coal-to-Clean Transition
The Coal-to-Clean Initiative is an effort to fund the early retirement of coal plants in emerging markets, urging public-private collaboration to achieve a just energy transition that limits global warming and supports sustainable growth.
E-diggers Pave Way for Cleaner, Greener, Quieter London
London power workers are trialing zero-emission electric diggers that remove more than 200 tonnes of CO2 emissions and 75% of noise pollution from their work in the capital.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
‘Going backwards:’ Baltimore mayor, students rally against state's transit funding plan
Maryland's proposed six-year plan provides no funding for Baltimore’s BMORE bus program and reduces its road maintenance funding.
Mamdani sent nearly 6,000 pied-à-terre tax warnings to homes that didn’t qualify
A judge has ordered the administration to cancel thousands of pied-à-terre tax notices after it sent 35% of them erroneously.
Mamdani sent nearly 6,000 pied-à-terre tax warnings to homes that didn’t qualify
A judge has ordered the administration to cancel thousands of pied-à-terre tax notices after it sent 35% of them erroneously.
Detroit to transform waterfront with $2.2 billion investment
Developers will convert about 18 acres of unused parking lot space into civic spaces.
‘Going backwards:’ Baltimore mayor, students rally against state's transit funding plan
Maryland's proposed six-year plan provides no funding for Baltimore’s BMORE bus program and reduces its road maintenance funding.
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.
City of Thousand Oaks
City of Wisconsin Rapids
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
Northern Illinois Transit Authority (NITA)
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
