Jeff Speck and Andrés Duany talk about why they wrote their new book The Smart Growth Manual, and why 'planners aren’t going to like it.'
Jeff Speck says, "It's ironic now that I sit back and read it, how the community this book describes represents nothing but a utopia. Wouldn't it be great for these features to be present in every community? And for those of us who live in successful cities-one of the pictures has my bike in it-we live these benefits every day. What Andres is alluding to in avoiding the hair shirt is this: What's so fantastic about smart growth is that if our planners were to achieve it completely, all of us would have quality-of-life enhancements. Among the things being asked and not being asked of us in the climate/post-oil discussion, smart growth calls on us to change our lifestyle but to change it in a vastly more enjoyable world."
FULL STORY: Q&A: Andres Duany and Jeff Speck on The Smart Growth Manual
Smart Growth From the Environmental Perspective
Kaid Benfield of the NRDC reviews The Smart Growth Manual by Andres Duany, Jeff Speck and Mike Lydon. Benfield gives it high marks for style and substance, and for the way it incorporates environmental issues.
700-Acre Master-Planned Community Planned in Utah
A massive development plan is taking shape for lakefront property in Vineyard, Utah—on the site of a former U.S. Steel Geneva Works facility.
Road Design Still Privileges Cars
Author Jeff Speck discusses the progress made since he first wrote Walkable City–and how far we still have to go to build streets that are safe for all.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
San Francisco's School District Spent $105M To Build Affordable Housing for Teachers — And That's Just the Beginning
SFUSD joins a growing list of school districts using their land holdings to address housing affordability challenges faced by their own employees.
Can We Please Give Communities the Design They Deserve?
Often an afterthought, graphic design impacts everything from how we navigate a city to how we feel about it. One designer argues: the people deserve better.
Engineers Gave America's Roads an Almost Failing Grade — Why Aren't We Fixing Them?
With over a trillion dollars spent on roads that are still falling apart, advocates propose a new “fix it first” framework.
The European Cities That Love E-Scooters — And Those That Don’t
Where they're working, where they're banned, and where they're just as annoying the tourists that use them.
Map: Where Senate Republicans Want to Sell Your Public Lands
For public land advocates, the Senate Republicans’ proposal to sell millions of acres of public land in the West is “the biggest fight of their careers.”
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.
Borough of Carlisle
Smith Gee Studio
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
Municipality of Princeton (NJ)