This piece from The Freeman looks at the debate over sprawl and whether free market economics encourage it or offer a solution.
"The exchanges focus mainly on zoning rather than other interventions that have been identified over the years as factors that abet sprawl. These include federal subsidies to construct the 46,876-mile-long interstate highway system and intra-urban freeway systems, both of which have made living in the less-expensive fringes of cities cheaper for urban commuters - not to mention federal subsidies for the construction of water mains, sewers, telecommunication lines, and, as we all should be well aware of today, direct and indirect subsidies to single-family home ownership via Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and a slew of federal policies intended to promote single-family home ownership, dating back to the Great Depression, including the income-tax deduction for mortgage interest."
The article suggests briefly that the demand curve for sprawl goes down over time, though that assertion is not fully explained.
Read the full story: The Demand Curve for Sprawl Slopes Downward
What the fall of earth's largest pre-industrial city can teach us about urban sprawl
Angkor was a low-density metropolis. It lasted six centuries, until it could no longer maintain its infrastructure in a changing climate. Today, it offers planners a sobering warning about the risks of dispersed urban living.
Nearly a third of US housing is in the wildland-urban interface — and at growing risk of wildfire
As suburbs increasingly mingle with undeveloped land, homes face a higher risk from destructive fires.
Congestion Costing Reality Check, Part 2: A congestion costing critique
There are good reasons to be skeptical of highway industry claims that traffic congestion is a growing problem. Their analysis is often incomplete and biased. Let’s pull back the curtain on some major congestion cost studies.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
The state-sanctioned urbicide of Austin
People don’t kill cities. Freeways do.
Colorado’s Largest Data Center Could Rise Next to Homes — Without a Public Hearing
The proposed campus would consume 11 times the power of Denver International Airport; as it has across the country, opposition mounts.
Amtrak, CN end decades-long dispute with eight-year agreement
The new operating agreement establishes an updated framework for the companies to work together, including processes to resolve disputes.
Raised interest rates may kill financially vulnerable construction projects
The chief economist at ConstructConnect warns that if construction project owners are negatively impacted by the raised rates, it could result in delayed payments to contractors.
Data centers are consuming nearly 25% of Oregon’s power
The state has 111 data centers, with 32 more either planned or under construction.
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.
Greater Baltimore Committee
Eagle County Government
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
Journal of the American Planning Association