This piece from the Guardian lists a handful of ideas that could shape the future of cities and city design.
One idea is for a "plant-based city".
"London architecture graduate Richard Hardy's three-minute video, The Transcendent City, imagines a plant-like 'future sustainable city' that will automatically adapt to its environment. Hardy says his vision of a vegetable-like structure with plant and animal motifs is developed for a society that is 'currently not responding effectively to environmental dangers'. It is 'an autonomous artificial machine that extends across the earth, adapting to the natural eco-systems it encounters while deriving its energy from the renewable resources available at each site.' One webviewer commented: 'A beautiful vision, but one that doesn't explain how this would function as a city.'"
Read the full story: City design: Blue-sky bonanza
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
US buildings threatened, destroyed by fires set to triple by 2060
Researchers found a high fire risk for socioeconomically vulnerable neighborhoods in the American West.
LA residents may be allowed to paint their own crosswalks
Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky put out a motion instructing the Los Angeles Department of Public Transportation to study the feasibility of allowing volunteers to paint crosswalks.
Dallas moves to overhaul its zoning code
The city's zoning reform will allow more multi-family and mixed-use developments.
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 Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority