Planetizen's Nate Berg posits that Burning Man, the yearly freak festival in the Nevada desert, has become "a highly planned, intricately organized and fully functioning city" of 50,000 people.
Berg presents the piece as a journal, his record of his visit to Burning Man last year. After arriving late at night, he wakes to find a 160-block city laid out around him:
"With so many people living together on federal land, outside the jurisdiction of any local government and without any services, Burning Man has necessarily taken on the form and functions of a city. To turn the "party in the desert" into a city, albeit one that exists for only one week at a time, organizers have developed a set of operational and physical guidelines. With its high-resolution urban plan - which resembles the prescriptive master plans of designers like Ebenezer Howard and Le Corbusier - and its departments created and run by volunteers, Burning Man feels like a slice of modern urban life, and in some ways an improvement."
Read the full story: Burning Man and the Metropolis
San Francisco is in a “Doom Loop.” A Legendary Artist and Burning Man Founder Knows how to Revive it.
Artists made San Francisco what it was. They might just be the key to its future.
There Goes the Neighborhood: Oh No, Not Burning Man!
Ben Brown unpacks the components of polarization. Recognizing some people are really pissed off for some really good reasons doesn’t seem to help us make better decisions, whether we’re talking about electing a president or planning a park.
Designing the Black Rock City of Burning Man's Dreams
An unofficial, international competition for the Black Rock City master plan applies the imagination inherent to its setting.
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.
Northwest rail fans eager for Sept. 30 debut of Amtrak’s Airo fleet
Get ready for that new train smell and more seats. But they won’t go faster or run more frequently on the Cascades route in Washington and Oregon.
Judges permit Denver to divert 77,000 acre feet from the Colorado River for reservoir expansion
Overuse and climate change have caused the Colorado River’s water levels to plummet.
NYC to turn city-owned property into thousands of homes
The city has scheduled a public hearing regarding the development for October.
Buses travel at 5mph along this route in NYC. The Bronx's first-ever busway looks to change that
Prior to the busway, buses on the Bx36 route traveled as slowly as 5 miles per hour.
Pittsburg launches 'EZ permits,' aims for one-day turnaround for low-risk permits
The pilot ‘fast lane’ for permits is part of a bundle of modernization efforts for Pittsburg’s permitting process.
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
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello