Various plans and strategies have been crafted over the years to try to help New Orleans recover from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. While early plans took a stronger stance, the city is now taking a less heavy-handed approach.
"Then there was the citizen-driven Unified New Orleans Plan (UNOP), also from 2007, which outlined various principles-that all neighborhoods have a right to exist and be protected from flooding, for instance, and that citizens should decide their communities' fate. UNOP carries no official weight, but it has informed much of what has happened in recent years, including the clustering of schools, community centers, and health clinics, and even the insertion of bike lanes along rebuilt roads.
There's no question that Nagin's free-market approach has left out many residents. Some have found themselves isolated amid blight, without the choices or information that a more formal plan might have provided. Yet many neighborhoods have thrived in the do-it-yourself environment."
The recovery of New Orleans is now one of decentralized decisionmaking, and some say the city is better for it.
FULL STORY: Do-It-Yourself New Orleans

New York Governor Advances Housing Plan Amid Stiff Suburban Opposition
Governor Kathy Hochul’s ambitious proposal to create more housing has once again run into a brick wall of opposition in New York’s enormous suburbs, especially on Long Island. This year, however, the wall may have some cracks.

Rethinking the Role of Parking in the American City
In cities big and small, the tide is turning against sprawling parking lots, car-centric development, and minimum parking mandates.

Friday Eye Candy: 20 AI-Generated Cityscapes
AI-generated images are creating new landscapes and cityscapes, capable of inspiring awe or fear.

Study: Autonomous Cars Won’t Solve the Parking Problem
In hyper-dense cities where incentives to reduce car use and eliminate parking are already high, mass adoption of AVs won’t significantly reduce parking demand.

Proposed Pool Would Make an Olympic-Sized Play Area in the San Francisco Bay
The San Francisco Bay is usually an undesirable place to swim, except for a hearty few. A development proposal seeking assistance at the state level would add a pool to the Bay’s waters to make the idea of going for a swim more appealing.

Chicagoland Transit Agencies Call for State Funding as Budget Shortfall Looms
Illinois transit agencies want to see changes to a law requiring them to collect half of their revenue from transit fares, arguing that low ridership and staffing shortages will lead to a massive budget gap without intervention.
Princeton Planning
City of College Park
Houston-Galveston Area Council
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Spearfish
City of Lomita
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.