Paul Mason takes a tour of Manila's 10-year-old Estero de San Miguel slum to test the theory that slums have upsides and finds that understanding the question's realities is as important as trying to find the answer.
Mason goes back and forth, recognizing the pros and cons of slums.
"I can see the social cohesion bit, but as for green, well, (my nostrils flare at the river smell)."
"Then, over a beer with ex-Father Dennis, discussing our mutual experiences with the Salesians and the Jesuits, I discovered what one billion people on the planet have discovered - slums are not so bad.
"They have changed from the Dickensian hell holes of our imagination. Through education and communications technology people are making life bearable for themselves - and of course providing the modern mega-city with an indispensable workforce of cheap labour."
Read the full story: Do we have to learn to live with slums?
Considering Transportation Impacts on Well-Being and Livability
The New Zealand Transport Agency’s new report, "Transport Impacts on Wellbeing and Liveability" provides guidance for transportation planning that achieves fairness, neighborliness, respect, community identity, pride, fitness, and health.
Three Reasons to Use Livability as a Vehicle for Sustainability
Meghan Gough, assistant professor at the Virginia Commonwealth University, guest blogs about her work on balancing livability and sustainability.
Towers in the Park, 2012 Style
Julie V. Iovine laments that while walkability is the watchword of the day, architects have to design what they're hired to design -- and that often means designing iconic buildings that turn a blind eye to pedestrians.
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.
Los Angeles just elected an urban planner as its mayor
Transportation analysts are optimistic that Raman will be more aggressive in addressing transit issues than Bass.
Mamdani’s pied-à-terre tax survives legal challenge
A panel of judges found that the plaintiffs failed to demonstrate injury as a result of New York City's implementation of the tax.
Eastern Nebraska is running out of electricity
Data centers and electrification are straining eastern Nebraska’s grid, throttling economic development.
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
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority