Amid the backdrop of Mahmoud Abbas' application for Palestinian statehood, Jesse Fox critiques the Israeli premier for his antiquated plan to fast track sprawling suburban developments into Israel's rapidly diminishing open spaces.
Sustainable Cities attacks Benjamin Netanyahu's persistence with free market economics, privatization of public land, and desire for affordable single use, suburban sprawl. Israeli students responded to Netanyahu's privatization based planning reforms in July with mass protests and the construction of a "tent city," in the center of Tel Aviv. There they called for "social justice," and "revolution to end privatization."
Jesse Fox claims that Netanyahu has presided over an increasingly "kleptocratic," government that has slowed social change by keeping the focus on external boogeymen, whose ranks have been reduced by the Arab Spring. He writes that "Bibi's grand vision will drag us backward, accelerating massive, uncontrolled (sub)urbanization while degrading the country's standard of living."
"As for the claim that flooding the market with tens of thousands of units will lower prices, most serious economists and planning experts are not buying it."
Read the full story: Bibi, Urban Planner In Chief
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
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.
Brightline Florida files for bankruptcy
The transit company is over $5 billion in debt.
St. Louis Metro to test if single-car trains can reduce operating costs, maintain rider satisfaction
The pilot program will run from October to spring 2027, and begin with one single-car train operating on Metrolink’s Red and Blue lines.
Pennsylvania is building data centers in abandoned mines
Housing data centers in mines provides an alternative to destroying local forests and may spare residents from data centers’ noise and air pollution.
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