Harvey Morris surveys recent controversies in France, England, and Germany that have stoked the simmering debate over whether the accelerating gentrification of Europe's major cities is leading to the ghettoization of their urban poor.
With the global recession increasing the gap between "the haves and have-nots" in Europe, as in America, the expense of Europe's major cities has continued to rise, further reducing the areas affordable to lower-income residents.
With ghettoization increasing, lower-income residents and their advocates aren't taking the situation lightly; as recent riots in Amiens, criticism of a plan to demolish Communist-era apartment blocks in central Berlin, and opposition to a proposal to sell municipally-owned homes in expensive neighborhoods in Britain, and move their low-income tenants elsewhere, attest.
FULL STORY: Europe’s Cities: Gentrification or Ghettoization?
The Growing Urban Inequality Gap, Visualized
Inequality is growing faster in large metropolitan areas, according to a New York Times data visualization.
Op-Ed: Only Half of San Francisco is Changing
Using a mid 20th-century painting as his point of reference, Benjamin Schneider points out that the vast, disruptive changes we often associate with San Francisco are only affecting the city's eastern side.
As Cities Have Changed, So Have Richard Florida's Ideas
Call it the re-education, the evolution, or the contrition of Richard Florida, but the "rock-star urbanist" has realized some unintended consequences of his creative class ethos, and he's ready to share a new vision for cities.
Rethinking Redlining
For decades we have blamed 100-year-old maps for the patterns of spatial racial inequity that persist in American cities today. An esteemed researcher says: we’ve got it all wrong.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California High-Speed Rail's Plan to Right Itself
The railroad's new CEO thinks he can get the project back on track. The stars will need to align this summer.
Opinion: Make Buses More Like Sidewalks
Sidewalks are an intuitive, low-cost, and easily accessible mobility tool. Can local buses function in the same way?
How Cities Can Support Climate Adaptation
In the face of federal cuts to climate resilience funding, a panel at ULI’s Resilience Summit offered suggestions for maintaining managed retreat and other climate adaptation programs.
Transportation Research Centers Lose Key Federal Funding
The federal University Transportation Center program funds critical transportation research and innovation at 35 consortia of colleges and universities.
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.
City of Clovis
City of Moorpark
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions