A spate of recent cyclist deaths on London's streets brings the conflict between road users into high relief. Sam Jacobs argues that "brute engineering" alone isn't enough to resolve the conflict, we need to utilize intelligence and creativity.
Roads, Jacobs argues, "civilise us" and reflect our societal priorities. But as a rash of recent cyclist deaths in London - several after collisions with trucks - illustrate, how we determine ownership of our streets may need adjustment to reflect our changing transportation priorities. "How can the variety of road users - pedestrians, bikes, cars, trucks - co-exist in a safe and civilised way?" he asks.
"The cyclist/lorry conflict is the most extreme of examples. In extremis, it exemplifies a crisis in the nature of our city's streets. Currently we imagine roads as a universal resource, a system that makes little differentiation between its users, or the nature of their use. Those interests, I'd argue, are not all public."
Read the full story: "It's time to refigure the design problem if the London Street"
Landscapes of love and loss
As urban planners, every piece of infrastructure we build is a memorial — whether we know it or not.
Planning for Love, Part 1: The link between urban form and dating
A brief exploration of dating through history highlights how the spaces in which we live and move shape our social lives and relationships.
Survey: US Public Spaces Not Meeting Community Needs
A lack of funding prevents many U.S. parks and public spaces from playing a more significant role in helping residents meet daily needs.
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