Improvements in architecture billings, an economic indicator of future construction activity, mean that more investments in cities and towns. Lately, institutional billings have led the resurgent industry.
"September’s Architecture Billings Index (ABI) released today by the AIA reports another month of increased design activity," reports Caroline Massie. The September ABI is the fifth consecutive report that indicates growth in design work, considered an indicator for the construction industry.
AIA chief economist Kermit Baker is quoted in the story explaining which sectors are responsible for the growth: "Strong demand for apartment buildings and condominiums has been one of the main drivers in helping to keep the design and construction market afloat in recent years….There continues to be a healthy market for those types of design projects, but the recently resurgent Institutional sector is leading to broader growth for the entire construction industry."
The article goes on to break down billings by region and by sector (one sector conspicuously absent from the billings breakdown: single family homes, custom or subdivision).
Read the full story: Architecture Billings Index Reports Sustained Growth in September
South Texas Home Builders Say “There’s no Labor” After ICE Raids
Construction is slowing as immigration detentions have a chilling effect on the labor market.
Bringing Circularity to the Construction Industry
Using more recycled materials could dramatically reduce carbon emissions and waste from construction projects.
Post-Pandemic Home Building Trends: More Bedrooms, Smaller Homes
U.S. homes are adding bedrooms while getting smaller, according to two seemingly contradictory articles published on the same day from different data sources earlier this month.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
‘Going backwards:’ Baltimore mayor, students rally against state's transit funding plan
Maryland's proposed six-year plan provides no funding for Baltimore’s BMORE bus program and reduces its road maintenance funding.
Detroit to transform waterfront with $2.2 billion investment
Developers will convert about 18 acres of unused parking lot space into civic spaces.
HUD modernizes 50-year-old manufactured housing framework
The Next Generation Manufactured Housing Action Plan establishes new energy-efficiency standards for manufactured homes, and new guidelines for anchoring them.
New CA housing laws tear down development red tape
Recently-signed legislation makes building starter homes and ADUs cheaper and faster in California.
Metrolink finishes first expansion in 20 years
The transit agency is now one of very few in the United States to connect two major airports.
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.
One Hundred Miles
County of Mendocino
planning NEXT
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
Montrose County
Northern Illinois Transit Authority (NITA)
The Pocatello Development Authority