Harvard Professor Edward Glaeser argues for the loosening of regulations that create barriers to entry for small businesses and immigrant entrepreneurship in Boston.
Edward Glaeser writes a polemic inside a paean on the liberties and potential of urban living, starting with a quote offromGermanic law: "city air makes you free." The original phrase applied to a serf living in the city, but Glaeser finds evidence of the phrase's meaning today as well:
The migrant who comes from rural India to Bangalore enters a world in which the strictures of rural life, such as the caste system, essentially vanish. In many poorer countries, rural life still binds with traditional rules enforced by elders who wield the threat of social ostracism. In a city, such threats become toothless because no elder can effectively banish those who misbehave.
Glaeser applies the trope of urban liberty to the subject of Boston, which, he writes, "was born with repression deep in its D.N.A." Thus the article identifies laws and regulations that still enforce the religious rules of early Massachusetts Puritans, and argues for an expansion of the freedoms that could empower a larger cross section of the city's residents.
FULL STORY: City air makes you free
Airbnb Suing Boston Over New Regulations
The front lines of the short-term rental wars shift to the city of Boston.
Boston Mayor Wants to Limit Short-Term Rentals
Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh thinks short-term rental companies like Airbnb are having a negative effect on the city's housing market, and he'll walk a fine line to regulate the industry.
Op-Ed: End the Excuses for Lack of Housing Construction
An op-ed in the Boston Globe argues that the endless negotiations over new residential developments—including over the inclusion of affordable housing units—hurts the city's housing market.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
Canada vs. Kamala: Whose Liberal Housing Platform Comes Out on Top?
As Canada votes for a new Prime Minister, what can America learn from the leading liberal candidate of its neighbor to the north?
The Five Most-Changed American Cities
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San Diego Adopts First Mobility Master Plan
The plan provides a comprehensive framework for making San Diego’s transportation network more multimodal, accessible, and sustainable.
Housing, Supportive Service Providers Brace for Federal Cuts
Organizations that provide housing assistance are tightening their purse strings and making plans for maintaining operations if federal funding dries up.
Op-Ed: Why an Effective Passenger Rail Network Needs Government Involvement
An outdated rail network that privileges freight won’t be fixed by privatizing Amtrak.
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.
Village of Glen Ellyn
Central Transportation Planning Staff/Boston Region MPO
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
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City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
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